Book Review: The Actual Star

“What about you?” he asked. “Do you look forward or back?” She smiled. “I think the present contains both.” She took a few paces back. “Let’s play.”

—The Actual Star, Monica Byrne

There is a special kind of sadness that comes when you end a book that transported you, wrapped itself around your senses, pulled you in, and refused to let you go. A special warmth that comes when you remember you can read it again and catch all the spider web strands the author threaded through that now you’ll see with even more clarity.

Monica Byrne’s The Actual Star is a book I read at night until my eyes wouldn’t stay open, influenced my dreams, and then, when I woke up in the middle of the night, started to read again, holding a book light under my covers like when I was little so as not to wake my partner. I’ve just finished it and find my lungs aching—I want so badly to talk it about with someone and have already sent out a flurry of texts and emails to friends to get them on board.

I have so many thoughts and feelings. I feel like crying and am not entirely sure why, but know my body is processing all the things. Thankful for the ways in which this book has inspired new thinking for me, made me question things I hadn’t thought to question, reminded me of the power to create new realities and think more about how I want to do that.

I realize I’m not saying much about the plot itself—but don’t even know how I’d fit it into words. It’s transportive, thought provoking, compelling. If you were into Rebecca Roanhorse’s Black Sun or N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth Trilogy or Octavia Butler’s anything, I think this is a book for you.

Building three separate worlds that all feel fleshed out and solid? Each full of characters that felt tangible, distinct, and compelling? Composing a journey that spans across millennia and feels both surprising and inevitable? 

An author who trusts the reader to rise to the challenge of slipping into these worlds and figuring it out as you go; an author who makes it clear she can be trusted by the reader to make the journey worthwhile? 

Takes a special gift. Monica Byrne has it.