Ever since last year’s homecoming dance, best friends-turned-best enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. It doesn’t hurt that their families are the modern day, Californian version of the Montagues and Capulets.
But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together.
What could go wrong?
With no one but each other for company, Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to hash out their issues via witty jabs and insults as they try to make their way to safety. But fighting each other while also fighting off the forces of nature makes getting out of the woods in one piece less and less likely.
And as the two travel deeper into Northern California’s rugged backcountry, secrets and hidden feelings surface. But can Zorie and Lennon’s rekindled connection survive out in the real world? Or was it just a result of the fresh forest air and the magic of the twinkling stars?
Goodreads
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I imagine most bookworms are like this, but anytime I read a book I just love, I buy everything else that author has written. I don’t even read the synopsis of the books, I buy them sight unseen and generally devour them. I’ve loved Jenn’s writing since Alex, Approximately, but wasn’t obsessed enough just yet to buy everything she had ever written. Chums, I am happy to report that within minutes of finishing Starry Eyes, I had ordered every Jenn Bennett book in existence.
Now anyone who says they don’t adore a good hate to love romance is either lying, or hasn’t found the right one. Zorie and Lennon were a fantastic example of the trope gone right. In fact, they were a little bit of two tropes smooshed into one adorable romance. They had been childhood friends, dated, hated eachother, and then got trapped in the woods together. So, in Starry Eyes, you get the friends to lovers trope AND the hate to love one. Its a fantastic two for one deal. (I sound like a car salesman, deal with it)
Zorie and Lennon were both such wonderfully weird characters. They were unique and just a fantastic example of being who you are despite what the world thinks. I actually think that may be one of my favorite things about not only this book, but all of Bennett’s YA novels. She doesn’t write the traditional characters. Her main characters aren’t all the most popular girls in school, or the stereotype cheerleaders. They’re fun and individual and often times wonderfully witty.
My Takeaway: Starry Eyes made Jenn Bennett and auto buy author for me. I now own everything she has written and am slowly spacing the books out so that I don’t go into withdrawals prior to her next release. Jenn, if you need a beta reader, I wholeheartedly sign up!
As The Book Ends 