An ordinary town. A group of friends on the fringe. A house full of extraordinary secrets.

High School grads Dovie and Silas begin their summer with a shortcut and a wish. But what happens before they arrive home turns their world upside down. That same night, a stranger shows up at Dovie’s summer home, adding more questions to the mix. Supplied with a few peculiar clues to piece together, they quickly learn one very important thing:

Never wish upon a falling star.

Travel through time, suspicion and romance, as Dovie and Silas discover what lies beneath their own identities, and in the very dust of the earth.

I have to say, I was immediately attracted to the cover of this book. It is absolutely gorgeous. I would hang that sucker on my wall in a heartbeat and call it art. 10/10 cover. Then I read the synopsis, and it sucked me in further. Totally sealed the deal. Time travel, romance, mystery, fantasy & memory loss? Sign. Me. Up. I was excited to dig in.

Overall, I enjoyed the characters, and the story, but as I read two things became glaringly obvious: 1) Most of the time I had no idea what was going on; and 2) this book is remarkably religious. I can’t say it was a bad book, it just wasn’t what I thought it would be. The writing is beautiful and descriptive, and it’s obvious that the author is a gifted wordsmith.

The premise that you shouldn’t wish upon a falling star intrigued me and the memory loss/time travel kept me reading until the end. I was a little put off by the religious themes, but I can look past that if it’s not in your face constantly. Near the end of the book, it was pretty in your face. I might have rolled my eyes a couple of times at the use of “The Father of Lights”, and “my invisible friend”. Again, nothing to fault the author, I am just not the target market for that type of plot.

I enjoyed all the characters, and boy there were A LOT of them. Dovie, Silas, Nigel, Uncle Ethan, Michael, Jordin, Caz, Connie, Rose, Oliver the Cat, Thad, Arthur, Todd, “the orchestra”, and several parents are mentioned but we never meet. They were all endearing, well thought out, and likable, but man it was hard keeping everyone straight. Add in the time travel, story jumping due to memory loss, & religious references, and my brain was mush.

All-in-all it was a solid 2.5-star read (rounded up to 3 for Goodreads). Unique ideas & execution, likable characters, and enough mystery & suspense to keep it from the DNF pile. I do think someone who enjoys Christian fantasy, or religious themes in general would like this much more than I did.

Unfortunately, with this one, I was once again reminded why you shouldn’t always judge a book by its cover.