We Wait For The Stars Reviewed by Chloe, Age 14

I really enjoyed this book with the chapters written in verse which I don’t regularly read. It was a sad, but loving story.

This book was about a girl called Celeste whose life was shattered after the sudden death of her father. He was her world, the one person who fully understood her and was always there for her. They loved photography and walking to the beach on many beautiful evenings, especially looking into the dark night sky.

They shared so many memories together and the whole family were distraught when he passed. Many things changed at home and no one was quite sure what to do about it. She finds a new friend, Katie, and her fellow photographer, Reuben, who is also in her English class.

Whilst grieving, she finds herself attracted to Reuben and finds herself in a complicated position, especially when she finds out that he is dating, which later on makes things even more tricky when they break up and hide their relationship behind Katie’s back…

More comes after this, as her sister disappears after a big argument with Celeste and many people come and help search, and when they found her, they promised each other to be kinder and be there for one another.

Many people around the world lose family members and loved ones, but you need to know to keep strong and help them along the way, even when it’s difficult. There are 5 stages of grieving and in this book it is all about the anger people face when they lose someone they love dearly. Some stages don’t always show but you need to know that there is always support around from friends, family and others. Many people struggle in different ways of grieving so try not to centre it all around yourself, like Celeste did, because it sometimes pushes the ones you love the most away and become feeling even more lonely or bad things can happen.

I think that this book should be for ages 12+ and the moral of this story is that grief and loss are natural and can be navigated through love, friendship, and self-discovery.