See All the Stars is a thoroughly impressive debut novel from Kit Frick that explores themes of toxic friendship, young love, and finding oneself. A powerful coming-of-age tale, this young adult contemporary manages to be unexpectedly fun despite being laced with dark themes, and I couldn't be more pleased to be sharing my thoughts with you today as part of the blog tour leading up to its release.

Told in a dual timeline structure (my forever weakness), See All the Stars explores the multifaceted friendship of Ellory, Bex, Jenni, and Ret: their strengths and the cracks in their armor while they were together, as well as the aftermath of the catastrophic event that tore them all apart. The plot certainly kept me on my toes and guessing throughout, but it's worth noting that See All the Stars is first and foremost a character-driven novel. All of the characters are intriguingly flawed, and it's riveting to watch their personalities clash against one another. The female friendships in this book run deep and true, but there's undoubtedly an undercurrent of toxicity; think Pretty Little Liars or We Were Liars or even Gossip Girl. Ellory is constantly pulled back into Ret's orbit, even when she acknowledges just how manipulative the other girl is being. And Ellory herself isn't entirely innocent. She's a gem of a protagonist, and she isn't above getting her hands dirty with lies of her own if she can convince herself they're for the better.

I'm still baffled that this is Frick's debut novel; it's hard to tell from her gorgeous writing style. The prose is almost lyrical, and it's wonderfully evocative in both the past and present threads. A blissful naïveté colors the events of the previous year as Ellory explores her first relationship and its effects on her closest friendships, and there's a hazy detachment that permeates her senior year as she tries to come to terms with the horrible ending of the year before. Rich metaphors breathe another layer into the characters and their relationships; I especially loved the recurring constellation-themed allusions to Ellory, Bex, Jenni, and Ret's friendship, making See All the Stars really earn its title. I also loved the motif of the opening lines of the famed Robert Frost poem, which starts as an inside joke between Ellory and Ret and yet comes to symbolize all of the choices and roads not taken by the end of the novel.

The twist at the ending is two-pronged and executed well, and I thought it made for a very fitting conclusion to Ellory's story. I will say that I felt the parts leading up to it were rather predictable and fell somewhat flat, but that didn't take away from the impact of the overall reveal and how impressed I am that Frick was able to pull it off seamlessly.

I had a blast with Kit Frick's debut novel, which is rich with lyrical prose, engaging themes, and vivid characters. I'll be eagerly on the lookout for more of her work in the future, but in the meantime, I highly recommend giving See All the Stars a shot!

Very enjoyable book that will keep your attention from the very first page to the last. You just have to keep reading to what find out what happens to Ellory and yes you will have to read it for yourself in order to find out. Definitely worth picking up but know that you will loose chunks of time as you are engrossed by this thrilling story. Happy reading!

This is hard to review. See All the Stars is a coming of age story that switches back and forth between two distinct time frames - the then and the now. The then is before the fall and the now is the "current" time, almost a year later. The title is a mix between classic YA or contemporary and murder mystery thrillers and layers tensions masterfully. The book is a journey for the main character, Ellory, and her release and acceptance of the event of the fall and aftermath in the after. Because of the alternating chapters, it's clear what the fallout was over, and the tension and suspense get ramped up as the layers get peeled away. Recommended!

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A gorgeously written story about first love, loss and friendship.

Blurbs that compare a book to other books are always dancing on a thin line and can fall into spoiler territory pretty quickly. I somehow managed to ignore that first line of the description until I was about halfway through, but then it hit me. Does that mean…? It didn’t ruin the story, but took away from the mystery a bit.

The story is centered around Ellory May and her group of friends: Ret, Bex and Jenni. Their borderline toxic relationship is explored in depth as Ellory switches back and forth between then and now. The before and the after. This is not your typical frenemy story, however. There’s a fine line between someone feeling lost and insecure lashing out and one being outright manipulative for the sake of drama, and for quite a long time I was not sure just what to make of these girls.

The budding romance between Ellory and Matthias is pretty vanilla, and despite them being together for about nine months, it always seemed kind of innocent and cute. Until of course it wasn’t… Their relationship is not free of difficult moments, but they don’t center around some stupid love triangle or steamy drama, but happen because teenagers are not always equipped to deal with shit life throws at them. I loved how the author laid out their emotions so clearly, and yet Ellory refused to see the signs. Choosing to ignore what’s right in front of us is one thing many of us can relate to.

Ellory is a lovely girl with dreams of living in Portland and studying art, a clear plan for the future I found admirable, and a set of parents who are, in her words, annoyingly present. We never really meet them, but it’s clear they are involved in her life and are supporting, gently steering her down the path of self sufficiency.

One thing I particularly liked was the Ellory’s unapologetic mention of her therapist she started seeing after everything happened. She treats her visits as a necessary and helpful way to overcome her trauma, and never as a taboo, or something she should think of as a sign of weakness. Why should she? Therapy, and getting help for one’s mental health should never be something one should be ashamed of.

I wouldn’t say this was a thriller though. See All the Stars is more like a slow burning, character driven mystery, and while certainly suspenseful on occasion, the emphasis is on the emotions, not so much on the actions. There’s a lot of dreaming and wallowing going on, but it’s understandable under the circumstances and I found it conveying the story in a way that will hit you in the feels.

Looks like it is time for another positives versus negatives, because that seems to be the best way to organize this book. I want to give you more background, but... I think just reading the synopsis is sufficient? Short version: Ellory used to have friends and a boyfriend, now, not so much. And it's for reasons, which is what this story uncovers, basically. There you go, you're very welcome.

The Things I Liked:

Ellory did grow quite a bit as a character as the story went on. That's always nice, especially since she really, really needed to. I mean, she had these friends, but she didn't even seem to like them, so much as need them? Like a crutch? Anyway, she does go through some great character development.

The reveals did, in fact, surprise me. That is hard to do, so I am glad the book was able to!

The Things I Didn't:

I do fully understand why Ellory was upset, but I couldn't help but think that she was better off without these characters? Ugh, they just made me mad all over the place. Don't get me wrong, Ellory did too, but at least I felt a modicum of sympathy for her? They were just pretty boring, and what wasn't boring about them was crappy, so basically I wouldn't have wanted to be friends with any of them. My inner dialogue was mostly like "well Ellory, you dodged a bullet here, my friend".

It just seemed to drag at times. Even though it was a relatively quick read, it was just so underwhelming for me. By the end, while I did appreciate some of the twists/outcome, I was just too over it to care. Which I don't think has ever happened to me before, first time for everything? Is shocked apathy a thing? It is now.

Nirvana Effect™. I know this is probably more of a personal trope hate, but wow I am not a fan of the Nirvana Effect™.

Bottom Line: If you can get on board with the characters, you may enjoy the twists. I, however, could not.

No matter what device I try to access the title the PDF wont open correctly. I really wanted to read and I'm disappointed that I cant access the title. I only gave it a star rating because it wouldn't let me post my review otherwise.

Update: I had to download and create a Adobe Digital Editions account and then I was able to receive the title. For anybody having issues with downloading that should help.

Update: I went to read and the book was expired. Meanwhile it’s not even released in the States. Going forward I’m sticking to kindle only books.

I received an eARC from Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
3 stars.
It was just ok for me. I dont really have anything good or bad to say about it. It was just a middle read for me. I just couldn't get invested in it as much as I wanted.

See All the Stars was no less than a movie or a show. I went into reading this without any expectations or pre-knowledge and it totally surprised me. I loved this book.

This story is about Ellory, a senior year student, and her life in Junior year. The book is basically written in two parts (not divided into two parts). The first part is about the present life of Ellory in senior year and second part talks about her past as a junior year student. Both the parts are well connected and we get to see the interlinks between past and present and also how Ellory’s past affected her present life decisions.

Ellory’s life in junior year was perfect. She was part of a group of 4 girls along with Ret, Bex, and Jennie. Ret was kind of mastermind of the group and she manipulated everyone as per her wish. I totally get the vibes of Pretty Little Liars here. Remember Alison from that group? Yeah, I resonated Ret with Alison so much. Ellory always felt as if she was favorite of Ret. When Matthias enters into Ellory’s life, her frequency changes with her friends as she wanted to spend more time with her boyfriend. But at that time too, she was closest to Ret and shared every secret to her. But she later finds out that this is not true with Ret, however.

Kit Frick has perfectly unveiled the events of pasts along with the present day scenes. I really liked the writing style of the author. The author has portrayed many serious topics in this book like parental neglect, unhealthy friendships, drug abuse among others. Making a story with all kind of issues is not always easy but the author has perfectly captured the whole essence of troubled teen lives.

This story is hugely based on characters and no character is perfect. Every one of them is flawed and complex. Ellory is a relatable character who loves art and working with metal and her dream is to get admission in her dream college in an art program. She is an only child with loving, protective parents. When Ret becomes her friend, Ellory is like a blank slate who is willing to be transformed by Ret’s in order to get her total attention. Her decisions were affected by Ret’s perspective. I loved how realistically this friendship was depicted.

Ret has a negligent mother and her life is twisted in its own way. She like to control everyone in their friendship group. Jenni is fond of cooking and always arranges night-out at her place but her parents also were almost out-of-focus. Matthias family was twisted and he never allowed Ellory to enter in his life. Basically, none of the families were portrayed as happy or good and maybe that’s because we get to see so many issues with those teens.

The biggest lesson that this story gives is how to work on hard things and how to fight your fears. You should be capable enough to learn from your own mistakes and should learn to forgive yourself. This story tells how one action of someone can cause the reactions which were never meant to happen in the first place.

The ending of the novel is the biggest point for it. Basically, the ending has two twists. While the first twist was predictable from the mid of the book itself, I never thought about the second twist. It was a total surprise for me and finally was a factor that made me like this book even more.

Though the story was entertaining and suspense was quite good, I felt as if it was little long and was kind of dragged out. I think that sometimes the past was moving too slowly and the book could have been much shorter. Also, the romance was not the strongest point of the story. I never shipped Matthias and Ellory. From the beginning itself, their relationship felt too rushed and forced. Matthias never seems that interested while Ret was trying to prove her importance to him.

Overall, this book is a complex and captivating read which definitely has the potential to keep the readers hooked till the end. The writing of Kit Frick is really good and with the complex and layered characters, she has added a magic to the story. The final twist was definitely worth waiting. This book makes you feel connected to Ellory and her emotions on so many levels. I was really impressed with this story and I hope to read more from Kit Frick in the future.

-If you asked me what exactly drew me to See All The Stars, I wouldn't know what to say because I can't remember why I added the book to my TBR pile. I went into the story without reading the summary and was thrilled to find an enjoyable story and a strong debut.

-This book is a mystery told in past and present about what happened between four girls that tore them apart. I'm going to try and keep the review as vague as possible so I don't give too much away. The writing and the progression of the mystery kept me on the edge of my seat in See All The Stars. The "then and now" chapters drew my attention and managed to hold it throughout the entirety of this book. It was not the most twisty or suspenseful book and it was easy for me to figure out what tore the girls apart, but the journey to revelation was written well.

-The primary protagonist in See All The Stars is Ellory. We see and hear the story through her lens. She was an interesting character but something about her had me suspicious all throughout. This was great because this only made me flip through the pages of the book faster because I wanted to know if my intuitions were right. Kit Frick made sure that her every emotion was relatable from her anger to her happiness to her grief. It was quite an experience being inside this girl's head because she captured so much of what it was like to be a teenager.

-The other characters were also well-developed though no one made that great of an impression on me. What I did find memorable were the different relationships, particularly the friendship between Ellory, Bex, Jenn, and Ret. It was fascinating to see all sorts of facets to these relationships - you find support, love, jealousy, and anger. All aspects that are parts of many friendships.

-There was also a romance here that Ellory found. I wasn't particularly fond of it and found that it did nothing for me. It wasn't a romance that I swooned over, unfortunately.

-See All The Stars was an engaging read and I highly recommend it to YA readers looking for a book that explores teenagers and friendships with a decent mystery. I will be looking forward to more from this author.

I am sure that a lot of people that will read this book will love it.

But sadly i just read to many books telling a very similar story - toxic friendships between girls, bad things that happen that destroys friendships, told in past/now plotting...- and there was just not that one thing that stood out to me that made this book go from "its okay" to "this is great".

Everything was good.

The writing is good, the characters are okay, the plotting and structure of this book are good -even if some sections feel very dragged out in my option and could have been cut short- and the big "Plot twist" of what happened was very predictable and nothing new but at the same time not done bad just not done fantastically well.

So all in all its a good book.

And if you are not a huge read of this type book/genre i am sure you will enjoy this book.

But i just felt like there was the little something special missing in this book that would make this book stand out to me personally and i just know that in a few weeks i will have no idea anymore about the details in the book since it just felt like the very generic "friendship gone bad" type of book to me.

I am however interested to see what else this author will be doing, so we'll see what the future brings, and we will see if the next book by this author might be a better fit for me personally!

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-"
"I took the one back to you."

     See All the Stars may be Kit Frick's first work, but she is already very seasoned at writing a jaw dropping ending.

     The book is told primarily through Ellroy's perspective in a divided narrative between NOW and THEN. NOW depicts a time where Ellroy must live out her senior year bearing the consequences of THEN, her junior year. Through the course of venturing between NOW and THEN, readers are able to piece together what is haunting Ellroy. 

      The swirling teen angst, high school drama, and the general dark edginess of this book provide a clear indication that this work was primarily geared towards a young adult audience. As I read the first few chapters, I was intrigued with Ellroy's story and was eager to learn what had affected her life so greatly.


      I settled into the first third of the book which was dedicated to describing Ellroy's relationship with her friends Ret, Bex, and Jenni in THEN to contrast her circumstances in NOW. They didn't particularly stand out as characters other than the emphasis that they were all tied together through Ret's whims. Ellroy's romantic relationship with Matthias marked a great distinction between Ellroy's primarily female interactions and showed how Ellroy was undergoing rites of passage in her own way by slowly realizing the toxicity of her bond with Ret. The second half of the book led to some predictable avenues and conventional teenage conversations. THEN remained a particularly engaging narrative, yet NOW seemed to become a series of repetitions. 

     Until the last third of the book. 

     When you finish See All the Stars, you understand where the author was going with her story. It's the moment when you see through all the subtle hints that Frick littered around the book like nuggets of foreshadowing. What seems to be a quintessential YA mystery/thriller novel which was told in a steady narrative turns completely on its head at the end. 

     As I've mentioned before in previous reviews, I love nothing better than the unexpected and when books lead you to an unforeseen ending. With these type of endings I always imagine authors saying "GOTCHA!" or something among those lines. I'm never one for spoilers but I will say that I really liked the idea that the past, and our regrets, shadow us and we can only move forward by forgiving ourselves. Frick embodied this idea through Ellroy and incorporated the concept as cathartic method for Ellroy to merge THEN and NOW to ultimately come to terms with herself.  

"Whoever said that time heals all wounds didn't know what he was talking about. Time dulls the wounds, makes them bearable. But it doesn't patch you up and send you on your way, good as new. 

I'm the only one who can make that happen. And it's freaking hard."

I’m giving See All the Stars a 4/5 stars. I just finished the book, and I am feeling so many emotions. I didn’t see that last plot twist, if you will, at all. It threw me so off balance, yet it makes so much sense. See All the Stars follows Ellory in the past and present, before and after a turning point in her life. You follow her as her life leads up to it and as she tries to recover from it. This book was fantastic. While it wasn’t the most interesting book in the entire world, it still had something that made me keep reading. I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a darker contemporary read.

This is the story of 4 girls whose friendship implodes after *something* happens in their junior year of high school. A lot of foreshadowing in the parts leading up to the *big event* and a lot of 20-20 hindsight try to build suspense that ultimately results in a let-down when what happens is actually revealed. The friendships weren't focused on enough to make the reader invested in them and impacted when they blew up. Really, this book felt like a run of the mill YA book with nothing really unique to offer. And, similar to how I have felt about a lot of books recently, the need to continue the story past the natural end and over explain things was a bit tedious.

A story of Then and Now showing just how much has changed in a year and how one's actions can have a lasting impact.

Ellory Holland is a rather reserved teenager who lives a simple life by following her friend Ret's lead. She was meek Then but it most certainly awkward and reserved Now and the other girl's lives have all changed from one year to the next.
Jenni Randall is Ret's oldest friend and is not fond of Ellory. Jenni is the type who dreams of being a wife and mother - the exact opposite of Ret.
Bex is headstrong, free-willed and the newest addition to the group. She does not seem to be as dependent on Ret as the other two, but still seeks her approval.
Margaret 'Ret' Johnston, the 'sun' they all revolve around and a rather controlling young woman. She is the one they all follow and she seems to live for their devotion.

The story flicks between time, the Then and Now, making it a little difficult to follow. I personally think it is best to read in one this book in one sitting, especially if you are one who loses track of the plot easily. I thought the writing was good but the plot was, in my opinion, somewhat bland. It was similar to other contemporary YA books in that the bully/problem character is one of the main character's friends but they do not see that what their bully/problem friend is wrong until it is made flashing neon light, fireworks and loud obnoxious music obvious. It was clear from the first page that Ret was going to be the "problem" character, I just did not yet know in what way.
I was actually thrown off by the ending. Thinking back over the story now, the signs were all there but I did not see it coming. However, I did not like it. I can understand why it was done that way and I suppose it does sort of fit the story, it is just not how I was expecting it to go and I did not like how it wrapped up the drama of the book.

Overall, I liked the book but I was not overly keen on all the story elements. I will say it is worth reading as I think my not-so-positive feelings towards the book are more personal rather than a reflection on the quality of the book.

I have somewhat mixed feelings about this book. The plot was fairly predictable for me, although I am far from the target YA audience. And the twist I had figured out. But the emotions and the characters were great. At times I found the progression slow, but it picked,up as the book went along. Ellory was such a real character for me I was definitely invested and pushed through. There were definitely pros and cons for me, but overall I enjoyed See All the Stars. 3.5 Stars

2 stars

I’ve been having a really good track record with YA mystery/thrillers (especially debuts) so far in 2018, so this ended up being a really huge disappointment for me. None of them have dipped below 2.5 stars & some just totally blew me away.

Until this.

The summary is honestly kind of vague. Ellory loses her friends and her boyfriend & is tormented by something. But besides that, I’m just at a loss at what the main point is supposed to be, even after reading the book.

The best way I can describe it is like E. Lockhart’s Genuine Fraud. Pretty non-linear (has a then-now alternating format rather than all backwards) and you’re just kind of reading exposition after exposition after exposition until the big reveals in the last 100 pages.

I just wasn’t thrilled. I wasn’t really interested and I didn’t really care about the characters and it all just merged into a subpar experience because I just wasn’t invested.

I feel like the main problem I had with connecting & enjoying this book was that we weren’t given enough juicy things to latch onto as we read through all the background. It didn’t feel suspenseful, and it didn’t feel like Frick was dropping a lot of hints.

There’s so much background and rumination and talking about the friend group, and I just felt like not enough physical things happened. Ellory wasn’t annoying, but I also didn’t relate or connect.

I feel like Frick tried to get us to connect with her, especially by adding the part about art and being good at metalworking, but it never really clicked with me and she felt really bland.

Plus, I felt like the whole friendship group was just bleh. Half of the exposition is about the after and is basically Ellory just being a pariah, but the other half of the exposition is talking about the friend group she had and the boyfriend she had.

And I just didn’t like her friends. There is a total of 1 person in this entire book that I actively liked, and that was Bex, who was the sweet mediator of the group. But Jenni was just mean and Ret was manipulative and Ellory was boring and none of them clicked. I couldn’t get what made Ellory so fixated on staying with these girls even though she didn’t really like any of them.

And when this book is super fixated on Ellory and her friend group, it just didn’t end up working. It felt slow and a lot like the same things were being rehashed over and over again.

Similarly, Matthias, the guy Ellory falls in love with, is meh also and I wasn’t really shipping them.

In some ways, this is a book about grief, but it also wasn’t really. I usually cry when I read books about grief because loss (of people or friendships or things) is sad and it hurts and you relate to the MC. But in this, the grief about what Ellory lost was obscured in a way that really negated the impact of being a book about grief.

You’re basically reading this book to find out what big event made their friend group fall apart and made Ellory a pariah, and for me it was slow and I predicted 1/2 of the plot twists.

The second one was only a little surprising, but I wasn’t blown away by Frick’s manipulations.

Overall, I just didn’t really end up enjoying this and it wasn’t for me. It was too dragged out, too long, and too predictable for me to get into, and I didn’t relate with anyone. I feel like most people are better off skipping to the last 100 pages, but if it does appeal to you, I think you should still try and check it out!

While this story was reminiscent of We Were Liars, the execution was not as well done. I had a hard time getting into the book mostly because I didn't like any of the characters. My dislike only grew as the story went on but I was determined to find out what happened and tie up loose ends. Leading up to the big reveal, if that's what you want to call it, I started to piece it together and the last half of the book was very predictable. There were hints and foreshadowing throughout the present and past story lines that made the ending more than a little anticlimactic. I think this book would be more appealing to someone who has never read We Were Liars. Even so, it held my attention until the end and that is no small achievement.

I had a hard time rating this book because on one hand, I couldn’t put it down, and on the other hand, it dragged so badly at some points that had I not wanted to figure out what happened, I would have DNF’d and moved on.

But I needed to know. Despite the blatant toxicity of the friendships in this book, despite so-so characters, and a shrug of a love story, that hint of a good mystery was all I needed to push forward. No spoilers and I should have seen it coming because the book comparisons alone were enough to give it away. Do yourself a favor and DON’T read the full Goodreads synopsis from the top.

If you read this book for what it’s marketed as, you’ll be disappointed. If you read this book for what it really is, an ode to friendship and a navigating through loss (whether it’s of friendship or tragedy) you won’t be disappointed.

At its heart, See All the Stars is a gripping mystery that explores the complexity of friendship and how toxic relationships can shape us into who we are and it might not be what you desired for yourself. When you let someone take the reins of your life and lead, you might not be happy where you end up. This book is about 4 friends who are all connected by their fiercely independent and adventurous ringleader, Ret. Ret is the center of their universe and without her leadership, the girls have nothing in common, so you can see where the drama comes into play. Lies, punishment, pitting the girls against each other is all part of Ret’s hold. The story is from Ellory’s POV. She’s really into metalworking and dealing with some stuff. Her world revolves around Ret in a very unhealthy, almost obsessive fixation. She checks her actions against Ret and looks to her to see how she responds. Why Ret has such power over these girls is a mystery. When Ellory starts to pull away things quickly go downhill and in comes the romance.

As romance goes, this one was kind of bland. There wasn’t any real fire, not even really a connection-it just was. Don’t get me wrong, at times there was really beautiful writing and gorgeous metaphors but the words did not match up with the actual feelings between the characters-or at least, it didn’t read that way. The emotions weren’t there.

I liked that the story was told between the past and present. Towards the end it all collides and it gets a little confusing. I had to reread one section because I wasn’t sure whether it was in the past. There are flashbacks in the now sections as well.

There’s colossal build up. Tension is high because as the reader you know something terrible happened but not the magnitude. When you get to the end everything suddenly makes sense with startling clarity.

See All The Stars is one of my favourite book this year! It was a tough read because everything about this book feels real. I couldn't stop reading the book once I start; IT'S THAT GOOD.

Grief and betrayal are not new topics in young adult but there's something about this book that made you feel like you're part of the story. I think the author did a good job in showing us how to work through these feelings and that it's ok to take your time. This book definitely teach you one or two things about facing your mistakes and learn to forgive yourself.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

THEN it's the summer before junior year, and Ellory has everything going for her - three best friends who are her whole universe, a boy she meets and starts to falls for, and plans for her future.

NOW it's the star of senior year, and Ellory's world has imploded because of secrets. Following an extended suspension (reason unknown), she has to start over all alone back at Pine Brook High School. Outcast and feared by most, Ellory walks the halls and suffers through classes while wrecked with guilt over everything she's lost.

Told in alternating time periods, readers will piece together the destruction of Ellory's life as she knew it.

THOUGHTS: The mystery of Ellory's junior year definitely will encourage readers to devour this book. Give See All the Stars to fans of realistic mysteries and fans of multi- or unreliable narrators like We Were Liars! PS - It's also locally set on the West Shore of South Central, PA!