Starcrossed by Mark Schreiber
Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts
Audience: Young Adult (mature content)
Rating: C+
Synopsis:
Christy and Ben meet at a plastic surgeon’s office where each of them is having a tattoo of the others’ name removed. They quickly end up in an angst-filled relationship full of astrological signs and star charts, which Christy depends on to make all of her important decisions. Both characters have parts of their past that they’d like to keep hidden, but can their relationship grow when it’s based on so many lies?
Chatter:
(Spoiler Alerts! ) This was not my favorite book. This is mostly due to the fact that I really disliked Christy as a character. I could not figure out what Ben was doing with her, or why he was attracted to her in the first place. Christy was ridiculously obnoxious the first time Ben met her (not that he was exactly polite). There wasn’t anything in their conversation that led me to believe that Ben would even recognize her if he saw her again, never mind deciding to keep a tattoo with her name on it.
Christy’s dogmatic insistence in astrology was annoying too. Okay, she believes it, but would she really break up with Ben after months of dating because he was the wrong sign? Is it realistic that she’d turn their star-gazing date into an attempt at being abducted by aliens? What about her relationship with Benjamin, both the fact that she’d date him at all, and then her lies about seeing him after his release from jail. All of this was too ridiculous and made the book unrealistic and awkward.
I liked Ben marginally better than Christy, but there were a lot of plot holes in his character. Mostly relating to his parents and how he handles those situations. I know the author’s motivation was to give both of the characters dark and tragic pasts, but they ended up just being absurd.
This book was billed as a re-write of Romeo and Juliet, I find this a major stretch. First, both of the characters live, but also because I can’t imagine any version of Juliet this crass and strange, or a Romeo so depressed that he’d commit suicide when his Romeo was still alive and available.
Questions:
Why is Ben interested in Christy?
How does Christy change from the beginning of the book to the end?
Keep reading!
-Paige
Mariana LaSplashai Says:
I liked this book. but i agree on many of the points that you said in your review.
Marie. Says:
I’m open to others opinions, but I think the book was great.
As for Christy’s character, they way you describe her makes it seem impossible for anyone with a sarcasm tone to their personality to find someone and fall in love. I don’t know, I guess it’s just the way different people look at it.