Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Starry Nights

Starry Nights by Daisy Whitney
4/5 stars
Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2013
226 pages
YA Fantastical Contemporary

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I must give credit to Heather from The Flyleaf Review (review linked below) for her beautifully enthusiastic review of this book, which totally prepped me for the book by sharing about her art history background, something I do not possess. While I like looking at paintings, I do not have that passion for them that others have and can use the additional knowledge and love.

Julien loves art and realizes how fortunate he is to be able to roam the halls of the Musee d'Orsay after hours due to his mother's position there. In turn she appreciates his keen eyesight that catches possible sun damage before anyone else. His knowledge is uncanny and his talents are even rarer as he realizes that he can bring paintings to life, including the enchanting young woman in a recently rediscovered Renoir painting. Unfortunately he also starts seeing paintings around the world start to break down and he must race against time and his own desires to restore the art for the world's enjoyment.

Honestly the premise for this book is a bit weird-I mean, paintings coming to life? But Julien's love of the artwork is so real and compelling that it is easy to follow again. I mean, if I stopped to think about it, I'd find it quite bizarre but while reading, I was just swept away. Are most teenagers that interested in art (even French ones)? Probably not but I did like how he has this unique passion and the means and determination to follow it. Julien learns some pretty interesting things about himself over the course of this book that will definitely shape his future.

However the two parts that stay with me most don't really have anything to do with him. For example, my favorite parts were definitely Julien's interactions with a young ballet dancer-he can hear music coming from her, signs of her future career. As a musician, it is probably not surprising that those sections resonated so strongly with me especially because the referenced music is incredibly famous. My other lingering impression from this book is that Renoir is kind of a jerk-a sexist elitist jerk and I don't like him much. He does not come off well for sure and the parts that annoyed me the most are confirmed in the author's note as being true.

Unfortunately there is a romance and not just between Julien and art in general. No it is with that girl in the painting, Clio. Clio has been stuck there for years and that seems to have worn away her personality as in she didn't have much of one. I understand that she's beautiful but I need a bit more to get on board a train of human and painted creation, you know? So the romance is where this book really lost its luster for me as well as how the chapters leading up to the ending sort of dragged. This would also be an instance of a book where I did not want a traditional happy ever after and the path that this book took was too far away from what I wanted and expected to happen, leaving me dissatisfied about that.

Overall: Though my rating is on the positive side, I do find this book a bit slow and was very unhappy with the way the romance was handled. Still if you enjoy lightly magical stories and have an appreciation for art, this may be something you'd enjoy.

Cover: I feel like the cover is a bit cheesy (why yes it *is* set in Paris) but I've heard lovely things about the book in print so I'd like the chance to glimpse that for myself.

Other Opinions:
A Reader of Fictions
Alexa Loves Books
In Bed with Books
Into the Hall of Books
Jen Ryland/YA Romantics
The Flyleaf Review

22 comments:

  1. Sounds like an interesting read. I think it might be a bit too far-fetched for my tastes, though I suppose it's all just magical realism.

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    1. I actually wish it had been even more fantastical instead of grounding things so much-I really like magic :)

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  2. I think I'd like the idea of the story more if it was written as an MG book. When I was a kid I liked the idea of characters coming to life from books or paintings or toys. I think as a teen I wouldn't have liked this even though I do like art. Hard to say. It looks like a very different book from the author's other work.

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    1. MG might have been cool as it probably would have had less romance, my least favorite element. It was very different from the other work of hers I've read and that excites me for what else she might have in store.

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  3. I loved the ballet dancer too! (I originally thought she was going to be the romantic lead.) I must admit that the romance did drag a little, but I just liked the rest of the book a lot. And Julien's passion for art was awesome, I agree.

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    1. I wish she had been the romantic lead too! But I understand how she represented this different element of muse and passion for artistry.

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  4. The romance in this book was SO awful, the ending especially. UGH. I really liked the concept, both the paintings coming to life and Julien hearing the dancer's career, but the romance really killed it for me. He and the dancer had better chemistry, and they didn't have much. Sigh.

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    1. I really wanted the girl to be back in her normal life, not in love with Julien so the romance was definitely my least favorite element.

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  5. Aw, if it was slow and romance was lacking I probably couldnt get into it

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    1. There is romance-it's just not very good compared to other ones I've read.

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  6. I've wanted to read this one since Heather's review too! I love art themes and Paris and I'm really excited about those elements. Plus the male POV. I'm worried about the insta-love even though I'm a big romance fan. I'm also not sure how I'll take the "paintings coming to life" aspect. It was fun in Night at the Museum but IDK in book form. Love when we get a different glimpse of a real historical character, so I'm actually really interested in the information on Renoir!

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    1. Heather's review was so influential in getting me to pick this up! The insta-love was such a dealbreaker. It meant so much to Julien and I just didn't think it should after such a short time.

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  7. Nice review! I think this looks and sounds super cute (kind of like NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM), and totally want to read it! I've heard some good and bad things about it, and I hope I like it.

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    1. I think I had more fun with Night at the Museum because I prefer history to art but that's an apt comparison.

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  8. I've been a bit curious about this one, I read Heather's review as well so that got me excited, but it did sound weird. I think that the issues you had would be things I would likely notice, so it's good to know that. Maybe one day I can squeeze this one in.

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    1. It's definitely a bit offbeat but I can see how it would be rewarding especially to art fans.

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  9. I agree with what you said. It felt a little young to me and I was not a fan of the romance, but I did enjoy the Paris setting a lot!
    Jen @ YA Romantics

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    1. I was surprised by how young the characters felt at times-I expect Parisian teenagers to be more cosmopolitan!

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  10. Great review :) I don't think this book would be for me, since you didn't like the romance :\ but I'm glad you mostly enjoyed the book, even so :) Four stars is pretty high. I do think the plot sounds kind of good :)

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    1. If romance is super important to you, then I'd recommend skipping as this one is not worth it.

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  11. Aw, thanks for linking to my review--and I'm glad that it helped encourage you to read this one:)

    I love that your music background allowed those parts of this book to resonate with you--just as the art parts spoke to me! That's awesome!

    And yeah, I think Renior was a bit of a sexist, elitist pig--most of them were working during that time period:)

    Fabulous review:)

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    1. Your review was so amazing! I really do hope people will check it out :)

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