Thank you so much to the publisher, the author, and netgalley for sending me an e-ARC to read. I gave this book four stars.

A very moving and emotional novel.

Nathan arrived home just too late to save his brother. Al (aged seventeen) had used his school tie to hang himself.

Al was an incredibly talented artist and had one faithful friend at school – Megan. She also takes his death exceptionally hard. However, she uses her grief to promote Al and his extraordinary talent and sets up a special Facebook page for people to find out more about Al and his deep knowledge about stars, planets and how to trace them.

Nathan’s side of the story is told is anger and bitterness. He’s convinced that someone caused him to kill himself. Where Megan’s goal is to promote and make Al’s art known throughout the world, Nathan’s energy is spent on trying to work out who is to blame.

Danielle Jawando’s used a remarkably interesting way of telling the story. Each chapter starts with Al’s words. This is then followed by how Megan and Nathan cope in the weeks following his death.

I would thoroughly recommend that every school library ensures that they order a copy of this book. It would be a brilliant book for pupils to discuss.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

5.0

Wow. I am speechless. A heart breaking novel about grief, mental health, bullying and social media. Make sure you’re ready to read this one, it packs a serious punch! 💫

What an absolutely heartbreaking story. Omg I can't even begin to put together how I'm feeling right now. Such a powerful story and knowing that it comes from the authors real life makes it even more heartbreaking as its something she has lived through. Definitely a story that needs to be in schools to highlight the reality of bullying especially in this day and age the harsh reality of cyber bullying. This will be a story that sticks with me. A book I think everyone needs to read

"Because that's what you were supposed to do with art: you were supposed to make someone look at the world differently."


Dear Danielle Jawando,
Where have you been? You have no idea how much I needed a story to restore my faith in contemporary YA.

I haven't read a YA that good since Courtney Summers's Sadie. And just like Sadie, this book too comes with a slew of trigger warnings, albeit of a different kind.
CW: SUICIDE, bullying, social media abuse/misuse, body shaming, and lots of grief.

I picked this book up for Mental Health Month. As in all books about mental health challenges, I advise you to read this book when you are in a good place, mentally and emotionally.

Al is a talented boy of seventeen. He loves art and math and is fond of the stars. With his lanky figure, dark skin, massive afro, and ambition, Al is perceived by most of his school mate as a weirdo. Something bad happens and Al takes his own life. It falls now to Nathan, Al's younger brother, to figure out what happened exactly to Al that made him commit suicide despite the bright future that lay ahead of him.

Nathan is struggling to cope with his grief, between the brother he lost and the life that must go on. Despite the story being told through the voices of Nathan, Al's brother, and Megan, Al's friend and classmate, it is in Nathan's mind that we live mostly. We also see snippets of Nathan's diary at the beginning of each chapter, which was nice but pushed Megan further towards the background. Megan isn't without her struggles; she is subjected to a different kind of bullying and body shaming for being a girl.

It is quite palpable in the writing how personal this story is to the author. She mentioned at the beginning of her book, as well as at the end, how she was herself a target for bullying and how she was on the verge of committing suicide. But her personal experience was before social media became what it is today and she adequately incorporated the role of social media in spreading hate and bullying particularly between teenagers and how that affects their fragile mental health at this impressionable age.

It makes me sad though that this book didn't get the attention it deserves despite it capturing the zeitgeist of teenage life in the age of social media. This story is real and heartbreaking, and sadly, if it happened in any community, the response to it will be exactly as the author portrayed it: a hashtag at best then complete ambivalence until it happens again.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK Children's for the opportunity to review this book.

What a storyline. This one is emotional but so good.
I really wanted to find out what happened to al too I was so caught up in this journey.
I would recommend this to everyone.

This book should be made compulsory in schools for every young teenager! Beautifully written from the heart! I lived and felt every emotion , I was there flinching with each hurt and each barb that was uttered. This lady has experienced this existence and thankfully lived to tell the tale and her every word brought it all alive. Nathan is the shattered, guilt ridden brother and Meghan the friend afraid to share her friendship with Al, Al is the bright shining star, whose light is tragically dimmed but is able to shine bright again through their courage and belief in themselves. It’s the story of their journey through the bullying, the hurt, the media, the use of mobile phones and words! Superbly told. I could not put it down and felt emotionally drained at its conclusion but oh so proud of this lady that she was able to find the strength, courage and belief in herself to tell this tale of young teenagers today! This happens, this is real and that is the tragedy! Read it for yourself and then encourage everyone you know to read it too!

I really enjoyed this book, it was heart breaking and heart warming all at once. A book that delivered on everything it promised.

This was a heart-wrenching and much needed book about the effects bullying can have, particularly in a secondary school setting. Telling the story of Al through the eyes of his brother, Nathan, and his friend Megan, who has taken his own life. Nathan is sure there is more to events than there initially appears to be - his brother was going places, why would he kill himself? - and so sets out to uncover the truth. Full of love, anger and frustration Danielle Jawando captures the grief felt by the characters as they try to process recent events.

It took me a while to get into because as a novel written in the first person, it was written in the way teenagers today might speak and it's not something I'm used to reading. Once I'd got to it, I think it added to the story as it was easier to get into the minds of the teenage protagonists.

And The Stars Were Burning Brightly is a heartbreaking novel following a boy whose brother Al dies by suicide. Nathan is determined to get to the bottom of why Al decided to end his life, making this a bit of a mystery novel; Nathan knows there’s much more going on than meets the eye, but the people he asks refuse to get involved.

Meanwhile, we also follow Megan, one of Al’s closest friends, who starts to look inside herself and decide to be true to who she is. She feels guilt for pretending her and Al weren’t as close as they were in an attempt to fit in with her popular friends, and realises that it’s far more important to be happy than popular.

This is an inspiring novel with a hopeful twist, even though it did make me bawl my eyes out at the end. With a huge focus on art, the star and the universe, you’re bound to learn something, and Danielle Jawando’s writing is both lyrical and frank – an impressive combination to perfect in a debut.

And the Stars Were Burning Brightly is one of the most heart breaking and yet beautiful YA stories that I've ever read. The story completely broke me, and yet I've still been recommending it to absolutely everybody.

15-year-old Nathan finds his brother Al after he has commited suicide. He is (understandably) devastated, and becomes determined to find out what led Al to take his own life when on the surface everything seemed to be going so well for him. Through the course of the story, Nathan connects with Al's best friend and the pair begin to uncover a number of secrets about Al's life, most notably that he was being severely bullied.

This book obviously touches on a lot of very raw themes and it doesn't always make for an easy read, but it shows beautifully how we really have no idea what is happening in other people's lives or how they may be feeling inside. It also covers a lot of topics that are becoming increasingly important for teens to consider such as mental health and the real world impact of bullying

When the 15-year-old Nathan finds his older brother Al dead in their room, his world crumbles and he is determined to find out why his gifted brother bound for Cambridge committed suicide. As he immerses himself into Al's world, he uncovers a morass of bullying and abuse. He also connects with Al's best friend. The two teens, plagued by guilt for not having seen what was happening to Al, embark on a quest to bring Al's bullies to justice. In the process, they help each other to heal and celebrate Als' life, and embrace opportunities to a better life.

This is a tale of extreme abuse, disadvantage, family and friendship relationships, but also a tale of hope - that in the face of adversity noone should suffer alone and that there always is a way out. A beautiful life affirming book that really should be compulsory to all teens.

Every now and again a book comes along that just feels so important that it should be compulsory reading in all secondary schools, and this is one such book.

Told from the dual points of view of Nathan and Megan, interspersed with snippets of insight from Al himself, and written using the vocabulary each of them would naturally speaking in, I did find the writing style a little tricky to get used to (especially at first as I had assumed the book was written by an American author for some reason and it isn’t), but once I had settled in to it, it was actually rather perfect for the story being told.

From the blurb, I had expected this book to reduce me to tears, but what the author does in fact is capture that numb, empty feeling you get when you lose someone, the feeling that spreads right through your body until it consumes you, the raw pain of a death, in a way that I don’t think I have experienced in a book until now.

And The Stars Were Burning Brightly raises some very important questions about whether being alone is worse than being surrounded by people but feeling lonely because you can’t be yourself. As an adult I know what my answer would be, but back when I was a teenager I am not so sure.

Reading this book, I was once again reminded of how grateful I am that social media was not around when I was growing up so I could escape my bullies at the end of the day. In this book, Danielle serves a devastating reminder of the damage that can be caused by social media and the heartlessness of kids (and adults for that matter) hiding behind their screens. The fact that the events of this book were inspired by the author’s own horrific experiences of bullying at school and attempted suicide just serve to make this book all the more hard hitting.

And The Stars Were Burning Brightly is a painful read but is a book that I would urge everyone to read.

This book is beautifully written. Although it’s written in non-standard English, you look beyond that to a story of how social media can destroy lives. Children who dare to be different are singled out and abused to the point that they feel that they can’t go on and they take their own lives. The author deals with this issue with a carefully crafted sensitivity do you want to know Al and you want to see his artwork and tell him how wonderful he is. I recommend this book to any teen who is struggling with angst over not being good enough, thin enough, pretty enough, clever enough. A story that is heartbreaking but gives you the resolve to know that YOU ARE ENOUGH. As the mum of a teenager who constantly feels she’s not enough, this book hit me hard. I was annoyed but the informality of it all to start with (that’ll be the teacher part of me) but I was compelled to read on. I needed to know why it all happened as much as Nate. A family member committed suicide in the same way and I was left wondering why I hadn’t noticed or why I hadn’t done more to help him. It lives with you forever but if this book helps even one lost soul, it’s done a great job. Well done!

I found this book reaching into my chest and grabbing my heart crushing it, this was a heart wrenching book that made me so sad and angry at the same time. Dealing with topics like bullying, suicide and mental health to name just a few, in a way that made me sob so much, it wasn’t an easy read, it was very thought provoking and I did give me a big book hangover but I am so glad I was able to read it. It has really opened my eyes to the injustice people face just because they are different.

This is a heartbreaking book about loss, mental-health, suicide, bullying and how difficult it can be growing up in the age of social media. This is a book that I would want my students to read. Although it is heartbreaking there is a sense of hope. I feel this book brings up many topics which need to be discussed and could open that discussion in a classroom situation. The topics of this book may not be ones that anyone is comfortable to speak about but the conversations are necessary, this book could help.

Unfortunately I did not finish this book and hope to read it at some point in the future. I found what I did read enjoyable, with a very interesting writing style

An absolutely beautiful YA; the writing made me weep. It was quite long but didn't drag at any point.

I was excited to read this book, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish it. Due to the writing style, I was unable to really get into the book, because I kept finding myself zoning out. I might give it a second chance at some point, because I was hoping to really love it - I've heard amazing things from reviewers I trust.