I finished The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes a few days ago, synopsis from Waterstones:
At 66, Star Street in Dublin, someone is watching over the lives of the people living in its flats. But no one is aware of it - yet...One of them is ready to take the plunge and fall in love; another is torn between two very different lovers. For some, secrets they want to stay buried will come to light and for others, the unveiling of those secrets will have tragic consequences. Fate is on its way to Star Street, bringing with it love and tragedy, friendship and heartbreak, and the power to change their lives in the most unexpected of ways...
Well, it has taken me quite a while to finish this because I just felt like it was a bit of a chore at the beginning. There are so many characters in this book and their lives are all so entwined and complicated that it was very easy to get confused. Also the book was set out in reverse, kind of, it started on day 66 and worked backwards to day 1, but inbetween these days were random flashbacks to some characters pasts - going back sometimes years at a time. Although this did in parts explain how that particular character got to where they are in life at the moment it was sometimes a little confusing.
The book is over 600 pages and I think for perhaps the first 300 pages I just didn't understand what was going on at all, there is a strange narrator who was not human and I think this was the reason for most of my confusion. Once I got past the narrator and really started to 'get to know' the characters I did start to feel some connection to them (well some of them). The book does have a very serious and emotional storyline for a couple of the characters and I did feel for them, to be put in that situation must be a truely horrible experience. Marian did deal with the emotional storyline extremely well, as she usually does, and there were also many funny parts to the book too.....it just didn't really wow me like she has done with some of her previous books.
Overall I'd say that if you have read some of Marian's past books and like her then give it a go, but don't expect her usual style of writing. If you've never read any Marian before I wouldn't read this first because it might put you off reading some of her other wonderful books.
6.5/10