Starry Eyes
By: Jenn Bennett
Published Year: 2018
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 432
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Ever since last year’s homecoming dance, best friends-turned-best enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. It doesn’t hurt that their families are the modern day, Californian version of the Montagues and Capulets.
But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together.
What could go wrong?
With no one but each other for company, Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to hash out their issues via witty jabs and insults as they try to make their way to safety. But fighting each other while also fighting off the forces of nature makes getting out of the woods in one piece less and less likely.
And as the two travel deeper into Northern California’s rugged backcountry, secrets and hidden feelings surface. But can Zorie and Lennon’s rekindled connection survive out in the real world? Or was it just a result of the fresh forest air and the magic of the twinkling stars?
First Impressions
How beautiful is this cover? I think I have a weakness for glowy covers. The ones that make you feel like you’re sitting outside in the dark with twinkle lights on. That’s what this one looks like and I’m pretty sure I added it to my TBR list without even checking the summary, so you could say it made a pretty solid first impression.
What I thought
This book took me on an adventure and I adored it. I wish I had read it over the summer, just because it is a summer book and would have given me all the summer feels. Instead, I was reading it in April while it was snowing (ugh Chicago) so it was a little harder to connect with.
Lennon and Zorie were best friends. Then in the fall of their Junior year, they decided to take part in the Great Experiment. The Great Experiment was essentially, them making out and testing whether they liked each other as more than friends before going public. When Lennon doesn’t show up to homecoming, which is when they decide they’re going to go public about being boyfriend/girlfriend, both of their lives come crashing down. After almost a year of not talking to each other, Zorie gets invited on a glamping trip with her friend Regan. Of course, Lennon ends up on the trip as well. Without giving too much away, adventure ensues.
I really liked Zorie and Lennon. Zorie gave me a bit of a too cool to be believable vibe. Meaning, she’s a bit of a nerd but is somehow friends with the most popular kids in school. Zorie dresses in plaid daily and wants to be an astronophotographer. She’s part of the astronomy club and one of the only reasons she’s ok with going camping is because she’ll be meeting up with the club for a star party. Regan and Zorie were friends growing up and then Regan’s family became rich and she’s a very talented runner, so she became super popular. Yet, Zorie was mostly hanging with Lennon throughout all of that, so it wasn’t until she and Lennon stopped hanging together that she became friends with Regan again. It’s a bit confusing. Especially because she doesn’t appear to like anyone very much.
When Lennon and Zorie end up camping in the backwoods, that is when the story really picks up. There is some family drama and of course friend drama at the beginning, but I felt like I was just waiting for big stuff to happen. Basically, Zorie’s dad is the biggest jerk in the world. Her friends also are kind of terrible people.
The descriptions of the woods as well as their adventures while camping were my favorite part. Zorie is not an outdoor person at all, whereas Lennon is an outdoor camping expert. She freaks out about the smallest thing, and it was sweet to see Lennon teach her how to survive.
The romance was definitely my favorite part of the story. I didn’t like the friend and family drama, but I understood that it was there to give more substance to the romance. As I said before, Zorie’s dad is a jerk. There is nothing redeeming about him in this whole story and that made me a bit sad. Although I did love her mom as well as Lennon’s moms. Zorie had another friend in astronomy club (whose name is escaping me), and it seemed like she was a bad friend to her. I felt as though astronomy club friend was a real friend and Zorie just kind of took advantage of the fact that she was a good person.
I don’t know if my review expressed how much I actually liked this book? I loved Lennon and Zorie and enjoyed cheering for their relationship as they were camping. I would highly recommend this book as a summer read if you are into contemporary young adult stories. I would recommend it, but I don’t know if it would be a book I’d read again.