With a cover like Starry Nights by Daisy Whitney, it would stand to reason that you would open the book and expect an intense, mash their faces together, in your heart forever romance. At least, that is what I expected upon opening. However, the reality of Whitney’s Starry Nights totally does not match up to my expectations. While yes, there is a romance, it’s hardly one that will launch ALL OF THE FEELS inside. Unfortunately, my friends, I was kind of let down by this book. If I am being honest, the whole thing was just kind of weird for me.
Julien is seventeen and lives in Paris with his parents. His dad is a scholar. His mom is the curator of the Musee D’Orsay. Julien, however, is ordinary in that he is not great at school. Nor is he amazing at art. His one talent is being able to do flawless accents. He is passionate about art though. And so, he does his best in school so that he can go to the museum at night, when everyone has gone home and there are no visitors or tourists. You see, at night, the paintings come alive, like for real. So, he sees the Degas dancers, some fruit, all that jazz in the flesh. When his mother is able to obtain a rare Renior painting of The Girl In The Garden for the museum, Julien falls fast and hard — for the girl in the painting, a muse named Clio. Unfortunately, there’s a curse and y’all, the art is starting to fade instead of staying put the way that it should.
Now that I think about it, I do not have a ton of things to say about Julien. The jacket copy describes him as a romantic, which okay, I guess if you think instalove is romantic, then yes he is one of those. He’s not funny. He’s not brilliant. He’s not even constantly thinking about sexytimes. He doesn’t swear a lot. He is middling at art. I don’t know, I guess until Julien discovers some of his abilities he is kind of bland. I think that being bored by Julien has kind of rubbed off on my feelings of nonchalance toward this book. Like, I just did not have the same feelings for it that I did for say, When You Were Here. I don’t know, I just never connected.
As for the romance, it’s very they see each other, they get googly eyes, they kiss, and then they are deeply in love. The end. Well, not the end. I don’t know, I just didn’t get why they loved each other or why they had such intense feelings so fast. Like okay, I get that Clio is one of the nine muses but like, there’s not much to say about her except that she is passionate about art. Probably the best thing about this romance is when it gets tested and when she has to get rid of her love. That was actually interesting and provoked emotions in me.
Unfortunately, I thought that Starry Nights seemd a bit slow for my tastes. I was sort of reluctant to read it because I wasn’t into Julien as a character. Granted, the magic and the concepts are cool. Hey guys, I actually enjoyed Night At The Museum. However, I am not sure how much of it really translated for me personally. In all I would recommend this book to art history buffs, Paris lovers, and people who do not mind love at first sight stories. For me though, it was just middling.
Disclosure: Review Copy Provided Via Netgalley
Other reviews of Starry Nights by Daisy Whitney:
The Flyleaf Review – “the story is enchanting, the romance is sweet”
Mundie Moms – “I got so wrapped up in Starry Nights”
That Artsy Reader Girl – “this book was a gift to my inner art historian”
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Agreed — I didn’t “get” it, I guess?
This book didn’t work for me, either! I think I went into it expecting an entirely different story, which didn’t help. While the “art coming to life” bit was pretty fascinating, everything else was just okay.
Sorry to hear this was disappointing. I have a copy, but I haven’t read it yet (isn’t that always what happens). I have heard similar opinions about this one, though. That is was a letdown.
I don’t always hate insta-love, if I feel like, after that first meeting, the author gives the reader lots and lots of examples on why these two are perfect for each other. Does that make sense? But no matter if it’s insta-love, or slowly falling for each other, I need to FEEL not only the chemistry between the two, but that their personalities mesh well. I don’t think I will hurry to read this one, even though I do own a copy.
I love the cover for this so much but agree that it was a weird experience. I loved reading Heather’s thoughts so much because of her unique perspective on the artwork.