Review: In Sight of Stars by Gae Polisner

Title: In Sight of Stars
Author: Gae Polisner 
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Publish Date: March 13, 2018
Source: Publisher

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Seventeen-year-old Klee’s father was the center of his life. He introduced Klee to the great museums of New York City and the important artists on their walls, he told him stories made of myths and magic. Until his death.

Now, forced to live in the suburbs with his mom, Klee can’t help but feel he’s lost all the identifying parts of himself—his beloved father, weekly trips to the MoMA, and the thrumming energy of New York City. That is until he meets wild and free Sarah in art class, with her quick smiles and jokes about his “brooding.” Suddenly it seems as if she’s the only thing that makes him happy. But when an act of betrayal sends him reeling, Klee lands in what is bitingly referred to as the “Ape Can,” a psychiatric hospital for teens in Northollow.

While there, he undergoes intensive therapy and goes back over the pieces of his life to find out what was real, what wasn’t, and whether he can stand on his own feet again."

My Two Cents: 

 Klee (pronounced Clay like the artist) is struggling. His beloved father who always seemed to know how to nurture Klee's artistic side recently killed himself. He doesn't feel like he is getting any sort of support from his mother, who Klee doesn't think is grieving in a normal emotional way for Klee's father, which makes Klee mad. Klee finds himself in a mental hospital where he's coming to term with his own issues and figuring out how to move forward in a healthy way.

There are several story lines in this book. The one that I was most to drawn to was how Klee is trying to get back on his feet and how there are many things that he did not know about his father. This is really a book about growing up and seeing the world for what it really is. I loved the references to Van Gogh, which is where the title comes from. Klee and his father share a great love for Van Gogh and the juxtaposition between Van Gogh's mental state and Klee's was very interesting.

The part of the book that I liked less was the story line between Klee and his love interest, who seems to fill every trope of a manic pixie dream girl. It just wasn't interesting to me and I think the story would have felt just as full without it!