**Disclaimer: I received a free early access copy of Astra by Cedar Bowers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this opportunity.

Astra by Cedar Bowers is an adult debut contemporary/literary fiction novel.  It tells the story of a woman named Astra but not through her perspective but from the perspective of the people around her who play a significant role in her life.  I rated it five stars on Goodreads.  It was published on June 1st, 2021.


Here's the summary from Goodreads:

If you could see yourself as others saw you, would you be any closer to the truth of who you really are? In the tradition of Olive Kitteridge and Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, Astra is a beguiling debut novel that reveals the different faces of one enigmatic woman, as seen through the eyes of ten people she encounters over the course of six decades.
Raised on a remote BC commune by a neglectful father, Astra Brine eventually leaves for Calgary, where she struggles to find her way in the world, her life becoming a study of the thin line between dependence and love, need and desire. As her path intersects with others--often only briefly, but always intensely--she will encounter people who, by turns, want to rescue, control, become, change, and escape her, revealing difficult yet shining truths about who they are and what they yearn for. There is the childhood playmate who comes to fear Astra's unpredictable ways; the stranger who rescues her from homelessness and then has to wrestle with his own demons; the mother who hires Astra as a nanny even as her own marriage goes off the rails; the man who takes a leap of faith and marries her.
Even as Astra herself remains the elusive yet compelling axis around which these narratives turn, her story reminds us of the profound impact that an individual can have on those around her, and the power struggles at play in all our relationships, no matter how intimate. A beautifully constructed and revelatory novel, Astra explores what we're willing to give and receive from others, and how well we ever really know the people we love the most.

The thing that drew me to this book was the premise of seeing this woman's story through the eyes of the other people in her life.  I don't think I've ever read anything like that before and I wanted to see how that would work.  As it turned out, it was quite beautifully done.  It definitely made me think about how everyone has a different perspective of you based on when they encountered you and on their own life experience.

Astra was an interesting character with an unconventional life.  However, you don't really get to know what goes through her head until the very end of the novel, so you're left to wonder what is motivating her as each event of the story takes place.  It's interesting to learn about the different characters whose perspective you get to see as well.  The author did a good job of making the characters come alive and feel real.  Astra isn't necessarily a particularly likeable character, but I couldn't help but find myself interested in her and what was going to happen next.

The writing was good, and I quite enjoyed it.  However, the real stand out is definitely Astra and how the story is structured.  It's very interesting.  I also really liked the fact that it was set in Canada and much of it took place in British Columbia, because I don't always get to read books set in my country/province.  It was fun to read about locations that were familiar to me.

I can see how this book won't be for everyone, however, if you're at all intrigued by the premise I definitely think that you should pick it up and give it a read.  I found it quite compelling and an interesting study of character.

What a wonderful debut novel by Cedar Bowers.

Astra Brine was born and raised on a remote commune in BC with a father who is more concerned with his mission than his daughter. The book follows Astra over decades of her life told through the eyes of ten people she encounters- some are told by people who have quick interactions with her and some with lifelong relationships like her son. The format makes for such an interesting read as we see the impact Astra has on people she navigates her own struggles. It makes you wonder the impact you may have had on people without knowing it.

I loved how this narrative style shows us a full picture of Astra- the good, the bad and the ugly. She's hurt but also manipulative. She loves and she takes love away. The way the stories are interwoven was expertly crafted and Bowers' skill as a writer comes across in the narrative and attention to detail. I also loved that she showcases Canada in this book.

I highly recommend Astra to readers who love literary fiction and a beautifully told story. I can't wait to see what Cedar Bowers does next.

Thank you @netgalley and @penguinrandomca for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Such a poignantly written story that makes me truly disbelieve that this is Cedar’s debut novel!

10 perspectives || 10 narrators || 1 Person’s Life Told

Brilliantly written.
Excited to chat about this with Cedar in our zoom scheduled this week to get all the backstory on its creation and evolution. Masterfully done. I absolutely loved it.

Quote I loved (and said a few times within the story)
“Remember who you are, Astra. Child of the cosmos, ruler of the skies. You’re in charge of you.”

Thank you to the Cedar Bowers who is AMAZING as an author and such a fabulous human being, to the publisher McClelland & Stewart, and of course to NetGalley for my complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Please excuse my tardiness in posting my review as my TBR list continuously grows and I keep finding so many book with so little time! So much gratitude for this copy shared with me, always xo

What a phenomenal debut novel. I absolutely loved the format and writing style; each chapter is told from the point of view of someone in her life, at that point, it was executed perfectly. Although the chapters were in chronological order and sometimes several years passed by, everything flowed. Astra was a very interesting character, it was a fun perspective to see other’s thoughts on her, and eventually her own thoughts. I love that Astra’s story was weaved together so flawlessly, the ending was incredible and tied everything up. I read this book in three hours, I could not put it down!

Astra had far from a traditional childhood growing up in Celestial, the place her father Raymond fantasized would be a refuge for the downtrodden. The dream didn’t quite turn out as expected, and when Astra leaves Celestial we see her story unfold through the eyes of those around her in this beautifully told character study.
One thing I didn’t expect was the novel being from the point of view of the other characters; Astra’s friends, family, co-workers, and some random people along the way. We see her complexities, her fears, hopes and dreams and the way her childhood in Celestial shaped her, by the relationship and experiences these other characters have with her.  Each chapter is told from a different point of view, giving us a well rounded picture of Astra at different points in her life.
There are many books out there about cults or people living in a commune, people secluded from the real world without technology or modern day conveniences. It is a theme that many readers are interested in and tends to peak my interest as well. While most of those stories focus on the actual dynamics of that life, this story doesn’t, Celestial is not the main focus here. Bowers molds Astra as a character, unraveling the truth of her past and allowing us to understand why she is the way she is, by giving us bits and pieces of what life was like while she grew up there. We discover why Astra is who she is without having Celestial be the main focus and I appreciated that take.
Overall I loved this novel and look forward to reading more by Cedar Bowers in the future.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. This review was posted on NetGalley, Goodreads, Instagram and a more detailed review is on my personal blog (chaptersxthepage.ca).

What an incredible debut novel! I read this in under 24 hours. It was so hard to put down. What I really loved is how easily it spanned decades and used other people’s (10 others) perspectives and stories to tell more of Astra’s life. It was intriguing to see people’s perspectives of her change as they got to know her.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Random House Canada and the author for the electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and found it a really engaging read. Astra was raised on a remote commune in BC with a father she never really knew. When she decides to leave Astra struggles to find out where she fits in. How she craves love or what she thinks love is. Told through the eyes of ten people she encounters the story of Astra is utterly fascinating as she maneuvers through these different relationships. I found this book to really be an exploration of Astras' identity and I loved getting to hear full circle about her life. How these different relationships impacted her but also where she left an impact on them. A wonderful debut novel by Cedar Bowers.

Astra Brine was born on a commune in a remote area of British Columbia. Astra’s story is told from the perspective of the various people who have populated her life. The story begins with her father revealing how he came to be on the commune and how he met Astra’s mother. Next the story focus to a young girl about Astra’s age who lives on the neighbouring farm. The two girls live completely different lives. Astra is allowed to roam free whereas Kimmy is confined to her immediate surroundings while her mother tends to her baby sister. The story of Astra’s life continues to be told from eight more narrators. Along the way different parts of Astra’s are slowly revealed.
I loved this book. I am a big fan of stories told from multiple points of view. I thought Cedar Bowers did an excellent job of bringing the individual story tellers to life but still maintaining the focus on Astra.
I think Astra would make an excellent book club selection.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for allowing me access to an early ebook edition of ASTRA by Cedar Bowers.

I really liked that this book was very different from other books. it is very interesting to see a characters story from others point of view., it made for a great story. I liked how it all tied to together to give a picture of the main character. I will be watching for more books from this author.

I had zero expectations for Astra; despite that, Astra did not meet my expectations.

This novel fell short in the sense that it did not feel like a novel. It felt like excerpts rather than a story. Each chapter is from a different character's perspective; they each explore their history with Astra (she’s a woman, by the way). Every character either disliked Astra or was biased. The book moved quickly and jumped all over the place; in truth, it was a mess. Not only was this extremely unfair to Astra, but also the audience. I finished this book feeling unsure of what happened and how I felt. However, the story was entertaining. I enjoyed how unique and interesting it was, despite the novel being told by people I didn’t trust or care for. The author did a disservice to Astra by only showing her perspective in the epilogue. The novel would have been incredibly moving and captivating if Astra told her story.

I really liked the concept of this novel where we learn about a character all through her interactions with other people, and that it followed Astra through basically her entire life. But in the process of learning about Astra, we learn about a lot of other characters and it comes full circle back to Celestial where this all started.

This was a very well structured book and I felt whole when I finished it, like I was satisfied with this book on its own. The only ways where I would have liked the novel to have dug a little deeper is into the mental challenges of Astra having gone through all the experiences and trauma growing up but, given the short length and the format of this book as being in the perspective of other characters, we never really know what Astra is thinking. As the reader we have to guess, and Astra remains much of a mystery in the novel.

When I read the description of this book it was litterally magnificent and I loved it so I had high hope on this book.

When I read it I just don't think I liked some of the characters, and that's the problem, some characters weren't my favorite narrators and made it difficult for me to like it.

anyways thanks Netgalley for giving me an advanced reviewrs copy of this book, I appreciatted it.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the writing style of the author. Great summer read. I highly recommend this book.

Astra is a unique woman who grew up in an unconventional way that impacts her for the rest of her life. As the story unfolds, we meet family members, boyfriends, husbands, and others who get to tell us how Astra's life is going. In some portions she seems like the most unlikable woman ever, but as the gaps of her life are filled in, you begin to see why that may be. By the end, you'll be rooting for her success.

This book took me a little while to really get into, but once I did, I was sucked in. Telling her story from the perspective of those around her was incredibly unique, and makes you think about the way your life story might look from the view of your friends, loved ones, and random people you interact with on a daily basis.

Thanks to NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this engrossing story about one woman from birth to adulthood as told by people who have touched her life in some way. I constantly felt for Astra, hoping that she would succeed in life. Cedar Bowers is an exceptional storyteller who brings to life the main character, Astra, with each chapter told by a different person as they saw her. I would highly recommend it. I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley and I am voluntarily leaving my review.

Didn't realize the amount of time I had to read this book (5 days). It's been added to my TBR and can't wait to read it ! The plot seems really promising !

I did not get the opportunity to read this ARC before it was archived. I’ve now got Astra on my summer read list. My rating is based on my wanting to read the book but I hadn’t been able to make it a priority.

I really enjoyed this book, and I will do my best to ensure that many readers discover this talented debut author! The writing and characterization were spot-on, and it was so interesting to learn about Astra through the eyes of those who interacted with her. It was also a pleasure to read about Canadian locations, some of which I'm familiar with.
I'll definitely be watching for whatever Cedar Bowers writes next.

I felt sorry for Astra for most of her life, there was a period I was upset with her, but you couldn’t stay mad with her long. I liked the style the author used to write this book, it was unique

“We’re one human life stacked on top of the traumas and tragedies of another.”

Cedar Bowers has written an incredibly emotionally resonant character driven novel in Astra. Told through 10 sections, each narrated by a person in Astra’s life. In each we see what Astra can offer or needs from each relationship.

Over the course of time from just before Astra’s birth to her later life, the reader slowly becomes aware of the complexities of Astra. From the setting of a commune in Western British Columbia, to a mall in Calgary, to a run down mansion in Vancouver, Astra tests her boundaries, is slow to mature, and it isn’t until she has a child of her own that she will fiercely protect her child from what she has experienced.

The writing is beautiful and the imagery vivid. Each character has so much depth; I felt like I could have read a book on each.

Fans of Olive Kitteridge will recognize the structure and be impressed that this is a debut!

Thank you to @netgalley and @mcclellandstewart for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Astra is out now!