Girl Made of Stars: 12/06/19

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake is about fraternal twins and the aftermath of a rape accusation. Mara and Owen join their friends to party at the lake. That involves underage drinking and coupling. Afterwards, though, Owen's girlfriend claims he raped her. He swears it was consensual. Mara feels torn in half.

The entire drama that unfolds is one of a twin having grown up believing she can always trust her brother. She's also a feminist. People who say they were raped should be believed. But now there's a conundrum. She doesn't believe her brother is capable of raping but she doesn't want to call her friend a liar.

These types of novels are situation dramas just as there are situation comedies. It's a big, melodramatic what if. It felt more like a thought experiment than an actual believable narrative.

In terms of the road narrative spectrum, it sits fairly high up, but isn't fantasy. The travelers are the twins (CC). The destination is a metaphoric one. Both want to go back to a time before the party at the lake. While uhoric journeys (CC) are usually literal, this time it isn't. Finally the route taken is along the country roads to and from the lake, which count as Blue Highway (33). All together it's the tale of sibling travelers trying to reach uhoria via the Blue Highway (CCCC33).

Two stars

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