"I need Owen to explain this. Because yes, I do know that Owen would never do that, but I also know Hannah would never lie about something like that."
Mara and Owen are about as close as twins can get. So when Mara's friend Hannah accuses Owen of rape, Mara doesn't know what to think. Can the brother she loves really be guilty of such a violent crime? Torn between the family she loves and her own sense of right and wrong, Mara is feeling lost, and it doesn't help that things have been strained with her ex-girlfriend and best friend since childhood, Charlie.
As Mara, Hannah, and Charlie navigate this new terrain, Mara must face a trauma from her own past and decide where Charlie fits in her future. With sensitivity and openness, this timely novel confronts the difficult questions surrounding consent, victim blaming, and sexual assault.
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tw: rape, sexual assault, biphobia, slut shaming, pedophilia, homophobia, victim blaming, anxiety, depression, PTSD
Because I love starting off a new year by breaking my own heart I decided that picking up Girl Made of Stars as my first read was an amazing idea. And don't get me wrong, I loved almost everything about this book, but it did absolutely break me. From the moment I read the synopsis of this book I knew it was going to break me. So much so that I wasn't sure if I would push myself to read it. I kept pushing off requesting it from my library since it was published over a half year ago. Fortunately, I have good friends. Every year Erica @ Erica Robyn Reads and I exchange a book for Christmas. And she got this for me because she saw it on my wishlist. I am so grateful that this is the book she gifted to me.
Let's start with the characters. I love Mara so much. She is conflicted with wanting to believe her best friend while also not wanting to believe her twin brother could do something so unforgivable. She knows what her gut is saying is true but it doesn't mean it isn't hard for her to accept what's happening. She also is very self aware and does everything in her power to not make it about her while also trying to sort out her own trauma she's been keeping secret that is now bubbling to the surface even more. I feel like after the initial shock settles in and she starts to come to terms with what happened to Hannah, she doesn't allow her love for her brother to cloud her instincts to do what's right for her friend. Mara also struggles with panic attacks and anxiety along with PTSD. I cannot speak towards the PTSD representation but I felt incredibly represented and seen when it came to Mara's anxiety and panic attacks. Being able to see pieces of yourself and your experiences is so validating and it made me feel even more in love with the book. Mara is also bisexual, like I am, and it's awesome to see bisexual representation in young adult books. I have been finding so many amazing bi rep in books and I am so happy for young readers to have these books in their lives. Mara also has a romance subplot with another character, a guy, and it allowed her to explore her feelings while also allow the author to bring up so many important conversations about bisexuality. Something else I really like is the amount of consent that is asked between Mara and this guy. He asks, "is this okay?", he waits for a reply, he stops when she tells him to. That kind of consent is so important to be shown just in books period, but definitely in a book where sexual assault is being discussed.
Not only is Mara having to deal with everything already stated above, but she's also having to deal with a recent breakup that has her confused. She's missing her girlfriend, Charlie, but because Mara made the decision to end the relationship she has conflicted feelings especially with the awkwardness between them. I am not sure what Charlie identifies with when it comes to sexuality (they only say that she is into girls) but Charlie also identifies as non-binary. I don't think I've read many non-binary characters so that representation was really great to see! I also really liked seeing that a bisexual character dating a non-binary character because it helps stop the stigma that bisexual people don't date outside of the male/female genders.
Owen is depicted so pure and sweet in the beginning of the story that it's really hard to believe that he could have raped Hannah. Before the incident and what happens comes to light Owen and Mara are really sweet together. They tell each other stories and are obviously incredibly close. Reading it in Mara's point of view knowing her undying love for her brother, her favorite person in the world, made you think that maybe it was all a mistake. But like Mara, the reader starts to see parts of Owen that are more hidden underneath his light funny personality. It makes it easier to believe that he maybe did do the acts he was accused of especially under the influence of alcohol. On top of that, Mara and Owen's mom handles the situation that is both disappointing and pretty realistic. Before the accusations, Mara's mom is known for being a feminist and wanting to basically smash the patriarchy. She thrives on raising a strong daughter and she is all about Mara using her voice to stand up for herself. But when the accusations are revealed she wants the family to have a united front. She wants Mara to stick to the story that her and her husband came up with to keep Owen out of trouble. She doesn't believe Hannah because it's her son and of course she couldn't have a son who would do something so violent. I get it, honestly. I understand (as much as I can, as a non-parent) the need to keep your kids safe. Sure, it's disappointing but it's the reality of what happens a lot. You really feel that disappointment and betrayal from Mara.
Hannah is this free spirit "hippie" character who loves Owen so much. The one thing I think I was missing with this story is honestly more Hannah. In the moments Mara has with her I feel their bond and friendship but I feel like I didn't get to know her other than the best friend/victim. I think her reactions to everything that happened to her is so reasonable and realistic. The hurt, betrayal, guilt, etc. Feeling guilt for pressing charges against Owen because of how much she still loves him. It was heartbreaking and raw. I just wish we got to know her more outside of being a rape victim.
I really loved Alex and he's another character I would have loved to get to know more. I think is loyalty to Owen made perfect sense. He was bullied as a kid because he was chubby and Owen stood up for him. He protected him. Alex feeling like he had to protect Owen from what was happening now made sense because he felt like he owed Owen his loyalty. It's morally grey and you can see both sides.
The topic of rape culture as a whole is something that is an important one to discuss, especially with young readers who may pick up this book. When I was in high school I picked up Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and honestly it meant a lot to me because of personal experiences. So having more really raw and well written stories discussing rape culture is so important. I think Ashley Herring Blake does an fantastic job, which I am not surprised about because she does so well with family dramas concerning hard topics. I loved her book How To Make A Wish.
Something I had to sit with for a while was the ending, and this may get spoiler-y so please skip this part completely to avoid spoilers. In the end we assume that Owen gets away with what he did. Hannah doesn't seem to want to press charges and although his family knows there's no way they're going to do something. I know that is something that is the reality for a lot of rape victims, seeing their rapists live their lives without consequences while they have to relive their traumas. So I'm not so upset at the way it was handled, because it's real. I think that left a bad taste in my mouth in the end was that Mara makes a comment that her twin connection with Owen will never be the same. And sure, I get it. It's her brother and she doesn't want to fully lose him. But he didn't just rape Hannah, and that in it's own right would be enough to cut him out of her life, but he also twisted the narrative to make Hannah seem like a crazy girlfriend. I know it was in self preservation because he was probably scared but the idea of being any kind of okay with him while being friends with Hannah makes me a bit uncomfortable. I know we didn't get a full conclusion, who knows maybe Owen does get some punishment or faces consequences for what he did. I just wish we got some sort of idea so it didn't look like Mara had planned on trying to patch things up with Owen while being friends with Hannah.
Overall, I highly recommend this book to everyone who feels like they can read these topics. It's such an important book about rape culture, victim blaming, the way schools, authorities, and police handle rape cases, and just because someone is well loved by many doesn't mean they can't do something terrible. If you can handle these topics, please pick up this book.
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