Date finished: 20 April 2015
Series: Swimming Through Clouds, no. 3
Rating: 4/5
With its beautiful whirlwind plot and
deeply moving prose, Soaring Through Stars is the perfect conclusion to a
trilogy that has undoubtedly caused its readers to work their way through many,
many tissue boxes.
Jesse and Talia face even more challenges
as they prepare for the ultimate confrontation with their father. As if they
already haven’t suffered through enough pain, Gerard Vanderbilt seems
determined to break his children’s spirits. While the Vanderbilt teens struggle
to find their way alone in the world, an unexpected visitor throws everything
out of the balance, and they are pushed to the limits of their faith and
determination to find justice.
Paulus’s talent in weaving raw emotion into
her characters is unprecedented in the YA Fiction genre. Because of this, they
have come to life in such a way that I’m forever startled to glimpse up from
reading their stories and find that they’re not right beside me. Her characters
are so moving, so real, that I know I’ll keep encountering them in my memories
for a long time.
Additionally, Paulus has introduced a new
way of writing to the world – one that mirrors the distortions of reality through
its heartache and sorrow, with an underlying gold thread of hope and genuine
love. The world she’s created, although unjust and often disheartening, is
woven using beautiful words that fill her readers with an overpowering sense of
wonder for life. There is something truly powerful about her writing, and I
sincerely hope that she continues to publish many more novels. Otherwise I’ll
just have to invest in a lifetime supply of chocolate ice cream and cry my way
through this wonderful series all over again.
