Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett
Published by: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9781471161063
Released on: June 1 2018
Read: April 2 2018
This is only Jenn Bennett’s third contemporary young adult novel, and it’s clear she is on board with the current trends. Starry Eyes includes diversity of ethnicities and offers sex-positive representation in an organic and unpreaching way. MC, Zorie, is a serious astronomer and photographer, and it’s terrific to see the blend of science and art drive the plot and characterisation.
The romantic storyline is based on miscommunication, but fits in perfectly with the personalities of the two love interests. Zorie is a planner – anxious and tightly strung. Her comfort zone relies on safe, predictable and routine. When Lennon stands her up at Homecoming, then disappears and doesn’t talk to her when he returns, Zorie hides her heart-break and embarrassment behind silence and denial. Lennon is presented as a mysterious goth, a boy with wild parents, and his loner reputation allows him to walk away from Zorie with apparent ease.
But we don’t know the truth of Lennon, because everything is through Zorie’s narrative voice, which is funny and self-aware. She is constrained by her inability to be spontaneous, and she is constantly second guessing her thoughts and her actions, especially around other people. But she is also generous, smart and loyal. A flawed, sympathetic girl, and readers will love her from start to end.
Going ‘glamping’ with the popular crowd is certainly well outside her comfort zone, but Zorie finds herself talked into it by her step-mum, Joy, who reminds her to be careful not cautious with her life. Her decision is also spurred on by discovering her father is cheating on Joy, and by the sudden re-appearance of Lennon, who is still treating her with disdain. Zorie desperately wants her life to go back a year in time, and can only obsess about where everything went wrong. Imagine her surprise that Lennon is invited too, and suddenly the trip takes on an extra dimension of stress and torture (of course Lennon is gorgeously fit, and the only one who knows what he’s doing–such a turn on!)
Fortunately this summary only covers the first part of the book. The rest is the hiking trip (which goes gloriously wrong), and its aftermath, and Bennett doesn’t skip any details. We are given the highs and lows, and laugh and cry along with Zorie, as she re-connects with Lennon, and explores her own boundaries and feelings. It’s a terrific journey of self discovery and a little bit survival, when the rest of the crew abandon Zorie and Lennon to find their own way through the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. I can’t wait to see the full sized maps, attributed to Lennon in the book—my kindle didn’t do them justice at all.
Thankfully Zorie and Lennon spill their secrets long before the end, and we are witness to their very healthy and joyful intimate encounters (all off-page, I assure you), and what’s really good is how Zorei expresses herself sexually. She’s funny and clumsy and honest. It’s adorable, really. Lennon proves to be a person she can trust, and their love is clear.
One aspect of the novel that takes us out of the bubble of Zorie and Lennon is the sub-plot involving Zorie’s dad, ‘Diamond Dan’. His cheating had repercussions for the whole family, but notably his relationship with Zorie. I am interested that in the father in her previous book, Approximately, Alex, was one of the best I have read, and here is Dan, an unapologetic womaniser, who refuses to own any his bad behaviour, and is prepared to risk his relationship with his daughter. I wonder if Bennett has been shocked and upset by some of the #metoo revelations and has found a way to present a part of that in this book.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for the advanced copy of Starry Eyes. I loved it so much, and recommend it highly to young adult readers who love realistic contemporaries that allow the romance to build slowly. Lennon and Zorie have known each other forever, so their relationship is founded on friendship. The hiking and bushwalking means we think about nature, about getting away from our devices, and of course, offers a bit of danger that challenges Zorie’s instinct to shut herself away. There are lessons here for all of us. Already released in the US, Starry Eyes is out in Australia and the UK on June 1.
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