Counting Stars: Book Review

Counting Stars, a book written by Braelyn Wilson, is about Brantley Thornton. Brantley has made the decision that in 64 days time she will take her life on the fourth anniversary of her mothers death. Brantley has spent the last four years losing herself and feeling lost without her mother, having only the stars to keep her company. Unbeknownst to her, Caspian Marks, a positive, ray of sunshine, moves in with his grandmother across the road and stops at nothing to change Brantley's mind. This beautiful grumpy x sunshine, small town romance will leave you in tears and resonate with so many.

Introductions

Wow, what can I say about this book, but that it was amazing. Firstly, the trigger warnings were listed before the book started, which I found respectful and helpful, but also included a reading playlist that captured the atmosphere of the book really well. Reading the first chapter, I was attached to everything about the book: the descriptions, the quotes, the characters and the writing as a whole. The dialogue in this book was entirely fleshed out, filled with amazing and resonating quotes from Brantley and Caspian, but also from Caspian's grandmother, Josephine and a few other characters. I know that the writing style in this book won't be for everyone, but I love the lengthy, speech-like, movie dialogue and the way the story was written, as if Brantley is telling you a story first hand. I did resonate with a lot of the view points of Brantley, as I myself, have suffered first hand with depression and anxiety, but I can also see this book connecting with a variety of different people and help some to step into the world of having mental health disorders. My favourite character is obviously Caspian: he's filled with positivity and light and always knows how to cheer Brantley up, a great quality in anyone, but what I love most about him is his love for the world and he's definitely someone I strive to be. I did love the contrast between Brantley and Caspian still, because it made the characters feel different, unique and real. I loved how the story wrapped up and included some bonus chapters to show different point of views, I thought that that was an interesting touch.

Pros

• Short read, but powerful.

• Felt as if I was watching a movie!

• Overall great writing.

Cons

• A bit too difficult for some readers to read, as it could be quite triggering.

Conclusion

To conclude, Counting Stars is a beautiful, mind-opening read, filled with romance, friendship and mind-altering scenes. Counting Stars has a few trigger warnings being: suicide, death, depression and anxiety, physical and emotional abuse, drugs and alcohol use and minimal bad language, so if any of that feels to hard to read at the moment, this book isn't for you. This book felt similar to They Both Die at the End, because there is a common goal, but the story still keeps you guessing to if it will happen or not. I would give this book an age rating of mature teen to young adult, because there is only talk of death and suicide, but abuse scenes can be quite prominent, and recommend to anyone a lover of romance. I do give this book an honest 5/5 stars, as the story, writing and characters blew me away and had me in a teary, snotty mess and trying to process for hours, which has only happened two or three times in my lifetime, so I applaud Braelyn Wilson, (especially as she is so young and this is her first book!) and highly, highly recommend anyone to read this book.

To anyone who has read this book, feel free to comment your opinion in the comments and to anyone wanting to read this book, I hope I helped you come to your decision. I would greatly appreciate if you would consider following and sharing my blog and joining my book club group if you liked this post, and contact me with any requests or questions you may have. Also feel free to follow my social pages, linked at the top of this page, for more bookish content!