Review 249: Body of Stars

Body of Stars by Laura Maylene Walter
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Belabored at times. Repetitive.

Slowly as the chapters unfold, we come to the arc of the story contained in the book. This is a different world, one where only the females have marks on their bodies that can foretell the future, of not only themselves, but others in their family, such as a brother or father. Women’s bodies are examined, at least twice a year, perhaps once they are adults not so much, but it is an invasion, and particularly when the change happens.

Our main character Celeste finds an aspect of her future told on her body which she wants to stay hidden from her family as the future is grim. This becomes a belabored point in the story. And one she has nearly no control of keeping hidden.

There were moments when it seemed the narrator Celeste didn’t know herself. She would be surprised by herself, her actions or nonaction and what she said. It was odd reading these. As she became more confident that type of writing changed as well. Perhaps it was part of being a changeling, but it kept pulling me out of the story, finding the believability and suspension of belief difficult.

The book is about women’s control over their bodies, as they have very little. It is a world I would not want to live in, perhaps dystopian, but definitely patriarchal.

Thanks to Dutton-Penguin Random House and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.