Monday, March 17, 2014


Title: Where the Stars Still Shine
Author: Trish Doller
Series: n/a
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publication Date: September 24th, 2013
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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Stolen as a child from her large and loving family, and on the run with her mom for more than ten years, Callie has only the barest idea of what normal life might be like. She's never had a home, never gone to school, and has gotten most of her meals from laundromat vending machines. Her dreams are haunted by memories she’d like to forget completely. But when Callie’s mom is finally arrested for kidnapping her, and Callie’s real dad whisks her back to what would have been her life, in a small town in Florida, Callie must find a way to leave the past behind. She must learn to be part of a family. And she must believe that love--even with someone who seems an improbable choice--is more than just a possibility.

Trish Doller writes incredibly real teens, and this searing story of love, betrayal, and how not to lose your mind will resonate with readers who want their stories gritty and utterly true.




Where the Stars Still Shine is my first Trish Doller book. I’ve had this title in my wishlist for a while, so when it went on sale  for kindle I snatched it up. Jess and I decided to read this one together. The description sounded awesome.

You get sucked in pretty much right away. It starts off while she’s with her mom, so we get to witness how the kidnapping arrest all goes down. I hated Callie’s mother. She’s is such a piece of trash. Years on the road, and Callie lives in filth and neglect. She’s aware that her mom took her without permission. She knows they are on the run and in hiding… but says nothing. Because she loves her mom, believes her moms lies about why the left in the first place.

Even when she’s taken back to her father, she still harbors the want to be back with her mom. I guess I kinda get that, because her mom is all she knows, but I was so disgusted with the mom, it made it hard for me to connect with Callie when she couldn’t really see what I saw. I wanted to slap some sense into her, but I understand that the whole situation must have been a lot for her to take in all at once.

“I nod again, overwhelmed by suddenly having so much when I’ve gone for so long with so little. Overwhelmed at how my life has been turned upside down”

One thing I have to mention… and I would say it’s just me, but it’s not. Jess thought the same thing. I had so many deja vu moments reading this. I kept thinking about Hopeless by Colleen Hoover.


There were so many similarities… The Abuse she went though, the flashbacks, the bracelets, even the little star lights she gets for her room as a gift made me think of it.


The story is different, but I found all the coincidences to be a little odd. Ya know? I’m not making accusations, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I wouldn’t mention it at all if I hadn’t gotten a text from Jess saying, “This book reminds me a lot of Hopeless.” So it’s not just me.

I really liked the relationship that grows between Callie and Alex. He’s such a great guy, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s dreamy.

“He glances up, and his face is something so fine and beautiful, it makes my chest ache the way it does when I hear a sad song or finish a favorite book”

The ending was meh and I didn’t feel very satisfied. It was very rushed and didn’t have much closure. I did enjoy it though. I wouldn’t have been very happy spending full price for it, but it was worth the $1.99 deal I got it for.




About the author:
Image of Trish Doller


I've been a writer as long as I've been able to write, but I didn't make a conscious decision
to "be" a writer until fairly recently. For that you should probably be thankful.

I was born in Germany, grew up in Ohio, went to college at Ohio State University, got married to someone really great, bounced from Maine to Michigan and back to Ohio for awhile. Now I live in Florida with my two mostly grown kids, two dogs, and a pirate. For real.

I've worked as a morning radio personality, a newspaper reporter, and spent all my summers in college working at an amusement park. There I gained valuable life skills, including counting money really fast, directing traffic, jumping off a moving train, and making cheese-on-a-stick. Also, I can still welcome you to Frontier Town. Ask me sometime.

These days I work as a bookseller. And I write..

Find Trish:

Website | TwitterFacebookGoodreads

12 comments:

  1. I've been putting it off ever since I heard about the open ending (not a fan of them), but I'm sure I'll get to it at some point.
    Something Like Normal is very good; maybe you'll have better luck with it?

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    1. yeah, I heard awesome things about Something Like Normal, so I'll have to try that one out. :)

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  2. This was a really 'meh' book for me too. I just felt like there was too much focus on the romance and not enough on Callie's family. I wanted to see her build more of a relationship with them and for her to learn to come to terms with things and really grow as a character. Instead she was kind of self-entitled through the whole thing and dropped everything (and everyone) to go and have sex :/ it was quite disappointing overall

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    Replies
    1. So glad I'm not alone in this. She was definitely self-entitled. I expected so much more from this one. :/

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  3. OMG, that gif cracked me up! As much as I loved Hopeless, I can't read that book or a book similar to it again. I still haven't recovered from Hopeless and I read that last January.
    And I don't like open endings....

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    1. lol, that gif says it all.

      Awwe, well it's not nearly as traumatizing as Hopeless was. it just had some similarities that I couldn't ignore.

      The open ending was killer..

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  4. HA! Loving the gif. :)

    I hadn't really thought about Hopeless while reading this one... but now that you mention it, wow, you're totally right!! Hmm... now you've got me thinking...

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    1. yes!!! thank goodness. I'm glad you see it. I was thinking I was imagining it, and I almost didn't want to mention it, but Jess and I both thought it. It really makes you think.. hmmm.

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  5. It's kind of weird reading books that remind you hugely of another book, eh? I kind of had that with Asylum/Miss Peregrine's. Just the old photos, creepy old houses away from family, etc, etc. STILL. I'm not sure this is my usual kind of read, but it's already added on Goodreads (heh, I must have seen it somewhere a while ago but I so don't remember adding it!). XD

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    Replies
    1. Lol, I do that all the the time. I'll tell someone I never heard of that book then I'll go to add it to goodreads.. it's already there. *fail*

      I haven't read Miss Peregrines yet. I don't know if I ever will. It's just doesn't seem like it would appeal to me.

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