Lets begin with how beautiful the cover is before we get serious. I love the sunflowers in the cover and the first thing I thought of when I saw the cover was Van Gogh, and how right I was.



This novel is about a young boy Klee (pronounced Clay) who's father (who was an artist and greatly inspired by Van Gogh) kills himself, Klee's this fact hard to deal with and he spends a couple of weeks in a psychiatric hospital working through what has happened. I'd like to warn now that if you have ever had any experience with suicide this could be a very hard book to read, and I know this from experience. I'm admitting a lot here to the great wide world of the internet, but my dad died when I was younger and this book managed to bring up a lot of feelings that I really didn't want to experience. If I'd know just how "triggering" this book would be it is unlikely I would have picked it up but since I started it before I realised I finished it, and not just because I felt I had to but because I found it really interesting to read about how Polisner portrayed the grief that is felt after experiencing a death in a family.

I felt I should explain my situation before I began my review.



Let us begin with Klee, basically he was messed up in the head. In more detail, Klee had witnessed some terrible things and because of it he wasn't well. I really liked how Polisner portrayed someone who has recently lost someone, it was very accurate (I wonder whether Polisner was able to do that due to extensive research or because she has experienced it herself?). I felt very strongly for Klee due to that fact that I have been in a similar situation (not the same but similar) and know how it feels, blaming yourself and everyone. Not feeling like you are loved, and finding it hard to make connections with people. From my own experiences, I cried at times when Klee was particularly effected by what had happened to him and felt equally happy in the moments he did as well. And during the second part of chapter Day 13 into 14 - Overnight into Morning, my heart basically swam. I felt all the emotion that Klee was putting into what he was doing.

Dr Alvares and Sister Teresa were wonderfully written characters, full of love and only wanting the best for Klee's future, they treated Klee how you would expect carers to treat someone who was working through a death. They were the type of people every child who has lost a parent should have to help get them through it.

All the characters felt very real and I felt strong connects to Klee as well as Sabrina and Martin (also in the psychiatric hospital), they all gave me the impression that perhaps Polisner has in fact had similar experiences and not just done a lot of research, but either way this is fabulously written book in the emotions it was portraying!



The structure I found to be slightly confusing, but not in any major way. The book was present day in the psychiatric hospital with many flashbacks, however in the pre-pub copy I had it wasn't very clear sometimes when it changed from present to past until names were mentioned though this may be different for a fully published, physical copy. The whole book was written from Klee's perspective and besides not quite catching when the flashbacks happened I enjoyed this novel greatly.

This novel was written very well, and I felt everything! It is beautiful, and portrays grief really quite well. I also could barely put it down after the usually taking time to get into the flow of a book, I stayed up much to late last night in order to try and finish it.

Now although this is a Young Adult book, again I'd like to warn that if you react badly to death/suicide, please be wary reading this book. I'm not saying don't, just be wary.

After tackling the aftermath of September 11th in her novel The Memory of Things, Gae Polisner brings us her latest book, In Sight of Stars, which follows high school senior, Klee (Clay) Alden. Klee is reeling from his father’s suicide the year before and we meet him in an opening scene of self-harm. Klee can’t forgive himself for not doing more to save his father and he blames his mother even more. He seeks solace in a young woman named Sarah, but he will learn that healing rooted in someone else is only a temporary salve.

The opening days are crafted to mirror Klee’s fog due to his trauma and subsequent medications. The narrative unfolds over the time he spends at the Adolescent Inpatient Center at Northhollow (aka the Ape Can). During this time, he also shares memories about the experiences that brought him to the brink where we first met him.

Klee is an artist, a connection that he shares with his father. Klee both wants to be like his father and is also terrified that he is like him. I think this is one of the most important aspects of the story. The struggle most face: the fear that we might turn into our parents. I appreciate that In Sight of Stars is exploring the complexities of this dynamic – that while loving your parent, there can still be tension of both wanting and also not wanting to be like them.

Their connection is also compounded by their relationship with Van Gogh – his father’s favorite artist. Van Gogh is connected to the title of the book, his paintings are woven throughout the novel, and sometimes he appears as a hallucinatory figure. Ultimately, he serves as the basic model for us of the “crazy artist” – Klee’s great fear. In order for Klee to pursue his art, must he also be willing to sacrifice his sanity?

Klee is contending with his father’s death, the fractured relationship with his mother, the isolation he feels from his best friends, and the romantic relationship he finds himself in. It is mostly through his relationship with Dr. Alvarez that Klee can begin healing, reminding us how important access to healthcare can be. Other YA novels published recently also explore mental illness, so I think this novel would fit in with a book study bringing greater self-awareness for teen readers about their own mental health – that it’s ok to ask for help, that one choice doesn’t determine the rest of your life, that the only thing any of us can ever do is keep moving forward because we are all doing the best that we can.

I loved this book. I was confused at the beginning, but we meet Klee (Clay), the main character, at a personally confusing time of life. VanGogh is his favorite artist, and it seems that Klee has tried to mimic VanGogh's famous ear cutting off antics. The story goes back and forth from that introduction to Klee's life leading up to that event, and we meet his parents, his girlfriend, his doctor, and a very special nun who guides Klee in the darkest of hours with games like CandyLand and stolen swims to cleanse his thoughts.

The book is so much more than it seemed at the beginning. I loved Klee's character, and was intrigued to read about his life up to that crucial moment. The truth unfolds slowly as Klee recovers in the "Ape Can" mental health facility, and Klee comes to realize that what he thought he knew and saw was really never the truth.

What a beautiful story. I am glad to have received a copy from Net Galley in exchange for a review.

In Sight of Stars by Gae Poliser is a young adult novel that will resonate deeply with teens and adults. Klee, (pronounced Clay), is grieving both the sudden loss of his father and his being uprooted from New York city life and transplanted in his final year of high school to a provincial northern suburb of New York. Polisner writes Klee’s internal monologues convincingly, her use of flashback and flash forward is intentional and makes the reader keep up with the pace of the story. This is a novel for mature teen readers (profanity, sex), but a novel that adults could read and ponder about. I read the book in one setting as I could not stop reading it and recommend that you plan to have time to devour it completely before you turn the first page.

Although fictional characters, they ring true with real life people and the reader will identify with and care about them. Strong female characters help Klee in his recovery. The humor and persistance of the Catholic nun is delightful and the perception of the mental health professional is uncanny. Both help Klee reach into his soul and rediscover himself. The use of the pool and healing therapy of water assist in his recovery. Art is a major factor in his life and his redemption.

Klee has been committed to a psychiatric facility as a result of his behavior. As the reader sees the world through Klee’s eyes, he/she can sense his fear and confusion about the events that led to his breakdown. He completely idolized and adored his father and feels alienated by his mother, who he calls the “Ice Queen”.

He hates the Ice Queen for moving him away from his school and friends in New York, and looks down on the people in his new suburb. He eventually comes to learn through the beautiful and seductive Sarah how aware the new high school classmates are of his disdain for his current setting. Klee makes no attempt to “fit in” but does hook up with Sarah’s free spirit and wild ways.

The closer Klee gets to the reason he was committed, the sooner he knows he can get out. As Klee dives deeper into therapy, he begins to learn how to cope and pick up the pieces of his broken life.

Eventually Klee uncovers pieces of his past that change the way he looks at his mother and father. Things are not always as they are percieved and the flashbacks allow us to follow along on his journey to discovering the truth about his family and his life. New facts give different interpretations to old memories.

The references to VanGogh’s life and paintings are an interesting subplot in the story. Since VanGogh is one of my favorite artists, I was familiar with his life history and the significance of the paintings included.

The reference to the book Zoom is metaphorical to the message of the book. Often we fail to look at the complete picture, we focus on a very small part of the whole. If we zoom out and look at all of the many factors that are making up a picture, life, or story, then we can put together what is really happening to the individuals involved. Klee and his family are parts of a larger segment of society and what happens to them is intertwined in misunderstanding and miscommunication. It’s hard to search for and find the truth, but Klee is a survivor that manages to put it all together and move on. Something for all of us to strive to do in our own lives.

A young adult book with a males pov. This book deals woth mentsl illnesses

This is wonderfully written at least about what I have read so far.
I'll be honest, it didn't grab me at first, but the more I read, the more the words jumped out at me and the more I began to appreciate Klee (Clay).
I can't wait to finish this.

I'm automatically drawn to every book involving mental illnesses I encounter, so when I found this one, I knew that I had to read it.

Disappointingly, In Sight of Stars was, plain and simply, okay. While I enjoyed the concepts and plot arcs, I couldn't help but feel a noticeable sense of detachment to all that went on.

The book slowly reveals what happened to Klee (pronounced Clay, and no I never got around to instinctively saying it correctly in my head) that brought him into the mental hospital he stays at as he overcomes his present-time struggles. All the build-up, and I kind of just blinked when Klee finally gets around to revisiting his recent breaking point. Granted, a lack of general interest in what was happening contributed to my overall non-reaction, but I really don't have much to say about it.

Props to the author for tackling internal struggles, and despite this being a shrugs read for me, it's definitely really nice that some people are connecting with this work.

Sending my thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC :)))

This story was raw ,painful, and beautiful. Readers can get informed by so much thanks to Klee about dealing with too much. I loved that he realized he needed to find happiness and love in himself. GO KLEE!

I always think that the good books are the ones where you kind of forget you're reading and there are other things gong on in your life. They're all-consuming. I definitely did that with this one. I kept thinking about it at work; when I was out and about and I'm still thinking about it now.
It tells the story of seventeen year old Klee (pronounced Clay), and his struggles with some pretty traumatic stuff. It deals with suicide, loss, the fucked-upness of first love (or maybe I should say 'that first fucked-up love'?), as well as 'the usual' trasitions to adulthood - if any of those can be classed as 'the usual'.
The opening chapter throws us right in at the crucial scene and the rest of the book really unpicks Klee's life to figure out how we got to that point - in true Vonnegutian style Polisner really starts in the crux of the action and then drips in the rest for us to figure out.
The basically follows Klee's recovery from a breakdown. The narrative style is really clever and is used to great effect. It begins in a disjointed and confusing way - dialogue, dream and action blurring into one (impressionistic) noise which strikingly and personally quite painfully depicts the overwhelmingness of being in the middle of severe mental illness.
As Klee recovers, the narrative style gradually clears up. The flashbacks go from flicking in and out of the present action, so separate paragraphs then they ultimately become dialogue between Klee and his therapist and we come out of Klee's head into his reality. It's very impressively done.
The references to Van Gough and art throughout are wonderful - and it's great to see an artistic protagonist whose temperament and inner voice so perfectly reflects the reality of that.
As you can probably tell, this book really struck a chord with me. And I suspect it will stay with me for a good while to come. The more I think about it, the more lightbulb moments I have. The fables that are used, the symbolic stuff - beautiful. Though I'm still pondering 'Annie'.
At first I wasn't keen on Sarah as a character - and actually I'm still not - but I also see how she's just really a device to show how desperate Klee is to have something good in his life and how he wants to feel wanted. I thought she could have been a little more fleshed out as she does sort of pop out as a MPD cutout at times (I know another review mentioned that, though I tried not to let that influence my reading of her). Though now I've finished the book I realise this is not her story. I'd like to know more about how she came to be the way she is... it's actually great to see the 'dream girlfriend' character be more real - not just either TOO wonderful, or secretly evil. I guess she's the latter a little (though we could see that all along, even if Klee couldn't) - so I do like how the whole relationship arc is left at the end.
All in all, this is a beautiful, sad and traumatic story, but ultimately uplifting and healing.

Excellent story! Fast paced, this book can definitely be completed in one sitting. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Our main character Klee is brutally honest. At only 17, he has faced grief, trauma, and adversity. At the heart of the book is the idea we most often see what we want, what is easiest. The truth is so unclear sometimes. Particularly when it concerns loved ones. We can twist reality to match our ideas of our life story. The difficult part is removing those rose colored glasses and living in our true story, not just the one we dreamed for ourselves.

Although definitely in the YA category, I recommend In Sight of Stars for all readers looking for an authentic account about youth, mental illness, and forgiveness.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

In Sight of Stars is a young adult novel that chronicles Klee’s journey from trauma to self harm to the psych ward.

I was really interested by the story and the narrative of a teenager in the midst of a mental health crisis. However, the narrator was confusing, too abstract, and extremely hard to follow.

The comparison and inclusion of Vincent Van Gogh was unique, but not for me.

Synopsis: 17-year-old Klee's dad dies tragically and then other bad things happen and he has a breakdown and goes to psychiatric ward. This book is him pulling himself back together.

this book. Was.

Beautiful.

I'm already casting actors for the film (Dylan O'Brien as Klee you know I'm right). The prose is honestly GORGEOUS, so clear and realistic and personal!!!!!!! She makes Klee's mental health struggle FEEL SO REAL. It's the perfect length, perfect everything, the setting, the dialogue, and Klee's relationship with his best friend Cleto is amazing/subtle/sweet. It's even better than Klee's relationship with girlfriend Sarah. I wish there were more Cleto but that's OK because the book is amazing.

There's nothing bad to say about this book. And I'm normally not a huge fan of contemporary YA??? It's already getting 4/5 on Goodreads. & I'm without doubt going to read more of Gae's work because she's one of my new favorites.

**thank you to The NetGalley team at St. Martin's Press for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review

Interesting format and full of a lot of content that would make this more appropriate for older teens. Deep story and heartbreaking moments. The format was tough for me though.

DNF at 30%. Will post my full review closer to the release date, but here are my post-reading thoughts, as seen on Goodreads:

Whoops, I ended up not finishing this one. The choppy writing, manic pixie dream girl trope, and confusing AF narration were too much for me. At least I managed to uphold my 30-percent-before-I-quit rule.

‪Amazing, beautiful, heartbreaking, and uplifting all in one. I loved the characters, the art tie-ins. Sister Agnes Teresa—I loved her! A book that needs to be shared with young adults. Thanks for writing it.‬

Powerful, raw., emotion filled, & poignantly beautiful with the multitude of references to stories & artwork (including so many connections to my favorite, Van Gogh). I will be processing this story for many days and I’m sure the characters will stay with me forever.

Others have described this novel as a departure from Gae’s usual writing style, but I feel like she has found her niche. Well done, Mrs. Polisner. Well done indeed.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy. Publishing date: March 13, 2018

Books about teens with mental illness are hit or miss for me. Usually not very good and full of cliches, but every now and then a true keeper comes along. This latest tale from Gae Polisner is definitely one of the latter.
Klee's had a lot to deal with in his young life. Not only did his dad kill himself, but Klee was the one to find him afterwards. His mom, hoping for a fresh start, uproots them from his beloved New York City. He doesn't really fit in at his new school and basically resigns himself to just getting by until he graduates and can begin a new life.
But then he meets Sarah. And everything changes. She becomes his reason for being. She's his polar opposite. And he can't imagine his life without her. Sarah, however, isn't as commital. Eventually it all becomes too much for Klee and he makes a desperate attempt to end the pain he's feeling.
This author does an outstanding job of taking us inside Klee's head, imagining what he must be thinking and feeling. So much trauma at such a young age...leading up to the incident and his recovery period afterwards.
A word of warning: Although this one is classified as young adult, I'd suggest it for the older end of the spectrum. The message is important but it's pretty sexually descriptive. An insightful story!

I really liked the set up of this book. I enjoyed not knowing why Clee was committed and seeing the story go back and forth to the eventual reveal.

Finally, a book that deals with mental health that brings hope to the reader. As somebody with severe mental health issues, I appreciate the chaos of Klee’s thoughts and think this book will be very popular due to it’s realistic approach to mental health.

I received an advance uncorrected proof version, and I first want to say that I am so glad that I did. I needed to say that before I made my first statement. When I chose this book, I wanted to love it, but when I started reading, I questioned whether I would actually finish it. Not one to reread when I am confused, I quickly realized that I was going to have to read carefully and thoughtfully to follow the diverging thoughts of Klee, the main character. I wanted to put together the puzzle of Klee’s mind before the author was willing to give me all of the pieces.

But I kept reading because I quickly became invested in Klee. In finding out what caused the straw to break the camel’s back, and then in understanding how it got to that point. Gae Polisner created such a realistic teenage mind. One that YA readers and adults alike will find themselves relating to.

As an educator, I can image so many different students seeing themselves in Klee, because I saw so many of my students in him. I loved that while this book has an incredibly serious tone and tackles the highly emotional and heavy topic of mental health, it does so without causing the reader to wallow in sadness. Too many YA stories focus on creating tears. This book creates hope, without being trite or corny. No matter who they are, what they look like, or where they live, young adults NEED this story in their lives.