Summer of Supernovas by Darcy Woods – a Review

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Description:
Fans of Jennifer E. Smith and Jenny Han will fall in love with this heartfelt and humor-laced debut following one girl s race to find the guy of her cosmic dreams. When zodiac-obsessed teen Wilamena Carlisle discovers a planetary alignment that won t repeat for a decade, she s forced to tackle her greatest astrological fear: The Fifth House relationships and love. But when Wil falls for a sensitive guitar player hailing from the wrong side of the astrology chart, she must decide whether a cosmically doomed love is worth rejecting her dead mother s legacy and the very system she s faithfully followed through a lifetime of unfailing belief.”

Review:

Summer of Supernovas is the debut novel by Darcy Woods.  Wilamena “Wil” Carlisle is a headstrong, enlightened and very unique seventeen year old girl.  She believes she is destined to follow the stars and the astrological chart her mother left for her before she passed away. But Wil is now down to the wire – she has just twenty two days to meet the love of her life the “one” that she is pre-destined to be with forever, at least according to her star chart.   Following the charts and the knowledge her mother left her with she embarks on an emotional, spiritual journey. 

One night as she is star gazing and contemplating her life on top of the town’s water tower, she sparks the attention of one Grant Walker. Grant although afraid of heights, scales the tower in an attempt to rescue Wil, who he thinks is out to harm herself.  But once he realizes she isn’t there to harm herself it’s too late – he has already called the authorities and they are now on their way.  As they are making their way down the water towers ladder – they fall. Wil ends up in the hospital.  Embarrassed and humiliated that he read too much into the situation on the water tower, Grant tries to apologize to Wil by inviting her out to the local club that his parents own – Absinthe.  Once inside the club with her best friend Irina, Wil has a magical and mesmerizing dance with Grant.   But following her mother’s cues and star chart – Wil is quick to learn that Grant is not the right astrological sign; in fact he is the exact opposite.  He is a Pisces and that is what her mother warned her to stay away from, or so she thinks.  

Grant is handsome and there is an undeniable connection between him and Wil.  But she knows he isn’t right for her – not in any sense of the word.  And if she is going to follow these charts to her destiny she must stay away from him. Its then that she meets Seth. Seth is handsome, warm, caring and surprisingly he is exactly what Wil has been looking for. Exactly what her chart has told her to seek and find.  In fact he is almost too exact in what she is looking for. But, in a twist of fate, Seth turns out to have a brother – and that brother is Grant.

Completely convinced that the stars and all the charts have aligned to bring Seth into her life,   Wil tries with everything she has to make her destiny come to pass. But when she finds herself and her thoughts drifting to Grant, she begins to realize that maybe our destinies can’t be found in the stars.  Maybe just maybe the one she is supposed to find was already there. And maybe the stars are wrong.

I loved Wil from page one.  She is unique, strong-willed and you just want to tag along on her journey to find true love and happiness. She is loyal to her best friend, Irina and stands up for what she believes in.  I found myself rooting for her and her star chart every step of the way. I wanted to believe just as she had.  But when Grant comes into the picture – there is an undeniable connection there. A connection that even the stars can’t conspire to create! Wil lives with her Gram and their relationship has been strong up until this point.  But when things come to light that Wil didn’t know about – things her Gram kept from her – their relationship becomes strained.  And you want more than anything for that relationship to right itself.  For the two of them to become whole again. Gram is one of those women that you just know has an amazing back story and you’d give anything to figure out what that story was.

I adored the sub characters of Irina – she was perfect as a best friend.  Strong, confident and just what Wil needs around her. She had me laughing and looking up words in the dictionary all at the same time! And while Irina doesn’t always buy into the stars and the charts that Wil follows – she still supports her and her decisions every time.   Manny is Grant and Seth’s friend and he was adorable from the moment he walked on the page.  He was hysterical and every time he opened his mouth he had me smiling or laughing.  I am hoping and praying to the stars above that there is follow up novels for both Irina and Manny.  Because there is a story that is just fighting to be told!

This story felt real – you wanted to believe in every page.  You buy into it and you want Wil to have everything she deserves.   And I loved every minute of her following the charts and doing what she thought was right to following her heart and believing in what she knew was right. I will be passing this book onto my daughter (I save and keep all my favorite to pass on to her) and I can totally see this being a huge break out summer book for young adults and teens, In fact – its written in the stars!

Reviewed by Erin

Copy provided by Publisher