Review: Defy the Stars by Stephanie Parent

Defy the Stars
By: Stephanie Parent
Publisher: Self-published
Published: Aug 1, 2012
Genre: YA
Rating:

Goodreads
Amazon 

Julia Cape: A dedicated classical piano student just trying to get through her last semester of high school while waiting to hear from music conservatories.
Reed MacAllister: A slacker more likely to be found by the stoners’ tree than in class.

Julia and Reed might have graduated high school without ever speaking to each other…until, during a class discussion of Romeo and Juliet, Julia scoffs at the play’s theme of love at first sight, and Reed responds by arguing that feelings don’t always have to make sense. Julia tries to shake off Reed’s comment and forget about this boy who hangs with the stoner crowd—and who happens to have breathtaking blue eyes—but fate seems to bring the two together again and again. After they share an impulsive, passionate kiss, neither one can deny the chemistry between them. Yet as Julia gets closer to Reed, she also finds herself drawn into his dark world of drugs and violence. Then a horrific tragedy forces Julia’s and Reed’s families even farther apart…and Julia must decide whether she’s willing to give up everything for love.

Julia is a straight edge kid. She’s never drank, done drugs and hasn’t really even kissed a guy. It all changes when she takes notice of one of the stoners, Reed. Reed is the total opposite of what her parents would call an appropriate suitor. Not only is he not from the same class but her mother is in charge of the Anti-Drug Defense for the area. But they put their differences aside and try to make a relationship work. No matter how many cards are stacked against them.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect going into this. Remakes of a classic story seem to be hit or miss with me. I really liked the story of these two characters. The verse style of writing took a while to get used to since I’ve never read verse before but after a while I just read it with ease and was sucked into the story. The only problem that I did have with the story was there was a lot of dreaming sequences in the story that I personally felt like they could have been left out. Other than that, I enjoyed the story and must say that I loved the ending. Not very often does a book surprise me and when it does, I do take notice. So kudos to the author for not taking the easy route.

“I look behind me one last time – and see – no,  feel – Reed’s eyes waking up, sparking with sudden fire like two stars in the night, their light aimed right inside me, where they’ll linger, waiting to ignite.”