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    Cage of Stars
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    Cage of Stars
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    Cage of Stars
    Audiobook9 hours

    Cage of Stars

    Written by Jacquelyn Mitchard

    Narrated by Kathe Mazur

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    No writer today illuminates the struggles of families-and the crises that can tear them apart-better than #1 New York Times bestselling author Jacquelyn Mitchard. "A first-rate storyteller" (Newsweek) who "renders her characters flawlessly, endowing them with a humanity that is both accessibly grounded and astonishingly deep" (Bookslist), the author of The Deep End of the Ocean, Twelve Times Blessed, and The Breakdown Lane now tells of a young woman's odyssey from innocence...and her desperate battle to be released from intolerable loss.
    Twelve-year-old Veronica Swan's idyllic life in a close-knit Mormon community is shattered when her two younger sisters are brutally murdered. Although her parents find the strength to forgive the deranged killer, Scott Early, Veronica cannot do the same.
    Years later, she sets out alone to avenge her sisters' deaths, dropping her identity and severing ties in the process. But as she closes in on Early, Veronica will discover the true meaning of sin and compassion...before she make a decision that will change her and her family forever.
    With a rare grace and piercing vision of people in turmoil, Jacquelyn Mitchard once again demonstrates her mastery of both suspense and complex human emotions as she explores the often surprising, mysterious acts that give full meaning to our lives.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 2, 2006
    ISBN9781415931196
    Unavailable
    Cage of Stars
    Author

    Jacquelyn Mitchard

    New York Times bestseller Jacquelyn Mitchard's novels include The Deep End of the Ocean, Twelve Times Blessed, and The Breakdown Lane. She is also the author of The Rest of Us: Dispatches from the Mother Ship, a collection of her newspaper columns. She lives with her husband and six children in Madison, Wisconsin.

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    Reviews for Cage of Stars

    3.5/5

    270 ratings34 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      It's very seldom that a book grabs me and has me in tears in the first couple chapters. Admittedly, I am a crier, and a lot of books get me by the end. But this one was highly emotional all the way through.

      I am not a religious person, but I didn't find the Mormon aspect of Cage of Stars overwhelming. It's there, and the beliefs are part of the story, but the book's tone isn't preachy.

      I really liked this book. I'll read more by this author.
    • 1/5
      Disappointing
    • 3/5
      Easy read.
    • 3/5
      A girl witness her sisters being murdered. The murder was let go because of mental issues. She goes after him years later and becomes their Nana to their baby girl. The man attempts to kill himself. "There are no coincidences if something happens and we don't understand the reason that doesn't mean that there is no reason. It means that the reason will later be reviled. Likely not in this life." Listened to on audio Kathe Mazur - Good
    • 5/5
      Mormon girl witnesses murder of her younger sisters. Follows how it affects her. LMIC book club member recommendation
    • 3/5
      Great story-line; I appreciated the references/insights into Mormonism and the LDS culture. Nice insights into characters and guilt/revenge. Fully recommended....
    • 4/5
      The story is very enjoyable to listen to on CD. The reader is very good. The book would be equally good in hard copy. As much as I enjoyed it, it wasn't 5-star material for me. Many nice details in the book, and the character of the Australian woman who rented a room to the main character was great. It was easy to picture the scenes. The psychological drama was excellent. The ending seemed both too coincidental and too happy-ever-after, but if you like that sort of ending, you'll enjoy the book. All kinds of things happen in real life, and this certainly could have happened.
    • 2/5
      I love Jacquelyn Mitchard as a columnist. I really liked "The Deep End of the Ocean." This book was just very uncomfortable for me and I found it very odd.
    • 4/5
      The story opens up with the main character's, Ronnie's, little sisters, Becky and Ruthie, playing hide and seek. Ronnie is hiding in the shed, and one of the other two girls are counting. She heard them call out, but she had assumed it was out of frustration and confusion, and that they had to start all over again. Until she hears silence does she begin to worry that something is wrong. She steps out of the shed and sees a young man standing over her two little sisters bodies, and he is crying as if they are his own sisters and someone else had just come along and done this.After the deaths, Ronnie assumes ownership of her little sisters, and thinks that no one else should mourn for their deaths besides those who knew them. A whole crowd of people had come to the house with white candles and sang "Amazing Grace", and Ronnie lashed out at the them, while the media portrayed her as slightly unwell in the mind. As the story unfolds, Ronnie grows up in this tight knit, comfortable Mormon town. Eventually, she develops a love interest, and while it seems it may progress as both of them become older, however it is snuffed out.While the family is always dealing with the tragedy, the marriage between Ronnies parents begin to show cracks at the seems. They also feel like they are losing touch with Ronnie, and they all say that it is because of the murders. So they turn to their faith to forgive Scott Early, the man who killed the little girls, a mentally ill schizophrenic, who spent three years in a mental hospital. However, Ronnie wants no part of it, as she cannot forgive him.Ronnie then moves out to San Diego, to become an EMT, and coincidentally, Scott Early has a new family on the outskirts of San Diego. She stalks the Early family, and becomes the new nanny to the Early's baby, Juliet. Afraid that Scott will have a lapse and do the same thing to this sweet baby, she decides to do something drastic.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. The author writes beautifully of loss and the pain of acceptance. Even though I thought some of the plot was predictable and a bit corny, I was happy to be reading it and looked forward to finding out how it came out. Ronnie was a bit too perfect and way to mature, but again, it didn't stop me from enjoying the book. It was a bit heavy on the Mormon religious stuff - but it worked within the framework of this particular story.
    • 2/5
      Substance: The story was actually okay, about a teen-age girl caught up in traumatic events and what she did to cope with things in light of her religious upbringing and family situation. The down-grade is because the author decided to have her protagonist and family be Mormons and then totally mangles the doctrine and culture of the LDS Church.(The author is not LDS; and the family's brand of religion actually is not essential to the story line, so long as they are some type of Christian.)Mangled doctrines generally refer to temples, but nothing that couldn't have been cited correctly. The book doesn't reference a lot of LDS teaching, and gets the history mostly right, but the overall effect is definitely "research" not "personal knowledge". The family depicted might conceivably be members of the Church, but the culture and environment is somewhat "off", in general behaviour and language. The author clearly did some research (as she claims) but either she didn't hang around any practicing Church members, or the ones she knows are from a totally different culture than the ones I have known for nearly 30 years. This may seem like a minor quibble, but if this author gets the LDS Church "wrong" despite her research, should I trust any other author to correctly depict someone else's religion (or culture) that the author is not a member of? (Which is not to say that members of a group can't be "different' or unaware of their own milieu.)NOTES: For instance, consider the language used: Mormons say Sister Jones and Brother Smith, very seldom Sister Ann or Brother Bob (maybe with friends or jokingly); Mormons speak of Heavenly Father as "the Father" only in formulas ("glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost) but not in conversation or prayer ("may Heavenly Father bless us today" not "may the Father bless us"); Mormons don't have Holy Days other than the usual holidays; p. 136: the Relief Society used to be called "Women's Relief Society" (I think; before my time), but never just "Women's Relief".p. 168: unless I've missed something lately, girls don't go on missions until they are 21 or older.
    • 5/5
      Enjoyed this thoroughly - thought it dealt with a tricky subject without being too maudlin or taking an easy way out. I was concerned about it at first (it was a book group offering) because of the positive review from Jodi Picoult (whose books I really can't abide) on the cover, but I felt this book accomplished what those of Picoult's which I've read, failed to do - tackle a tough subject with out gimmicks or copouts.
    • 4/5
      A young Mormon girl, Veronica, and her parents are deeply scarred by an unimaginable crime. The year following the tragedy is about survival. Then after that period of time, each of them makes the choice to forgive or to seek revenge. The characters were well written, and the story held my interest throughout. My only complaint would be that there was one too many coincidences used to move the plot along and to wrap things up neatly at the end.
    • 3/5
      Veronica "Ronnie" Swan is 12 years old when she witnesses the murder of her two younger sisters. Her idealistic, picture perfect childhood is destroyed completely in that moment, for not only has she lost her sisters, she suddenly has to become the adult in the house. Her mother gives birth to baby brother Rafe just weeks after the death of the sisters and Ronnie has to spend the next year, until her mother can once again function through the grief, raising the baby.This story of a child growing to womanhood, having to choose between forgiveness or retribution, was a good read. The Swan family has to lean very heavily on their faith (they are Mormons) to cope, and it is this faith that sees Ronnie through.Unfortunately, I feel approximately half of the book was written a bit loosely. The author tightens things up near the middle and finishes solidly, though, so I at least finished with a sense that everything was tidy and complete.
    • 4/5
      A very good book, with a powerful story. It fell a little flat at a few points, and so wasn't perfect, but was still well worth reading. It's a good powerful story about grief, tragedy, and forgiveness. Veronica is a believable narrator, and lets you feel her pain as she tells her story. Definitely worth the time spent reading it.
    • 5/5
      Very powerful story about a Mormon girl who had seen her younger sisters killed by a mentally insane man, and grew up to seek revenge. This is a book with depth, exploring the concepts of forgiveness and justice. But it also has a gripping plot, a romantic subplot, intriguing characters, and great descriptive writing.
    • 5/5
      If there were a limit to the number of books I was allowed to read in my life, I would choose this book to be one of them. This is a fantastic novel about the dificulty of forgiveness, and how hard it is to recover from tradgedy.
    • 4/5
      This was my first Mitchard novel, and I have to admit that I enjoyed it. It's the story of a pre-teen who indirectly witnesses the murder of her two younger sisters, who then attempts to come to terms with this throughout the remainder of her teen and young adult life. Coming from a Mormon background & a fairly religious community, she deeply struggles with the forgiveness aspect & instead begins to think of revenge, despite the fact that the murderer was mentally ill at the time of the crime & is deeply remorseful for his act. Though I didn't always empathize with the main character, I did think that Mitchard captured the varied emotions of a devastated family well, creating a very thought-provoking and possibly controversial novel. The last third of the novel flowed a little less smoothly than the rest, but it ended up coming full circle and I was satisfied with the ending.
    • 5/5
      AN inside look at the Mormon faith when Ronnie tries to cope with the brutal murder of her younger sisters. How she plots revenge and what happens twists and turns. From start to beginning it was well worth the ride!
    • 4/5
      Mormon teenager Ronnie Swan has to sort out her feelings after the murder of her sisters. A lot of questions are raised about mental health, compassion, punishment and forgiveness. Very thought-provoking.
    • 3/5
      It was okay. At first I felt that the book was wildly depressing as main character, Ronnie describes her sisters' death. The book began to become more detailed as Ronnie and her family begin the grieving process. When her parents choose a way to overcome their grief, Ronnie is appalled and embarks on a journey of her own. The book ends with a unique twist of fate and how it works in mysterious ways.
    • 2/5
      Interesting premise. Clumsy, I could tell the author was not Mormon because of the self-consciousness with which she describes their theology and practice, and that she "tells, not shows."
    • 5/5
      i loved, one of the best ficiton i've read in ages. ist about a girl who has to deal with the death of her two sister, killed by a schiznophrenic man. its very slow and confusing at the start but becomes fast paced half way through, but it was worth it. it made me think about alot of things.
    • 4/5
      Girl is babysitting when her baby sisters are killed by a man with a mental illness. How she lives with this. Her anger and grieving, and her families. She moves to avenge her family,but ends up not doing anything. I kept waiting for something bad to happen, but it didn't. 6/3/07
    • 3/5
      The book opens with the shocking murder of 2 young Mormon girls outside of a small town in rural Utah. Their older teenage sister sets out to avenge the murder. It is a mix of family, teenaged angst, religious strength and moral uncertainty. It is a compelling and interesting read; however the author should have employed a knowledgeable Mormon editor along the way. Many of her references to their religious beliefs and behaviors gave away her ignorance of their faith.
    • 3/5
      Sometimes the separation between revenge and forgiveness is just too wide for words to express. In Veronica Swan's life, her eyes are only set on revenge. After the two brutal murders of her little sisters, Ruthie and Becky, she swore she would exact her revenge on their killer, Scott Early. However, the beliefs of her family held her back (they were Mormon) so she had to leave them to find her own path. The novel follows her revenge trail in avenging her sisters and her unwillingness to accept and forgive. If you want to know what happens in the end, read the book. :) The novel. Cage of Stars, represents the theme of 'Who's the hero?' because it follows a girl who wants to make a path for herself through her muddled up life. She goes through conflict with outside sources (Scott Early) and inside herself. She is an unconventional hero, but still fits the role. I admire that she is so willing and strongly bonded to her family that she seeks the path of bloody revenge for her sisters. I found the themes of the novel satisfactory and engaging, however; the actual writing was hard to follow sometimes. Not because it was difficult to understand the context, but because the beginning is slow and hard to capture your attention but then it speeds up in the end with action. You have to be dedicated to reading this book if you want to endure the slower beginning without giving up hope, but fear not! It will pick up towards the end.
    • 3/5
      Veronica Swann, known as Ronnie, loved her 5-year-old sisters Becky and Ruthie every moment of their short lives, right until a blonde drifter named Scott came into their yard in St. George, Utah and slashed them to death with a weeding scythe. In her Mormon family and community, the only way to comprehend such an event was to turn to God and to each other.
    • 3/5
      This was a pretty good book. I suppose predictable in some ways. I learned quite a bit about Mormons and their families, which demystified them a bit for me. Actually, that was the best part of the book.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book.....as the tragedy unfolds you are caught up in the despair this family feels and the peace that they finally find - each in their own way. There are enough twists and turns to keep you off balance. The main characters are Morman and this brings a new perspective to the story. My only quibble is that the main character is old beyond her years - not entirely believable ----overall a great read!
    • 4/5
      The story opens up with the main character's, Ronnie's, little sisters, Becky and Ruthie, playing hide and seek. Ronnie is hiding in the shed, and one of the other two girls are counting. She heard them call out, but she had assumed it was out of frustration and confusion, and that they had to start all over again. Until she hears silence does she begin to worry that something is wrong. She steps out of the shed and sees a young man standing over her two little sisters bodies, and he is crying as if they are his own sisters and someone else had just come along and done this.After the deaths, Ronnie assumes ownership of her little sisters, and thinks that no one else should mourn for their deaths besides those who knew them. A whole crowd of people had come to the house with white candles and sang "Amazing Grace", and Ronnie lashed out at the them, while the media portrayed her as slightly unwell in the mind. As the story unfolds, Ronnie grows up in this tight knit, comfortable Mormon town. Eventually, she develops a love interest, and while it seems it may progress as both of them become older, however it is snuffed out.While the family is always dealing with the tragedy, the marriage between Ronnies parents begin to show cracks at the seems. They also feel like they are losing touch with Ronnie, and they all say that it is because of the murders. So they turn to their faith to forgive Scott Early, the man who killed the little girls, a mentally ill schizophrenic, who spent three years in a mental hospital. However, Ronnie wants no part of it, as she cannot forgive him.Ronnie then moves out to San Diego, to become an EMT, and coincidentally, Scott Early has a new family on the outskirts of San Diego. She stalks the Early family, and becomes the new nanny to the Early's baby, Juliet. Afraid that Scott will have a lapse and do the same thing to this sweet baby, she decides to do something drastic.