Zorie’s philosophy is constantly being challenged by the actions of essentially every character that she encounters, all of whom follow some variation of Zorie’s mother’s prevalent message, “Don’t be cautious, be careful,” and indulge in life’s spontaneous nature.

Should things not go according to plan, anxiety overwhelms her and she gets hives – a physical attribute that makes itself relevant time and time again throughout the novel. Starry Eyes follows Zorie Everhart, a geeky high schooler whose life is dictated by a firm need of structure: everything in her life – from the day’s activities to how the path toward her desired job studying astrology is paved – is planned with excruciating detail. So, it was an obvious choice to pick up Jenn Bennett’s Starry Eyes, and it was almost involuntary how quickly I was captivated by its story I was so captivated, in fact, that I read the entire novel in practically one sitting (I took a two-hour break in between for my brother’s volleyball game). Whether it’s the slow-burn nature of discovering or rediscovering emotions, the forced interaction allowing for hatred to morph into a tentative friendship, a possible miscommunication of intentions that caused the initial hatred to become exposed, or the eventual and inevitable conclusion of uniting in passion and love, there is something about the trope I cannot get enough of! This is especially true if the situation also calls for the characters to become dependent on one another, be it for a school assignment, emotional support, or survival. One of the literary tropes that I am incredibly fond of is enemies-to-lovers.

Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett