She got eyes that cut you like a knife: THE GIRL WITH STARS IN HER EYES.

The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes by Xio Axelrod
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An all too realistic story of a female rock band

The idea of an all-female rock band is great, and Xio Axelrod uses personal experience to infuse the story with lots of realistic tidbits and facts about the music scene. Unfortunately, the characters don't have that same realism and ability to resonate. Growing up, Toni Bennette (yeah, yeah, she's heard it all) had one love: music. But her best friend Seb Quick was a pretty close second, even if she kept her romantic feelings hidden. When Seb disappeared when they were both teens, it broke Toni's heart. She thought she moved on until Seb shows up again in Toni's life. Toni's on the verge of her big break, but she's not sure she wants it if Seb is involved.

I found this story to be good but not remarkable. The tale of The Lillys--the female rock band that Toni could potentially join--is an interesting one. Axelrod's in-depth exploration of the music industry is certainly accurate (it seemed) but sometimes too much. STARS often feels long and repetitive. It's hard to love the rekindled romance between Seb and Toni if you do not feel the strength of their original childhood connection or forgive Seb as easily as Toni does. The inability to quickly connect to those two made the book feel longer and less plausible.

Toni is so strong that it seems as if she could solve her own problems and have her own dreams. I easily tired of many manufactured dramas that could be quickly solved (just hire security, etc.). What's funny is that I was intrigued by each band member's story and wanted more. There was just a lot of drama and too much repetition to delve into what I truly wanted from the story.

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