The Weight of the Stars

SHUT UP MY QUEER SPACE GEEK HEART WAS RUINED BY THIS

the relationships in this book were only built because of the main characters bullying and abuse towards others and like that was never addressed? Like they all just forgave her/brushed it off. Even the teacher purposefully pulled her aside to ask her to more or less invade the new students space to get them to “open up to her peers” but all she did was annoy/bully her?

Also when did she ever want to go space? The ending was... off. Just a weird and odd book.

“Things happen in this town that are difficult to describe and difficult to live through. It's almost like it's a magnet that pulls things from the periphery that could never exist anywhere else. You are incredibly rare, and now you're here. In this unremarkably remarkable town. In the right place and the right time for whatever will happen.”


Wow. I feel like a majority of my five star book reviews start with that. K. Ancrum gave us something so beautiful and tender.

Ryann has always dreamt of being among the stars but due to circumstance felt that it was out of her grasp. Often pegged as a problem child she is providing for her brother and his son. Alexandria is new at school and refuses to connect with those around her. After an incident involving both girls Ryann is tasked to take on Alexandria's nightly routine - catching radio signals from her mother who just happens to be in space.

Even with a large cast of characters I did not feel disconnected from this story. K. Ancrum's writing has the ability to make you feel like you're a part of this group. You're feeling for your friends. You are desperately wanting what is best for them even if you may not know what that looks like.

Also that author's note just made me feel a whole lot.

Gosh, this book was good. It did take me a few chapters to get into, especially since it starts with bullying. I'm not sure how or why she thought that was the way to go. It was hard to put down though and the characters won over my heart. Halfway through the book I knew I was going to love it. 

I will admit, the ending had me confused at first. I was even tearing up and crying as I tried to read all the way to the end and I'll take that happy ending which forced even more tears from my eyes. This is an absolutely lovely, magical book. 

Honestly idk how I'm rating this so low after a) reading the lovely heartfelt author's note at the end and b) really enjoying Ancrum's first book but I just.....didn't like this.

The jagged, mini-chapter writing style, which worked so well in The Wicker King, just didn't do the characters and story justice this time around. It meshed so well with the nature of The Wicker King's story—it felt like just another insight into the characters and what they were going through. But it didn't make sense to me for The Weight of Stars and its characters. I finished this book without a true sense of who Ryann and Alexandria are, let alone the side characters, who sort of just blended together into one amorphous blob of teenage rebellion and angst.

Nothing about this book affected me. Not the characters with sad backstories and sadder friends. Not the found family dynamic, not the space travel, not even the WLW romance. I just could not connect with any of it—the whole time I was reading this book I felt like I was being held a 7-foot-tall-person's arm's length from the story. There were words on the page about feelings but I didn't feel any of them. And the only thing I feel now is SAD because I really expected to enjoy this. I do still really appreciate Ancrum's books, and think they're important for the YA crowd to read. This one just wasn't for me. Maybe the next one will be.