Review: Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller

Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller

Published: September 24, 2013

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Format: Kindle purchased

Challenges: 2014 TBR Pile

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Stolen as a child from her large and loving family, and on the run with her mom for more than ten years, Callie has only the barest idea of what normal life might be like. She's never had a home, never gone to school, and has gotten most of her meals from laundromat vending machines. Her dreams are haunted by memories she’d like to forget completely. But when Callie’s mom is finally arrested for kidnapping her, and Callie’s real dad whisks her back to what would have been her life, in a small town in Florida, Callie must find a way to leave the past behind. She must learn to be part of a family. And she must believe that love--even with someone who seems an improbable choice--is more than just a possibility.

My Thoughts

This was my first Trish Doller experience and what an awesome one at that! It’s a story of love, starting over, and trying to find your place. Callie is a young girl who had to grow up way too soon. She is her own caretaker since her mom is either drunk, out of her mind or with a new man. Callie had to learn to manage things all by herself and simply learn to survive on her own. She has dealt with things that no child should have to go through. She learns that her mom has kidnapped her and now has to deal with the aftermath. While she is torn by her mom’s betrayal, she has to reconnect with a father she doesn’t remember. Her new life begins and she has to learn to live with her dad and his new family and find her place in it. It’s all new to her, people caring, looking out for her and of course discipline. She goes from being alone to now having this large family and it becomes too much for her. She soon starts looking for love or at least a physical companion and finds it with someone who turns out to be closer to home than she realizes.

This read is all about second chances. Trish Doller is an extraordinary writer who works a storyline like no other. She weaves a story of pain and love and how both are way more intertwined than we can imagine. Sometimes love no matter how twisted to some, is better than no love at all. Although Callie knows her mother has issues and what she has done was wrong she is still her mother. She still loves her and is afraid to be apart from her. The pain I felt for Callie was so overwhelming. This life is all she has ever known and is somewhat scared of learning anything else. In a way she feels as if she doesn’t deserve it, the love and acceptance and most important the possibility of what is out there for her. The book made me see that how we are raised or even our environment doesn’t determine ones future. We are worth so much more than what others might think, we have to know we are worthy of love and all the good things that come with it.