A #bookreview of – When Stars Collide by Tammy Robinson.

When Stars Collide by Tammy Robinson.
Published: 20th September 2013.
Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US in Kindle and paperback formats.

‘When Ivy meets Walt at a party she sees past the corny pick up lines (a dare from his friends, or so he tells her) and his t-shirt featuring the immortal slogan, ‘Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful – hate me because I have big boobs!’ and they fall in love. Not only is he Ivy’s first love, he’s also her first lover, and she’s sure nothing could ever come between them. Their love is simple yet magical, and they delight in the happiness they have created. But when tragedy strikes, their future is thrown into turmoil, and Ivy goes searching for answers. Will she find them? Or will she forever be searching for something which just isn’t there.’

Remember finding your first love, and the excitement that came with it? Remember not wanting to be apart from them and your family realising that you were growing up before their very eyes? Aw, a love story! A love story of Ivy and Walt to be precise. Two people falling head over heels in love with each other, excited for their future and being together…if only it was that simple. If only things were as straight forward as being in love and being allowed to get on with it. Never is, is it? It’s always very calm…..before the storm….
Yet again I read this book without reading the blurb, and once again I am glad that I did it that way. I wanted to see the story unfold without knowing a thing, which is exactly what’s going to happen in this review! Usually I write general things about a book without spoilers (obviously), just to give readers a rough idea before they read it. But this time, I’m not going to because I feel that it is a story you need to find out for yourself, just like I did. Why? Because the book is a work of art. I will tell you what I thought of it though, naturally. I absolutely loved it, from start to finish. The amount of raw and powerful emotion that escapes into the story is incredible. As it’s already known, you do get to remember the love story of a first love and experience how Ivy felt. But then everything changed. The dynamics in the book changed. I was sitting bolt up right in my bed with my hand covering my mouth. No, I’m not being dramatic, it is THAT powerful.
Every event within the story is backed with a very realistic description; to the point where I felt that I was looking through Ivy’s eyes to what she saw. It made me feel that I was Ivy, walking the same path has her, realising that love comes in multiple forms, and that it’s not just reserved for that special someone. Friends, family, pets…you catch my drift. As I’ve said already, ‘When Stars Collide’ isn’t a simple love story, not by miles. I’m not ashamed to say that I cried multiple times. All of the emotional parts of the story came through in different ways. It wasn’t upset for one particular part or chapter, it was various things within the whole book. Does that make sense?
The story made me realise that you need to grab things with both hands. Love with all your might. Make the effort with those you love and don’t pay attention to those you don’t love or care for. When Stars Collide may also teach you other lessons, such as, helping you to realise that people deal with things in different ways and just because you don’t agree with it, doesn’t make it wrong. It might even teach you that you don’t need to justify how you feel to anybody, but others need to respect how you feel. Why do I think you might get taught a few things? Because I did. I had never read such a powerful, poignant, emotional and raw book…until I read this one. I just had to keep reading it…which is why I finished the book in little over an hour. People have said to me before ‘why do you read books that make you cry?’ and my answer to that is this; you don’t tell yourself that you will cry at a story, it’s not something that you know will happen. But when you get a book such as this, that has such power over you to the point of you getting emotionally involved in the characters lives, it’s extremely hard not to get upset. Especially when the characters you have gotten to know throughout the story are faced with tragedies, uncertainty, and even themselves.
Tammy Robinson, you are incredible at what you do and I am in awe of you and your work. Such a talented and humble individual, yet can produce such powerful writing. Amazing.