Stephanie Sullivan: Review - Where the Forest Meets the Stars

TITLE: Where the Forest Meets the Stars

RATING: ★★★★

Summary (from Goodreads): In this gorgeously stunning debut, a mysterious child teaches two strangers how to love and trust again.

After the loss of her mother and her own battle with breast cancer, Joanna Teale returns to her graduate research on nesting birds in rural Illinois, determined to prove that her recent hardships have not broken her. She throws herself into her work from dusk to dawn, until her solitary routine is disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious child who shows up at her cabin barefoot and covered in bruises.

The girl calls herself Ursa, and she claims to have been sent from the stars to witness five miracles. With concerns about the child’s home situation, Jo reluctantly agrees to let her stay―just until she learns more about Ursa’s past.

Jo enlists the help of her reclusive neighbor, Gabriel Nash, to solve the mystery of the charming child. But the more time they spend together, the more questions they have. How does a young girl not only read but understand Shakespeare? Why do good things keep happening in her presence? And why aren’t Jo and Gabe checking the missing children’s website anymore?

Though the three have formed an incredible bond, they know difficult choices must be made. As the summer nears an end and Ursa gets closer to her fifth miracle, her dangerous past closes in. When it finally catches up to them, all of their painful secrets will be forced into the open, and their fates will be left to the stars.

REVIEW: I'll admit from the start that it took me quite a long time to get into this book. I put it down after the first three or four chapters and didn't pick it up again for several days, and I did this often. But about a quarter of the way through the book, the story picked up considerably, and my curiosity about one of the main characters, an 8-year-old girl named Ursa, reeled me in and didn't let go. Once that happened, I couldn't put the book down, and I finished it in one day. Ursa is a very unique character. Her young life is full of tragedy and heartbreak, and the last few chapters kept me on the edge of my seat. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I will say I breathed a huge sigh of relief (for Ursa's sake) when I finally turned the last page. Talk about a rollercoaster ride! Glendy Vanderah did an excellent job with her debut novel, and I would recommend it to everyone.