My review of Starless Sky by Paige Agnew!

About the book:

Life is funny sometimes. Little kids drop ice cream cones, people in general often run in to screen doors, there's even the occasional moment when one might trip going up the stairs. Kahlen could expect those things, deal with them even. But what she didn't expect, not even in her wildest, horrific nightmares, that just as something so terrible could happen, something so wonderful could follow after it.

When Kahlen Thomas has a difficult time dealing with the lost of her best and only friend, she has hopes that the new boy at school, Kennley Morgan, will be the perfect distraction from her pain. She slowly realizes that Kennley doesn't as much distract her from her problems as much as he adds to them because of his own interesting past.

My review:


Wow! It has been awhile since I've read a YA novel that had me so captivated that I kept thinking about the book even when I was supposed to be doing other things... like working. And the moment it came time to take lunch I was reading. As soon as I got home I was reading until I went to bed at night. I dare say I was pretty obsessed with this story. It was powerfully written and I was emotionally captivated through to the end. My heart even pounded at times when I was reading. It was like the story was my reality while I was reading it. The fact that the author is so young and is incredibly talented makes the novel even more amazing.

I rarely feel so connected to characters that I get anxious and breathless and fall in love right along with them. But this wasn't a typical teenage story. I was deeper in so many ways. Things were brought up that really make you think about life and what's important. I loved the message about dealing with fear and taking risks because in the end it's always worth it, even if you get hurt in the process. Pain causes growth and that is always a good thing.

I have to say the ending was absolutely perfect. I got choked up a number of times. When I read the epilogue I realized that this novel had just the right amount of tension. It also had a fantastic character arc, and the plot was simply enthralling. I fell in love along with Kahlen and I grieved with her, too. I felt her confusion and her continual teenage angst. It was perfectly done young adult fiction. The author had the voice down perfectly and all the drama that goes with being a teenager. I can't recommend this highly enough for people who love YA fiction and want to experience some realistic,and often intense emotion. I have found a new favorite author. This book is making my best fiction list for 2010 even though I read it in January 2011.

Starless Sky was published by Trafford Publishing and was released in January 2010.