This book wasn't bad, but there was nothing special here either. If you read the synopsis, you know the entire story. I was just hoping for there to be something more to it, but there wasn't, and it kind of felt like a slog to get through when it was SO predictable and you already know exactly where it's going.

As a disabled person, this book made my heart so happy! I love seeing disabled representation in novels (especially protagonists!!) This is a darling, semi-magical YA novel about Piper, a girl whose family has been gifted (?) cursed (?) by Fate to find the person they were meant to spend forever with.

This gift (the Blessing, as Piper's family calls it) has led her family members to their soulmates, and their happily-ever-afters, for generations. That is, until Piper's parents. In the wake of her mom and dad's shocking divorce, Piper is left reeling—and more desperate than ever—to finally find the person she is Fated to meet.

But, what if, when she finally does meet that person, she isn't sure if he is the one her heart wants?

I loved All the Stars Align (How can my Swiftie heart not, with a title like that??) It was such a quick, cute read and will be perfect for summer when it releases at the end of April!

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Summary
Piper's family was given a Blessing by Fate ages and ages ago: they know their true loves at first sight. The women in Piper's family are proud of this Blessing and are willing to preserve their gift at all cost, which creates complications and tensions when Piper's own mother and father decide to get a divorce.

Not only does this create drama between Piper's mother and sisters who view this as a blight on their family Blessing, but it also has Piper questioning her own ability and connection with The Gift, that is until she meets a boy at a party who just might reaffirm her place in her family's dynamic.

One problem, though: while Piper's Gift allows her to know her love at first sight, it certainly didn't help her make a great impression at first sight. Piper has to enlist the help of her best friend, Leo, to teach her how to act and win the reciprocated love of her life. Between capturing the heart of a boy, trying to get her parents back together, and making her family proud, Piper struggles making everyone happy, especially herself.

Review
The story gave me very Encanto vibes: a family with magical powers, meddling aunts, and a female protagonist who was grappling with her own identity among it all. While I might not have been the best audience for this book, I did think it was a cute story that was written in a beautiful way.

There were moments that felt a bit juvenile for me--the high school aged characters, the internal conflict the main character was facing, and some of the external conflicts within the love triangle--to name a few. With that said, Schreiber did an excellent job formulating topics and themes that would resonate with a younger audience, and she did so in a cognizant, empowering way that any age can appreciate.

Overall, I valued the craft of the writing and am glad I read it in order to be reminded about how big and heavy young love can feel and how grateful I am for the way my own stars have aligned.

A sincere thank you goes out to author Gretchen Schreiber for sharing her heart with us. I can't imagine how vulnerable it feels to share your heart with the public. I'd also like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

All the women in Piper’s family know their true love at first sight, complete with butterflies, heart eyes, and a gut instinct. The kind of fated love that lasts forever. Piper grew up with her ancestors' epic love stories repeated like fairy tales, and yearns for the day she’ll start her own. Already singled out in her family due to her physical disability, Piper collects a second strike against her when her parents announce their divorce, which convinces her family that she’s doomed.

When she finally finds her true love at a party, she’s more determined than ever to attain her love story and earn a spot in her family. But after completely botching their first meeting, she realizes that she’ll need help from her best friend Leo, who is sort of a love expert. The catch—he and Piper haven’t talked in six months, since he needed a “break” from their friendship.

To win over the love of her life and a place in her family, Piper must convince Leo to teach her his ways. And it’s all going as planned…until Leo confesses his own love for Piper. Now, she must decide which fate to follow.

loved it. will recommend to others

"All the Stars Align" was a decent story overall and used the inspiration of Cyrano de Bergerac well. Piper and Leo ending up together should not come as a surprise to any reader. However, there are some amusing twists involving supporting characters.

I was not expecting this book, and it swept me off my feet! Schreiber's foray into magical realism perfectly toes the line between rom-com and fantasy, Piper is a fun, feisty character fighting both her fate and her Fate in this YA RomCom. As she faces the end of her senior year, she desperately hopes to find her one true love, as determined by Fate. At the same time, she struggles against her parents' divorce, her family's disapproval of said divorce, and her own complex feelings about the gift of Fate to the family, the gift of true love at first sight. Piper was realistic, a good balance of hope and realism, inward turmoil and outward struggles both with her family and her own disability, which she views as the root cause of her parents' troubles. The book deftly weaves in and out, showing how our perceptions can shape our lives, while encouraging vulnerability with our loved ones and honesty with ourselves. I am looking forward to purchasing a copy for my classroom!

Review in exchange for an early copy of the eBook from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

All the Stars Align is the kind of book that sweeps you off your feet and keeps your heart fluttering long after the final page.
The emotional growth in this book is wonderfully done. Piper’s vulnerability, her fears about not measuring up to her family’s idealised love stories, and her ultimate realisation that true love doesn’t always follow a script, these are things anyone can connect with. Leo’s confession adds the perfect layer of tension and longing, and I absolutely loved watching the relationship evolve from platonic to something so much more. Overall, its swoony, funny, and unforgettably sweet.

This book definitely has the same voice as her first book Ellie Haycock is Totally Normal. I enjoyed the plot line of this book even though there were some pretty clear blind spots by the main character. There was true conflict, and it wasn't an easy decision which way she should go. The feelings were clear, and I felt like I was there with her as she went through the ups and downs of her senior year.

that romantasy kick is still going for me and this was such a solid young adult romantasy book! i loved the writing and the plot was super solid. piper is so cool and leo is fun

Wow... I loved this story so very much! Every once in a while you will read certain books that just feel like home in your heart is the only way to describe it really. It's like listening to your favorite song. You just know you are going to love every minute of it. And I did. I loved everything about this book. I immediately attached myself to the MFC in this story and was rooting for her. Piper starts out a young girl who is sort of lost in her world but fighting to figure out this game we call life. Which I think we all can relate to in some way or another. She starts out timid like tap water (one of my fav quotes from this book) by letting others influence her judgement and life choices. But she finishes strong! A young woman who knows exactly what she wants out of life and is getting there by making her own choices and not letting anyone tell her what to do. This story was beautiful, Heart-wrenching at times, inspirational and just very moving.

Piper wants two things— her parents back together after their divorce and to find her true love. She thinks she has found her soulmate, but in trying to win him over ,she realizes that she loves her best friend .

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!!

What a good book! I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I loved the main characters! They had great chemistry and worked so well together. I loved how the book just flowed. My first by this author but will not be my last!!!

Thanks for allowing me to read an early copy of this book! It was a sweet read embued with touches of magic. It was also refreshing to read a love story centered on a physically disabled character.

Thank you Netgalley, Wednesday Publishing and Gretchen Schreiber for allowing me to read and review "All the Stars Align".
All the Stars Align is a magical love story described as a story that is Taylor Swift's Enchanted meets Cyrano from the author of "Ellie Haycock is Totally Normal".
This book was really good even though it's considered a young adult romance I really enjoyed reading it. I loved it actually. This story is about a young woman named Piper who has lived in her hometown her whole life surrounded by her whole family including all her Aunt's and family from her mother's side. The women in her family all strongly believe in family traditions. One of these tradition's is that all the women in her family believe that they know their true love at first sight. The kind of fated love that lasts forever. Piper grew up hearing about all her ancestors epic love stories like they were straight out of a fairy tale. Piper yearns for her love story to happen but is secretly scared that she is the bad egg of the family and has somehow brought bad luck, a curse or has broken the true love spell not only because she was born with certain health issues but also because her parents are the first ones in the family to get divorced. Piper also secretly wonders if she is the cause of this. She has yet to feel the "pull of love" with her one True love that everyone else in the family has experienced. This weighs very heavy on her so when she finally does think she has finally experienced the pull of the one she believes she is supposed to be with forever but messes up their meet cute by not knowing what to say to him she ends up asking for help from her best friend's that she has known almost her whole life. She has two really close friends. A girl and a boy. Certain things transpire from there. I won't go into all those things because I don't want to ruin the book for anyone. It's a beautiful story about family, love and growing up learning to become your true self and trusting who you are supposed to be as a person. I would definitely recommend this book especially to anyone who believes in the power of love and anything magical.

As the book says... Will fate choose her love or will love choose her fate!?!? I hope you enjoy this book just as much as I did!

Happy reading y'all!

The story is sweet, and the idea for the book is unique. It's a little slow going, almost too many descriptions cutting into character dialog, but once you get used to that it works out well. I'm glad I finished the book, it's a good story.

This sweet and entertaining young adult romance, with a touch of Taylor Swift’s poetic magic and a gender-reversed Cyrano de Bergerac twist, delves into family dynamics and disability representation while presenting us with engaging characters and a delightful read.

Young Piper feels pressured by her happily married aunts to find her "happily ever after," especially after her parents announce their divorce, creating a ripple effect throughout the family. Her aunts are hopeful that Piper can reconcile her parents and, in the meantime, try on wedding rings at their jewelry store. During a party, she meets someone who could be the love of her life, but the encounter amplifies her insecurities about her disability and social awkwardness. To get a second chance at impressing him, she seeks the help of her best friend Leo, the "love expert," despite not speaking for six months. Determined to break the family’s supposed curse and fulfill her aunts' expectations, she convinces Leo to guide her in winning over her crush.

However, as they spend more time together, Leo confesses his own feelings, and Piper realizes she might feel the same way. Now, she faces a dilemma: pursue her original crush or follow her heart toward Leo, risking a wrong choice that could cost her true happiness.

Personally, I was rooting for Leo and Piper (or "Liper") from the start, rather than Forest, the third side of the love triangle. This is a charming, easy-to-read romance that blends the magic of a Swiftie universe with a friends-to-lovers trope. I highly recommend it to fans of the genre or anyone seeking a heartwarming and enchanting story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for providing a digital review copy of this heartfelt romance in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Want an amazing story, with characters that you can relate to? This was an easy read, loved the plot, needed something light and this was it. Thank you to NetGalley and to Gretchen Schreiber for allowing me to read the ARC of this novel. You should absolutely pick this one up!

This is a good book for grades 7 - 10, especially for those interested in magic realism. While the characters are in their senior year, they read as younger, and the romance is very chaste. I wish the concept of fate and its role in the town was more developed, but it focuses almost exclusively on the main character's family and their inherited expectations and pressures. Older readers might find the book more predictable and therefore less enjoyable. The cover makes it seem more witchy than it is. There are a few lines or concepts that didn't ring quite true for me, but overall a cute, enjoyable read for young adults.

I love this book. Representation matters and we know that. I found the characters relatable and realistic. The romance was great.

If you could change your fate would you? I love the representation of having a disabled main character and the inner turmoil of living up to familial expectations. I did find it hard at times to like Piper and even the main love interest Forest. Their relationship felt so clunky at times but maybe that’s the whole point of the book. This is a cute, tame read for anyone young adult who is new to the romance genre.