Book Description
Powerful and moving' RACHEL EDWARDS
'Very compelling, told with real depth and passion' 5* Reader Review
'Absolutely loved it' LUCY DIAMOND
Two families divided by hate
A love that will not die.
Sylvie and Donna travel on the same train to work each day but have never spoken. Their families are on different sides of the bitter Brexit divide, although the tensions and arguments at home give them much in common.
What they don't know is that their eldest children, Rachid and Jodie, are about to meet for the first time and fall in love. Aware that neither family will approve, the teenagers vow to keep their romance a secret.
But as Sylvie's family feel increasingly unwelcome in England, a desire for a better life threatens Rachid and Jodie's relationship. Can their love unite their families - or will it end in tragedy?
'A powerful and thought-provoking triumph' MIKE GAYLE
'Romeo and Juliet in post-referendum Yorkshire' SHELLEY HARRIS
'Outstanding' SUSAN LEWIS
'A love story in a world full of prejudice and bias' ANSTEY HARRIS
'Original and powerful' LOUISE BEECH
'This book broke my heart' CHARLOTTE DUCKWORTH
Please note this novel contains details of racial abuse and racially motivated violence.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'In Little Stars' by Linda Green
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Linda Green and Quercus
Publication date 6th September 2022.
This is the first book I have read by this author.
I was originally drawn to this book by its interesting cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is 'A modern day Romeo and Juliet, set against a divided northern England, In Little Stars is a brave and poignant story about love and hope, loss and hate and how the smallest choices we make can change everything.' I am a fan of Romeo and Julietso am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Quercus. I have yet to read a book published by Quercus that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a 49 chapters and an epilogue set over 5 parts. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in Leeds, England 🏴, UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture.I have actually holidayed in England many time so am intrigued to see if I recognise places based on anywhere I visited while there.
This book is written in first person perspective and the protagonists are Sylvie Mastour, Rachid Mastour, Jodie Cuthbert and Donna Cuthbert. The benefits of books written in first person perspective with multiple protagonists are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. If there are several protagonists you also get to see more of what is going on.
'In Little Stars' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Linda discusses/includes racial abuse and racially motivated violence.
WOW!!!! What can I say?!?! One thing I have got to say before getting into my review is clear your schedules and grab the tissues as you will need them!!!
This book is beautifully written with vivid descriptions setting the picture perfectly in the readers mind. The title, description and cover works perfectly with the storyline.
This book is devastatingly heart-breaking and beautiful. It is an absolute rollercoaster ride of emotions filled with love, hate, romance, heartbreak, anger, racism, hate crime, family, love, loss, secrets, friendship and so much more. It is one of the most thought provoking books I have ever read and I was questioning myself and thinking throughout this heart-breaking storyline. The saddest thing about this book is that the storyline is realistic and in fact based on something that tragically did happen. The fact that there is so much hate crime and racial abuse happening daily is absolutely sickening. I used to volunteer with victim support and it was absolutely disgraceful how much hate crime was being reported. It is one of the things that disgust me about the UK and everything that happened during, before and after Brexit was horrendous. So many people used it as an excuse to abuse and threaten anyone that didn't have the same colour skin or religion or race as them and the saddest thing is that it was not even that surprising and as if that is what the government wanted to happen when everything Brexit started. The only time I have seen anything like this happen is when I was having a date night in Gloucester and seen a drunk verbal man telling a family I believed to be Muslim to go home and I told him they had more right to be there than people like him. The fact that this family has small children and yet this person still felt the need to verbally abuse them just makes me so annoyed and sickened. There is absolutely no excuse for racism of any kind for any reason. This book does make you consider what you or others would do in Donna's position? Personally, I know I would have done something as I could not stand by and let it happen. However, if I had had my children with me and seen something similar happen I would seriously not know as it would be putting my children in harms way but I would have told the guard and phoned the police. The storyline is stunning and a book that I genuinely should be in every educational environment and put on the curriculum as it definitely a modern day Romeo and Juliet but one with a more important message and with more merit. I thought the similarities with the names Jodie and Rachid (R & J) was a cute idea! Linda has done an absolutely amazing job of weaving these modern day issues into a modern day storyline and I think Brexit is a perfect situation/example to use. This book is one of those that will stay with me for a very long time, if not forever! The fact that Linda has done her research absolutely shines through so a huge congratulations Linda! One of my pet hates is when authors don't research their topics and then the book is littered with unnecessary mistakes which can spoil the story for me. Linda has done an absolutely fantastic job of creating this storyline where the characters in both families cross lives on several occasion unbeknownst to them. The multiple narrative brings the story to life along with the descriptions and ensures the reader can see everything that is going on and what the characters are thinking and feeling. The fact that it is told not just from Jodie and Rachid's perspectives but also their mother's was a very clever idea and it shows us that one person's actions can affect so many people and for so many different reasons. I will talk about the characters more shortly. When I was reading this book I could feel my heartbeat speeding up as I was getting a dark sense of foreboding the deeper into the book I got and I ended up with tears streaming down my face so make sure you get those tissues ready!! It is one of those books that I just simply could not put down and I walked around everywhere with my kindle and the book. Every chapter ended in a way that I had to know what was going to happen next and then it would move on to the next character and do the same so i blew through this in one sitting. The way Linda has written the character's narrative made me hear their accents through the book as she had written it with their accents (hopefully that makes sense)! Reading this book really does make you feel that you are standing with them and going through their pain, love, and suffering. While you are reading this you are going through a journey of love and loss, heartbreak, secrets, love, and anger and so, so much more. It really is a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I was utterly glued to the pages and I could not bring myself to put it down. I was carrying my phone to read it in kindle every chance that I got. I was completely mind blown at the end. You need to clear your schedules and get the tissues at the ready because you will not be able to put this book down. There are some tough topics are explored with realism and sensitivity, that all culminated in a very gripping and powerful page turner. This is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time and although it could be a difficult read at times with emotions running high I would seriously recommend it to anyone and everyone!!
This may be the first book I have read by Linda but I cannot wait to get hold of more books by this extremely talented author. It is one of the most stunning and thought provoking book that I have ever read and one that will stay with me for years if not forever! This book teaches us all that we can be better people and help others. AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ!!
The characters were all very strong and realistic and Linda's writing ensured they jumped off the pages at me. My heart went out to each of the main protagonists for different reasons. The first protagonist that we meet is Sylvie. Sylvie is French and is married to Bilal who is Muslim along with their children Rachid and Amina. Bilal is very strict when it comes to his Muslim religion and what his children can and cannot do and who they should and should not see. Bilal believes that Rachid should only have a relationship with another Muslim so when Rachid falls in love with Jodie who is white and not a Muslim Rachid and Jodie keep it secret. Rachid and Amina think their father is a hypocrite as their mum is French and not a Muslim and that he has another secret that means Rachid does not think he should be able to criticise what he does. Sylvie can see her children's points of view and tries to get Bilal to change some of the things that he originally stopped them doing such as parties. My heart went out to Sylvie who feels she is stuck between a rock and a hard place. She feels that she cannot help her children as she is not of the same faith as them and has been told my Amina that she would not understand. Sylvie is a lovely woman who is so loving and forgiving and try's to please her husband and children. This family feels unwelcome in the place they have lived for many years and start considering leaving to go back to France. The next character we meet is Donna. Donna is married to Neil and their children are Jodie and Sam. Jodie and Sam are like chalk and cheese and have completely different morals. Sam follows in the footsteps of his farther Nail and Neil's father who are both racist and make derogatory comments towards anyone who is not like them throughout the book. Sam gets suspended from school along with his cousin Tyler who seems to go along with everything Sam does. Jodie is the complete opposite and absolutely hates how her father and brother speaks to and about others and goes to anti-Brexit marches where she gets abused for being a "traitor". Donna is constantly in the middle of both Jodie and Sam and Jodie and Neill who constantly argue and fight. My heart goes out to her as she disagrees with what her husband, father in law and son think and is stuck in the middle of them all. Donna and Sylvie have so much in common with the same family problems and both their children keeping secrets and hiding their romance. My heart also went out to Amina who was completely innocent in everything that happened and is stuck between keeping her brother's secrets and helping after everything that happens. I won't say anymore about the characters as I don't want to go into too much detail at the risk of spoiling it for other readers but Linda has done another amazing job at bringing each of the characters to life. Well done Linda!!!
Congratulations Linda in an absolutely gorgeous, heart-breaking beautiful book!!! I am looking forward to reading more of your previous and future books. I would absolutely love to see this book turned into a movie!!! Welcome to my favourite author list and here's to your next success 🥂
Overall an absolutely unputdownable, thought provoking, addictive and compelling devastatingly beautiful heart-breaking book!!!
Genres covered in this book include Women's Friendship Fiction, Women's Contemporary Fiction, Women's Writers & Fiction, Literary Fiction, Women's Romance Fiction, Friendship Fiction, Modern Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Romance Fiction, amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Romeo and Juliet, Jodi Picoult, Nicolas Sparks, you, your friends, your family, your neighbours and absolutely everybody and anybody!!!!! What are you waiting for??? Grab your copy now!!!
464 pages.
This book is just £6.99 to purchase and £8.99 in paperback via Amazon at time of review which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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About the Author
Linda Green is the bestselling author of ten novels, which have sold more than a million copies between them. Her latest novel, One Moment, was a Radio 2 Book Club selection, and her previous novel, The Last Thing She Told Me, was a Richard & Judy Book Club pick and a Top 20 Sunday Times bestseller. She lives in West Yorkshire with her husband and son.
Purchase Link
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B085373KT6/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1675072914&sr=8-1
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