THE BRIGHTEST STAR, BY ANNA TODD
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Relation
between the title and the story:
We
can see the link since Karina's Mom had the theory that love was related to the
stars, and for Karina her brightest star was Kael.
Author´s
Purpose:
She
wanted this book to mark a difference and be distinguished from the previous
one she had written. Her main purpose in writing this book is to show the
nature of the problems the characters face. In "After" they were in
college, in “The brightest Star”, they are placed in the real world that comes
after, where there are more global conflicts.
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Plot
Summary
Karina
is a twenty-year-old girl who knows no more life than military bases. She comes
from a long generation of families serving the military and has always dreamed
of leaving there and seeking her own space in the world, far from the
environment and military compounds. She is also a hardworking and attentive
girl who cares about her young brother, a little rebellious and crazy boy, and
also somewhat distant with her father and his new wife, with which she is
forced to dine every Tuesday out of courtesy and for not losing contact.
After
years of trying, she has managed to become independent and buy a little house
that she is slowly reforming and that she shares with Elodie, one of her
friends at the base. Karina enjoys being independent and having a space of her
own and time for her. She's never been a girl with hooks and boyfriends, so in
that aspect, she is still using diapers; but with Kael's appearance in her life
something changes and the initial curiosity about that airtight boy, who one
day walked into the spa for a massage session, soon turns into feelings and
emotions that she never thought possible to feel.
Gradually, Karina will get carried away in Kael's world, whom on the other hand, has seen
and suffered far more than a twenty-year-old like him should have seen and suffered.
The consequences of war and enlistment in the army take its toll-like any other
and have a hard time socializing with others, especially when most of his
friends are military-like him and he never knows if he will see them again. But
despite that inner pain, he's a kid who cares about others and is always there
to lend a hand, whether they ask him or not. He is quite observant, even when a
personal secret is revealed and detrimental to the relationship that begins to
forge between him and Karina and the couple's relationship soon reeled. In the
end, the story of Kael and Karina has not gone as well as all expected.
Themes:
The
themes covered in the story are real-life issues, for example, the problem of
many teenagers who feel disconnected from their families and that's why they
are permanently communicating online with other teens, as that makes them feel
understood. Another theme that we can highlight is the social theme, in the
part where an officer mistreats our protagonist for being colored, and the main
theme of the story that is the Romance, of how our characters give everything
to be together.
Characters:
Karina
Kael
Austin (Karina's brother)
Elodie (Karina's roommate)
Karina's father
Stelle (Karina's stepmother)
Bradley (Karina’s ex-boyfriend)
Mali
(owner of the place where Karina works)
Mendoza
(Kael's friend)
Stewart (Karina’s client)
But,
Kael's entry into her world is going to make her perspective of things change,
and what used to be black, starts to turn to color. We liked her as a character
because she shows that struggle to be independent, but also the fears and
insecurities that come with it. And that innocence that she still has while
going through that path that made her an adult and it's something you see in
real life.
On
the other hand, we have Kael, who is a serious, responsible boy, with a
complicated life, because the military is at various times in complicated
situations and with difficult resolution. He's a very handsome boy who's going
to evolve a lot throughout this story.
We like it very much since the plot of the book
is very good. Besides, it's so interesting, that when we got to the end
we felt so empty that we couldn't stop thinking how this story could continue.
We
loved it because with this book the author has been able to bring us something
different from what she has embodied with her other books, this was more
realistic, with problems that can happen in everyday life, and she tried to
make that happen in the characters themselves, who had a deeper development
that her previous ones.
The
ending seemed to us to be a Bomb. When we read the last page of the book we
immediately foreshadowed how our protagonist's life was going to crumble. We
can't wait to read what comes next.
"The
brightest stars are the ones that burn the fastest, so that we must love them
while we can."
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Point of view:
We recommend it for those who like light, romantic, and interesting books, besides that this book is narrated by Katrina, which allows us to understand her better, it would be very difficult to live her story from an external point of view. This fact has helped us immerse ourselves within her character, feeling her emotions as our owns, and making us forget the real world for a little while.
By María Camila Pinzón
and Camila Orozco, Step 10
