Review: Real and beautiful...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 22, 2012
When the author offered me a copy for review, I knew I had to read this one! I've been wanting to read more novels in verse, and Romeo & Juliet is one of my favorite stories, so this book was definitely something I thought I'd love. The story follows Julia: a senior who is more comfortable sitting at her piano than joining the social scene. And Reed: a stoner with surprising insight caught in a bad situation. Of course these two are our starcrossed lovers from different sides of the tracks.I practically flew through this book! Not just because it's a verse novel and therefore less wordy by nature, but because the story completely grabbed my attention, so I couldn't put it down! Julia has her life in order, but then things start slowly spinning out of control. She finally talks to Reed and starts secretly seeing him which leads to lies, sneaking around, not being able to focus, and eventually getting into drugs.The author tackles some huge issues in this book. She presents them realistically, which at times is scary. Drugs are not something to take lightly, as Julia does in the beginning. She doesn't think about the consequences of the drugs, but only about how it gives her that extra boost she needs. It throws out some twists and turns that she could never imagine, and that I wasn't expecting.There's only one thing that keeps this from being a 5 Star read for me: I wish we had gotten to know Reed a bit more. At times he felt like he was just the love interest rather than an actual character. Other than that, Defy the Stars is definitely one of the best self-published books I've read. It doesn't suffer from the ailments that tend to put people off of self-published books, like major typos and a general lack of editing. It's highly polished, well written, and the story is beautifully told. If you're a fan of retellings, verse novels, new adult novels, issues novels, or love stories, do not miss out on this one!