Bright Stars

4 stars!
I liked this book in the fact that it centered on four characters that went to uni together. Not all of them would be the type that you would necessarily see hanging together. Actually, Cameron is the type you would not see hanging with anyone. The story goes back and forth from uni days with the four of them to Cameron's present day. Then one day they are all invited to the unveiling of one of the four friend's newest wine. While there, they reminisce about uni days and a secret known by three of them comes out to the worst damaged of the four of them.

I really enjoyed reading this and was definitely kept interested. The characters were all pretty likable except for Tommie. I didn't and still don't like him. And his dad should have done more at that coffee shop meeting towards the end of the book other than just offer up his condolences. Cameron was done wrong in SO many ways.

This was an emotional ride wherein I felt mixed emotions for all the characters at times. I found it to be a great read and I seriously recommend it!!

Thanks Legend Press and Net Galley for providing me a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Lovely book.

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. - Thomas Jefferson

Cameron Sparks is from Edinburgh, Scotland and is the narrator/protagonist of this story. In earlier times he was rather dweebish/nerdish so it is surprising (to him) that when he goes away to Lancaster University in England, he makes three cool friends - Ptolemy aka Tommo, a hopeful rock star; Bex, an activist that Cameron falls into unrequited love with; and Christie, coming from a rich Canadian wine family.

Then a terrible accident happens and time shifts 25 years into the future in the story. And for the first time since the accident, the four are getting together again.

Characterization was excellent in this story. I didn't particularly care for any of the characters, even Cameron, and he was the most sympathetic character of the four. But I was drawn into the tale, wanting to know what happened next. And I was able to visualize each of the characters easily with the in-depth descriptions given by author Duffy.

The pacing of the story was well done, shifting back and forth between the 1980s and current day events.

Mystery, romance, drama, humor - all packed in a well written story about friendship, honesty, mistakes, and ghosts from the past.

NOTE: I received this book from Legend Press through Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

Bright Stars is about four people who became friends at university and their lives become intertwined one fateful evening in 1986. The story is narrated by Cameron Sparks in the form of his journal; it takes place in the present day, and during his time at university 25 years earlier.

Cameron Sparks is 46 years old and his life is spiralling out of control. He has been suspended from his job as a Ghost Tour guide in the underground vaults in Edinburgh. He is separated from his wife and is living back at home with his dad. Then one day a letter arrives out of the blue from Christie, a Canadian girl he knew during his university days.

This takes the story back to 1986 when Cameron was an awkward, cripplingly shy teenager trying to find his way at university. He finds a friend in Christie, and then by chance also becomes friends with wannabe rock star, Tommy, and he falls head over heels in unrequited love with Bex, a feminist activist. The unlikely foursome spend their time getting drunk, listening to or making music and attempting to be activists. Then one fateful night an accident happens and it changes everything.

None of the characters in this book are particularly likeable, they all have such flaws but it makes the novel so very readable. Tommo always seems to land on his feet, trouble finds him but he manages to shake it off over and over again. Bex is very focused on her causes, like being a sab, and then when she and Tommo get together her life becomes about him. Cameron is not a bad person, he’s just easily led because he so badly wants to feel like part of the crowd but it’s often hard to like him in the early part of the novel because he appears so feeble. Christie is probably the nicest of the group but is the one we seemed to get to know the least as Cameron wasn’t as fixated on her as he was on Tommo and Bex.

No one won on the fateful night when everything changed in the lives of these four but some of them lost more than others. This novel has such a depth to it, and has been going round and round in my head since I finished reading it. I’m finding it hard to review because there is so much I want to say but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.

This novel is really about the fine line between good and bad. About how everyone has to take responsibility for the things they do and if they don’t it will catch up with them in some form or another. There are some people who take, or are given, more than their share of blame and heartache and still spend a large part of their lives trying to come to terms with that, and perhaps punishing others rather than the ones they know who should be punished. It is ultimately a novel about how the ghosts of the past are doomed to haunt us, about how redemption never comes in the way we expect it and how karma doesn’t run an exact course.

I rated this book 9 out of 10 and highly recommend this novel.

I received this book from Legend Press on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Bright Stars is released on 1st October and is available for pre-order now from Amazon.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed The Generation Game, I love this author's use of well-dripped nostalgia into her storylines. An intriguing read with lots of light and shade and a cast of unlikely friends who are difficult to like, yet who are all strangely engaging.

Cameron is struggling through life. He never really stands up for himself. He was a nerdy student and by accident he became friends with Bex, Tommo and Christie. They are all very different characters, not very nice ones. But somehow they formed a friendship. Until a tragic accident happened, after that they lost contact. Now, 25 years later Christie offers them a reunion.

This book is more like a journal. Cameron was told by his therapist, that he should write everything down what happened. The story springs back and for. The first half is more a about the time at the university, how they met and how they became so unlikely friends. We learn about the accident and how it changed their lives forever.

Cameron was the first of his family to go to university. First he met Bex and fell in love with her. Cameron idealized her a bit. She is not very nice, she is egoistic and as soon as she meets Tommo, everything is all about for her. Later Cameron meets Christie and they became friends. He brings them all together. Beeing students, they go to lectures and they have fun. Tommo is a wannabe rock star and he drinks and takes drugs.

Switching forward to 46 year old Cameron we meet him on the edge of losing his job. His wife already left him because she wants a baby and he doesn’t. He moves back to his childhood home with his widowed father. He receives this letter from Christie. She owns a winery in Canada and she launches her vine in the UK. She invites him to come to London and meet her. Bex and Tommo are also invited.

Their reunion starts as if nothing ever happened and no time passed by. But this tragic accident is hanging like a dark cloud above them. But soon they begin to come to terms with the past.

The book is very well written. The characters are all unique and well developed. They are all not very likable, they all have their flaws. But they are all very realistic. I asked myself many times why they are all friends. They are so unlikely. Their lives are all haunted by the ghost of the past. At the end it comes more or less to and an “all ends well” conclusion. But I think this is for us readers to be happy and satisfied.

I liked this book and enjoyed reading it very much.

A fun and enjoyable story with plenty of heart. This was a lighter story than I expected but I did enjoy it. I would recommend this to readers who usually enjoy chick lit and are looking for something a little bit different.

Gritty and real, ‘Bright Stars’ was a refreshing, (and recognisable!) insight into the lives of four university students and how their lives intertwined.
Cameron Sparks, a painfully shy Scotsman from Edinburgh moves to Lancaster University and forms an unlikely friendship with three other students; Tommo the charming rockstar-in-waiting; Christie, a wealthy Canadian; and Bex, outspoken activist and the love of Cameron’s life. Against the odds the four friends become virtually inseparable despite their differences in background, experience and expectations. They share the good times and the bad, soured somewhat for Cameron by the bond that develops between Bex, the girl he loves, and self-centred Tommo, the good for nothing wastrel who Cameron feels treats her very badly. Nevertheless, the four remain friends until a tragic car accident, the circumstances around which tears them apart.
Jumping time sequences between past and present we follow Cameron through his adult life as he looks back on the past in preparation for the future; a reunion with his three lost friends, including Christie who has travelled across from Canada to see them. Old grievances resurface and the four are forced to confront the event that has stood between them for all these years.
Told with humour and sensitivity, ‘Bright Stars’ is a very real story about life which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I give ‘Bright Stars’ 4 our of 5 bright stars!

We are back to the 1980's here were there are four lads at Uni. Each of the lads are very different in character and make up, which I sometimes wondered how they merged together as a friend unit, but they do say that Opposites attract right?

This story goes back and forth to the time in Uni to present day events, gradually leading us up into the 'now'.

We learn about a tremendous tragedy and they each go their separate ways.

One of those lads..Cameron Sparks is now 25 years old, he's lost his wife, job is on the line and he has to move back with his Dad. He still hasn't got his head around the tragedy he's recently learnt. What a blow...

Anyway, a letter arrives, or should I say, an Invitation from one of the others he knew back in the day..Christie.

He has a dilemma now, does he go? Or should he leave the past where it is and build on what he has left?

This is a heart rending, sometimes emotional read for poor old Cameron, he surely needs a break in his life for some good to happen.

A well written story that kept my attention through out.

My thanks to ^Legend Press and Net Galley for my copy^

Engaging and thought provoking.

In 1986 Cameron Sparks started uni as a shy awkward teenager who found it hard to communicate and make friends, but along came Christie, Tommo and Bex. An unlikely foursome but they live as students - getting drunk and into the music scene until an accident happens that changes everything.

In 2001 Cameron's life is still not on track - he has been suspended from his job as a ghost buster, separated from his wife and at his age having to go back to live with his Dad! Then out of the blue a letter arrives from Christie inviting him to a reunion - are they all going and can he face them after all these years and have they all moved on.

A good story that makes a nice change from the normal predictable stories. I didnt particularly take to the characters but that didnt detract in any way from the story so would definitely recommend it

This story strongly reminded me of a 21st century Brideshead Revisted - but in a good way. Set on a university campus in the 1980's, it is written from the point of view of the clumsy, likeable, working class Cameron, who lives in the glittering shadow of his fellow student, Tommo, a manipulative, charismatic and privileged aspiring rock star. Tommo's personal magnetism and wanton disregard for the welfare of the people who love him leads inevitably to tragedy and ruined lives all around; but suffice to say that when we meet the characters again in the present day he remains the sort of bloke who can still get away with wearing skinny jeans at the age of 46 without being laughed at by his teenage kids; such is his enduring glamour and star quality.

This is a very readable and engaging novel. The characters and settings are well drawn and believable.

I would definitely recommend this book and look forward to reading more from the author. Many thanks to the Legend Press and NetGalley for allowing me to review it.

I think what attracted me most to this book was the fact of the friends being friends through decades, but still being there for each other. I have friends I made at school, and 30 years later we are still friends, talking to each other on a daily basis and being part of each other's lives.
Cameron is the glue that keeps the friendship group together and after some difficulty at work, he moves back home.
He then receives a letter from an old university friend Christie. Christie, Tommo and Bex were his best friends 25 years ago, and he thoroughly enjoyed his university lives together. An accident changes this friendship forever, and they scatter apart. This part reminded me of the "I know what you did last summer" movie series.
Unfortunately secrets only stay secret for so long.
Throughout the book I was waiting to see how the book unfolds and how the friends come together.
This was a very warm and nice read, and I really recommend it for anyone who would like something out of their normal genre

I adored this book. I think what drew me in was the fact that these people met in school and kept the friendships going for over 30 yrs. I have been very lucky having this with alot of my friends. The friend are pulled back together when tragedy happens. This book was well written and the characters are likeable.