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Katharine E. Quinn
5.0 out of 5 starsAddictive and unsettling
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2022
When friendship turns toxic, the pages turn faster! A twisted deep-dive into the codependent bond between two friends, an artistic loner and a shy It Girl, who head off to college together and into some very dangerous psychological waters indeed. I finished this one late at night, unable to stop reading until the final unsettling page.
It was a great read! Dark and atmospheric. One of my top reads in ‘22. I downloaded the audible version too and listened on my commute because I didn’t want to put it down. Well produced. This would be a great series. I picked up a few copies for my 90’s art school girlfriends for Xmas too. 🎄
Stargazer is a darkly compelling character-driven read, a tale of the complexities of female friendship and what happens when the dynamics of a relationship turn a friendship into something much darker. It is a relatively short book but it is full of simmering tension and one that had me gripped from beginning to end.
Diana and Aurelle, both brought up in a life of privilege, have been neighbours for years, but it takes a tragic accident in Diana’s family for them to become friends - and when they do they become inseparable. Aurelle is a bit of a dreamer, the daughter of a famous fashion designer mother who has reluctantly lived life in the spotlight as a result; Diana, an often prickly, talented artist, envies Aurelle’s close family which is totally unlike her own where she feels largely overlooked by her parents and longs to be part of Aurelle’s family. They decide to attend the same university and even live together in a house owned by Diana’s family, but as the year progresses, their intense friendship turns toxic, with shocking consequences.
Petrou’s character development is exceptional and as a reader you really do feel you get to to know Diana and Aurelle, and their personalities in all their complexities leap off the page. Set in the 90s at a university campus in Canada, there is a strong sense of time and place - the rave scene, the music, the fashion and the casual drug use, whilst at the same time the rural setting is used to great effect, its remoteness really coming to life and adding to the sense of menace that exists through the book. Petrou’s writing style is quiet but compelling with an ever-present tension that kept me turning the pages.
Oooh two of the tropes I love are Toxic Friendships and Campus Novels. I love them. Love, love, love them and so I was thrilled when I read Stargazer because it combined the two. A little bit Single White Female, Stargazer focuses on the friendship between Diana and Aurelle. Whilst they have been friends for a relatively short time the relationship takes place during that period of discovery, when friendships mean the absolute world to you. However, Diane becomes very envious of everything Aurelle has and wants a bit of that for herself. The more time the spend together, the more Diane infringes on Aurelle’s life.
This is when the novel takes its creepy turn.
Stargazer is a book that creeps up and down your body making you have a visceral reaction to what is happening. When a novel can have you looking over your shoulder in fear then you know you have written something good.
This is just a typical tale of two beautiful women, envy betrayal and almost every deadly sin you can think of. Utterly bereft of any depth and not much better than a Mills & Boon, empty and vapid with very little sex.
