This book was, in whole, laughable! If you picked it apart and focused on the individual scenes it wasn't so bad. They were well written and intence. But when you mesh them all togeather and call it a novel, it's awful! In whole, there was no logic behind anything that actully happened! For instance, Ian's idea that if he bedded Bianca he'd become immune to her "charms". *eye roll* It was a pathetic excuse for the author to put in a sex scene. If that excuse wasn't horrible the first time it certainly was second. Also the beginning of the book, good God it was awful! Hmm, yes, I think that this girl is a murderess so I shall become betroved to her. That seems like a good idea, if you have a death wish! And another thing, if I hadn't read the description of the book, I would have been completly lost in the first part of the book! It just started out with them over Isabella's body, it was ridiculous! Finally, the plot. The plot was nonexistant! The reasoning behind the murderer/murderess framing the Arboretti family was insane! Not even the good kind of insane where the muderer/murderess is completly deranged, it was the kind of murder that was unnessasary, pointless and stupid. In conclusion, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, not even to my enemies. That is how bad I thought of this book. However, not all of Michele Jaffe's books are bad. Rosebush, for example, was fairly enjoyable. But, The Stargazer? It's one of the worst books I have ever read and I think they only stargazed like once in the entire book so the title doesn't even make sense!
Heavier on the romance than I anticipated, and while I knew this would be very different from her young adult novels, I was surprised at the difference in the general writing style.While I definitely enjoyed the two main characters, Bianca and Ian, the actual plot (what little there was) was very lacking. A complex mystery with many points that don't seem to quite add up. It requires a lot of thinking to sort out all the little details that are actually quite important, because the book never quite sums it all up for you.Like I said, I did enjoy the characters, but they both had some stupidity issues. Ian is probably the most stubborn character ever, determined to believe in Bianca's guilt even when all reason points to her innocence. And Bianca, as the typical romance heroine, is constantly questioning her appeal to Ian, because his past lovers have been all beautiful and sensual and crap. These character traits might make the romance story interesting, they more just make the characters seem like humongous idiots.I don't particularly like romance novels because they all seem to have the same basic plot and characters. Nevertheless, I still enjoy a good one, even if I know the plotline by heart. But sometimes it just doesn't work. The Stargazer is an enjoyable read, but it doesn't leave you with much to think about when you finish.
What do You think about The Stargazer (1999)?
Read through netgalley.comIt was a lot heavy with the romance than I first expected, and the characters are moving so quickly from I love you/in love with you/infatuated in you to distrust and etc. the suspicion was therefore a bit too much between trust and do not trust. In addition to sex scenes in between, it became to much and boring. Predictable, and Bianca and Ian seems to be the damnation most enormous idiots that I've read about. This is a dragged story about how they met and fall in love, and managed to solve the mystery of the murder of courtesan, for which they both suspect each other.
—Vilde
Oh my goodness. I had to DNF the crap out of this.Number of times Bianca sneezes in the first 5 pages: 29. I'm not making that up; I counted. I HAD TO READ ABOUT SOMEONE SNEEZING 29 TIMES IN THE SPAN OF 5 PAGES. KILL ME. We don't even find out why. At least, we didn't before I DNFed this insane "novel."How long it takes Bianca to notice how utterly sexy Ian is: 4 pages. Again, not making that up.How long it takes Ian to notice how utterly sexy Bianca is: 7 pages. Ah, we've got a modest one on our hands. He waited until the middle of the first chapter at least.Ian's grand idea to be able to question Bianca, someone he assumes to be a murderess: Become betrothed to her and move her into his house immediately. (This is historical Italy, so the idea is absolute lunacy. They shouldn't even be alone in the same room together.)What page the atrocious idea above occurred on: 10I'm ashamed to admit I spent 25 cents on this book.
—Heathery
Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.First off, let me say how much I LOVED that this book was set in Renaissance Venice, Italy! It's such a magical city and served as a wonderful backdrop to the story! The descriptions of the place and people were wonderfully written, allowing the reader to easily paint a canvas in their minds. The way the setting was written was probably my favorite part of the book.The plot, however, was fairly confusing. I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. I think the plot took on more than the book could handle, as it tried covering a vast territory. In return, the plot seemed a bit watered down and lacking.The romance, on the other hand, was heavier than I anticipated. It was fairly erotic (I mean, within hours of meeting each other, the main characters have sex). I would've traded in some of the romance for more plot.Overall, this story was okay. Like I said, the setting was beautifully written. If you like books set in Renaissance Venice, you may enjoy this story.
—Martha
