The world thinks that pop superstar Kiara Anderson has it all, but she spends her nights drinking away memories of her childhood and life as a teen runaway. The Jacobs family are desperate to see the girl next door again and discover why she ran away, especially their son, Shane, who blames himself for her disappearance. When Kiara's manager forces her into a reveal-all TV interview, she knows the family she loved more than her own will finally discover the truth. Can she overcome her demons or will the shadows of the past rob her of fame, fortune, and a chance to finally fall in love?
Helen has spent over thirteen years working and volunteering for charities in the UK and abroad, including four years in Honduras. She currently works as a charity communications manager and lives in Bedfordshire with her husband and son.
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Becks - Writing On The Walls
In short, I loved it. It’s a very real down to earth story that has a sweet romance flowing through that doesn’t overtake the whole book, it allows all the characters to breathe and the storyline to come alive.
Every character has their own part to play in the story, each as important as the other. But the main character is a girl named Kiara and that’s who’s a story we follow.
Kiara has a rough childhood but she finds comfort in the Jacobs family. They take her in, show her love and what it’s like to be a family, but there is no escaping her own thoughts and emotions or her father, who betrays her in the worse way imaginable.
Thinking that the only way out is to run away, she leaves everything and everyone behind. Not realizing that by trying to escape she breaks the hearts of the family who loved her the most. Leaving questions and blame hanging in the air.
But even though she thinks she has escaped, she is still trapped by her own mind.
I loved that this book focuses on mental health and the effect it has not only on that person but those around them. It is well written. It’s believable and frustrating all at the same time. You want to scream at Kiara, to just talk, open up, contact the Jacobs.
That to me is a sign of good writing, you go on this rollercoaster ride with her, you care about her and the family she leaves behind. You want it all to be okay. I also like that there is no quick fix, no magic potion and poof suddenly everything is fine. I love that it is a journey and we get to go along with it.
Kiara felt so lonely, felt like she couldn’t turn to ones who loved her most because of the shame when in reality all the family wanted to do was help.
The ending is believable and so are the characters.
Helen is a very good writer, she gets you to believe in the characters and to connect, it also shows great writing that you can tackle something like mental health and have it be believable.
If you would like to read Star in the shadows click the link is below:
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