The Giver of Stars

The Giver of Stars
By: Jojo Moyes

Quite a different story and writing than ‘Me Before You,’ but still enjoyable. Moyes seems to have quite a bit of diversity in her writing, considering how I loved Me Before You but did not care for Last Letter from Your Lover. I might keep reading her books, at least until I figure out her MO.

As a lover of books, I was very intrigued by packhorse librarians. Illiteracy and poverty are connected and I find this endeavor amazing, to be willing to carry hundreds of books around rural Appalachia on horseback in all conditions to promote literacy and provide otherwise unknowable information! Not your typical plot and definitely not a juicy storyline, but a noble undertaking.

It was also a new setting for me- Depression-era rural Kentucky, though because it was backwoods I think I kept picturing an older time period. I always like to read about new places.

I thought she developed the main characters well, but the way Bennet is portrayed is quite baffling and I was hoping for more clarity on his issues but she chose not to go there. I was worried about how she was going to wrap it all up but ended up pleased with the ending.

I’m typically reading thrillers, so I’m always nervous to know if I’ll stay engaged in more drama-genre books- but being historical fiction this has a higher likelihood. This one held my attention and really elicited a lot of emotions, experiencing the injustices of this time period for women and people of color.

It was a good read.

**Disclaimer: I have not read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek but have read some of the controversy that I did not know existed until I finished this book. This book may have been plagiarized in some capacity, which I do not support, but so far nothing has been confirmed that I am aware of.**