Where the Forest Meets the Stars (edition 2019)

A mysterious little girl, Ursa, shows up at the cabin where Joanna is doing her graduate research on nesting birds. She claims she has been sent from the stars to witness five miracles before she has to return. What a wonderful book, it's Glendy Vanderah's debut novel, definitely an author to watch!!! ( )

A compelling story from the beginning to the ending. Nicely planned out and very readable....so much so that I immediately got her newest book! ( )

Checking out a few reviews and reading the summary of what the book was about, I thought I would like it. It did turn out to be a easy read and a somewhat interesting story for a while before “going off the rails” when Jo and Gabe began their romance.
To me, the use of the “alien child” was merely a gimmick for telling a rather standard romance story. Since I finally became annoyed enough with the book to stop reading it on page 202, I don’t know if anything is ever done about the “alien” aspect, but from the less than glowing reviews I have now gone back and read, it appears that I would have been unsatisfied with the ending.
The parts that bothered and annoyed me were mentioned in other reviews: the handling of Gabe’s clinical depression and his very real lifelong social anxiety. When Jo decides against Gabe’s objections to cut off his beard after he had worn it most of his life, I was offended. In the events that followed the few days after this shave was forced on him, there appears to have been no consequence for it, something which is simply not realistic.
Jo’s decision that she knew what Gabe needed more than he did displayed arrogant ignorance and since “Jo” is a fictional character, it is the author who is guilty of this ignorance. The arrogance is perpetuated when there a[[ears to be no consequence for the sudden change in Gabe’s defense system. Psychiatric help had not helped Gabe, but Jo’s lust was just the thing he needed.
Moreover, Jo’s acceptance of her body and of herself was too sudden, too extreme to occur so suddenly, and it was inadequately explained when Ursa’s “special powers” were given as the cause.
I was looking for a Sci-Fi hook and story that innovatively integrated Sci-Fi with romance., as promised in the publisher’s summary of the book. What the book gave me instead was not even a good romance where an “alien” replaced a fairy princess using pixie dust.
I have too many really interesting books on my TBR shelf to have lost so much time reading this misdirected and sorry romance novel.
From now on, I am going to spend more time reading negative reviews than 4 and 5 star gush from indiscriminate readers who, apparently, can’t distinguish between filet mignon and cube steak. ( )

Wonderful, touching, you can't rest until you finish. This author has q unique voice, looking forward to more books. Narrator also did a good job. Up all night until I finished it.

In this gorgeously stunning debut, a mysterious child teaches two strangers how to love and trust again.

After the loss of her mother and her own battle with breast cancer, Joanna Teale returns to her graduate research on nesting birds in rural Illinois, determined to prove that her recent hardships have not broken her. She throws herself into her work from dusk to dawn, until her solitary routine is disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious child who shows up at her cabin barefoot and covered in bruises.

The girl calls herself Ursa, and she claims to have been sent from the stars to witness five miracles. With concerns about the child’s home situation, Jo reluctantly agrees to let her stay—just until she learns more about Ursa’s past.

Jo enlists the help of her reclusive neighbor, Gabriel Nash, to solve the mystery of the charming child. But the more time they spend together, the more questions they have. How does a young girl not only read but understand Shakespeare? Why do good things keep happening in her presence? And why aren’t Jo and Gabe checking the missing children’s website anymore?

Though the three have formed an incredible bond, they know difficult choices must be made. As the summer nears an end and Ursa gets closer to her fifth miracle, her dangerous past closes in. When it finally catches up to them, all of their painful secrets will be forced into the open, and their fates will be left to the stars. ( )

I read and listened to this book and fully enjoyed both experiences.

Someone was upset by the way depression and mental problems were handled, but as I read this, I felt that it was not ordinary depression. Also most people don't have a clue how to handle mental issues and many mistakes were being made by almost everyone.

In this gorgeously stunning debut, a mysterious child teaches two strangers how to love and trust again.

After the loss of her mother and her own battle with breast cancer, Joanna Teale returns to her graduate research on nesting birds in rural Illinois, determined to prove that her recent hardships have not broken her. She throws herself into her work from dusk to dawn, until her solitary routine is disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious child who shows up at her cabin barefoot and covered in bruises.

The girl calls herself Ursa, and she claims to have been sent from the stars to witness five miracles. With concerns about the child’s home situation, Jo reluctantly agrees to let her stay—just until she learns more about Ursa’s past.

Jo enlists the help of her reclusive neighbor, Gabriel Nash, to solve the mystery of the charming child. But the more time they spend together, the more questions they have. How does a young girl not only read but understand Shakespeare? Why do good things keep happening in her presence? And why aren’t Jo and Gabe checking the missing children’s website anymore?

Though the three have formed an incredible bond, they know difficult choices must be made. As the summer nears an end and Ursa gets closer to her fifth miracle, her dangerous past closes in. When it finally catches up to them, all of their painful secrets will be forced into the open, and their fates will be left to the stars. ( )