As the Stars Fall

A Heartwarming Dog Novel (Books for Dog Lovers, Book 1)

By: Steve N Lee

Narrated by: Karissa Vacker

Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

A Desperate Dog. A Scarred Girl. A Bond Nothing Can Break.

An injured, young dog trudges the city streets, trembling from cold, from fear, from lack of food. Battered by the howling wind, he searches desperately for his lost family, yet day after day, week after week, all he ever finds is heartbreaking loneliness. But then, one magical spring morning....

Across town, a little girl sobs into her pillow in the dead of night. Her life devastated by a family tragedy, she can’t understand how the world can just carry on. Her days once overflowed with childhood joys, yet now, despair, darkness, and emptiness smother her like a shroud. But then, one magical spring morning....

…the dog and the girl meet.

In a tale as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking, As the Stars Fall explores how compassion can make us whole again and friendship can heal even the most broken of hearts.

©2020 Steve N Lee (P)2021 Steve N Lee

I fell in love with this book

Overall: A beautiful, emotional story with excellent narration

Story: As Stars Fall is intensely emotional. I teared up more than once reading this, it's such a poignant story. Beautiful, full of love, and at times heartbreak, your heart will overflow at times and at other tears will overflow your eyes. If you're looking for a book that will take you on en emotional roller coaster and light some hope in you, then you'll want to snag and read this.

Narration: Reading this book was an emotional ride, but Vacker added a whole new level of depth I wasn't expecting. I fell in love with Kai and Mia all over again. An excellent narration job that had me crying and smiling all over again.

All the love

It was such a roller coaster of emotions my husband and I can’t wait to start next book. So very well written

All the feels!! You have to listen to this!

I read the ebook of this 2 years ago, so the author recently asked for me to check out the audio version of this, and of course, I said yes! This book really stayed with me from when I first read it back a couple years ago. Heck, it even won Best Book of the Year for 2020!

The story follows a young, desperate dog who has not had a lot of luck. A young girl finds him suffering in a moldy old box and takes him home. Little do they realize that they need each other. They quickly form an unbreakable bond that will last forever.

Doing the audio of this scared me JUST a tiny bit. I had adored this soooo much when I first read it...I was worried the narration might ruin it or I question why I had liked it so much. However, my fears were for naught.

This had me scrambling to find my tissue box still. In a way...the narrator brought the story to life even more. She added so much feeling to her words and I must bow down to the narrator. Fantastic job. So much happiness...so much sadness...so much joy...all the feels. I feel like I have heard the voice before, but I was skimming through some previous works and I didn't see anything I have listened to but she seems to be popular and there are SOOOO many books she has read for.

My feelings for this book have not changed in the last two years or with a different format. This is a fantastic read and I highly recommend it. I still want Dad to have his own book someday. I feel like there is more to his story. He deserves to find some peace.

In the end...I loved this. The narrator was fantastic...the story is wonderful. It has all the feels and then some. 100% recommend. 5 stars yet again from me.

Wonderful read

The author really builds the relationships, dog people can totally relate. Some parts were difficult but great book

Heartfelt and heart wrenching

This book is so heartfelt, but heart wrenching. My heart went out the Dog, when he was small and on his own. Seeing life from the perspective of our faithful furry friends, was heart warming and heart wrenching at parts. Knowing what Kai went through while waiting on Mia, his Alpha, to return and all the fun things he did along with her as well. It makes me appreciate my dog that much more. I cried through parts of this and thought of what my dog had to go through when I was sick and away from the house for a very long time. I believe every person with a pet needs to read this or listen to it and get a small interpretation of what our beloved pets go through. This is an amazing book.

A Dog’s View of Life and Much More

This novel takes an unusual approach to storytelling: it’s written in the third person from the point of view of Dog (who is later named Kai). Dog is a sweet, streetwise puppy who has clearly been mistreated in his short life. He is rescued from life on the street by nine years old Mia and “Daddy”.

Kai’s insights into humanity are sometimes funny and sometimes incredibly accurate. He actually thinks he is training Mia rather than the other way around. He soon comes to realize that Mia is the Alpha in their pack of three. Kai and Mia discover that grief and fear are best overcome together.

Kai describes his world from a true dog’s perspective. Dog lovers will recognize many of his “gifts” and behaviors in their own dogs. His unconditional devotion to Mai is quite realistic.

I started writing my review at the halfway point in the book. But I had to revise most of it when I got about a third of the way in and the book took an unexpected turn. (My initial review suggested that this was a good family book, but I believe that parents should read/listen first before sharing with children.)

The story is a tearjerker, so have some tissues handy when you read. I look forward to other books in this series of books for dog lovers.

Karissa Vacker was the perfect voice for Kai.

Brilliantly heart-wrenching

Wow.
This book invokes so many emotions, constantly and just … wildly. Even if you’re not a dog person, I expect this book would tear at your heartstrings. And this book stars the absolutely sweetest, most wise-beyond-her-years 9-year-old girl, who, early in, proves just as lovable as ‘Dog’.

The writing is brilliant—I’ll have to see what else this author has out. It’s terrible only in how heartbreaking it is, however ultimately, it’s great. I did predict the end but, not until the last 12 minutes or so of it, so I’m not sure that counts.

It’s also not quite like anything else I’ve ever read or seen, which is quite a feat.

This is a tale of friendship and loyalty, in their purest forms.

5 stars
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️


Audio:
Perfect narration, very well 5-star performance.

A Dog Story Not To Be Missed

Though I wasn’t sure I’d like a story told from a dog’s point of view, Lee did a wonderful job of getting inside a homeless canine’s head. And narrator Karissa Vacker completely brought the story to life.

After reading this book, I doubt that you’ll ever look at a stray dog in the same way. This little puppy can’t locate his mother and siblings so he struggles to fill his empty stomach and stay away from danger.

That is until a little girl finds him, and her dad agrees that she can adopt him. At that point, many lives begin to change.

This is a little different than other dog books I’ve read. It captures exactly what I imagine a dog’s thoughts might be as the days go by. And Lee does it beautifully,

My Concerns
Both of these concerns are small, but at the same time kept the book from being 5 stars.

I wish the plot had developed differently. It’s not the sad part that concerned me, but rather my lack of emotion when two events happened. Maybe more of a build-up, especially to the first event, which felt very sudden, would have helped me. (Sorry, I have to be a bit vague so I don’t spoil what happens.)

The story felt a tad too convenient and predictable, though it tied together and didn’t leave any loose ends.

Final Thoughts
This audiobook was absolutely worth listening to, especially if you like books with dogs and sad, but in the end, feel-good stories.

Consider putting Steve N. Lee on your radar. After looking at all the books he has to offer, and his ability to write, I certainly am!

My thanks to the author for a gifted audiobook. I was free to express my thoughts, whatever they might be.

A beautiful story

Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. For all dog lovers out there, this is definitely a must read. The unique writing brings forth the familiar world we know in an unfamiliar and adorable way and fascination about things we barely cared about. It is a very wholesome book with deep exploration into emotions, grief, loss, happiness, joy and love. It also brings forth the visuals of the book in a very different way, from that of an observer whose senses are very different from ours, and the world that is painted within the book is simply beautiful. Narration Karissa Vacker is perfect. She brought forth the characters in the book so well, and the emotions within wonderfully. Just thinking about it gave me chills, she created such a wonderful listening experience.

Simply beautiful…♡

So very special… As The Stars Fall and the exceptional narration of Karissa Vacker will deeply touch your heart; an emotional journey that will make you laugh, cry and love.