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There are currently 44 member reviews
for On a Night of a Thousand Stars
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Sharon P. (San Diego, CA)
Good story but not compelling
While the story could be fantastic, I felt was only average. I love historical fiction and I'm reasonable familiar with the Dirty War, have relatives in and from Argentina, so the subject matter was of great interest to me. However, the story never really grabbed me. I'm not fond of romantic stories in general, so perhaps I was put off by the interwoven story of Santiago and Valentina, so I found myself skimming some of that part of the book. Perhaps I couldn't connect with the characters. Regardless, I love the idea but not the execution.
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Ginny H. (Troutdale, OR)
True Crime Story
This is a cross between fact and fiction. It's an account of a university student, Zoe Nolan, who left a party and went missing. Years later writer Evelyn Mitchell tries to dig into the mystery and enlists the help of Joseph Knox to assist. It was a clever twist for the author to write himself into the book.
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Molly B. (Longmont, CO)
Easy to read, but…
I am interested in this complex and brutal time in Argentina's history, so I was looking forward to reading this novel. It was certainly readable, but I prefer some subtlety in what I read. The romantic relationships were presented in extremes, as if the author had to hit us over the head with what the characters were feeling, and those feelings were unrealistically black and white. No complexity or nuance, no grey area. So, then looking at it as a yarn, or historical fiction, and ignoring the juvenile treatment of the characters' emotions, it was an entertaining read. It made the 3 star category, barely, because I admire anyone's ability to actually write a book, and Ms Clark clearly worked hard on the research and plot line. If only the characters were even a little bit believable…
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Barbara M. (San Pedro, CA)
On a Night of a Thousand Stars
I had trouble rating this book. I appreciated the historical background of Argentina's Dirty War. This is not a time period I knew much about and the book inspired me to read more. Therefore, that was a 5.
However, I was unable to connect with the characters in the book which, for me, is essential. The complete lack of communication in any of the relationships caused the characters to be shallow and the story line frustrating. That rating was a 1. Therefore I rated the book a 3.
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Susan W. (Renville, MN)
Appealing historical fiction
This easily-readable historical fiction novel covers the era of Juan Peron's re-installation as President of Argentina in the mid-70's and the ensuing era presided over by his widow Isabel and the military dictatorship. Written with an omnipotent narrator in the 70's and first person singular in the "present" (being the late 1990's), the book tells the story of some of those who who tried to resist the government's repressive regime and the affects on the next generation. The historical information is interesting and new to me, adding to the book's appeal, but, for me, the multiple, in-depth love stories cluttered up a good drama. As Valentina's romances with Santiago and Maximo drive the story, they would have been enough. The ending was a total disappointment, only highlighting the navel-gazing selfishness of Paloma, the "present-day" protagonist. The historical information and the resistance fighter's tales make the story. This book may best appeal to those of a younger set.
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Molly O. (Centennial, CO)
A Book of a thousand details
On a Night of a Thousand Stars belongs to a subgenre of historical fiction that toggles between two parallel narratives – set in the past and the present – which play off each other to reveal the horrors that occurred in Argentina's recent past. While I particularly enjoy this way of storytelling, both narratives were sadly bogged down with excruciatingly detailed descriptions of people, locations…everything. This impeded the movement of the plot and detracted from any suspense the author was trying to create. While I wanted to cheer for Santiago and Valentina's love affair, I found their relationship to be callow and not well developed. I did, however, thoroughly enjoyed the history of this time in Argentina and felt well-educated about the political turmoil of those times, something I knew little about.
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Kate G. (Bronx, NY)
Argentina's Dirty War and its Secrets
This dual timeline historical novel tells the story of Argentina from the early 1970s through the mid 1980s, prior to the military dictatorship and when people were disappeared through a law student and then in 1998 through his daughter. I was interested in the place and what happened and I found the first timeline much more interesting, although I am still not too sure of which government was better for the citizens (or neither?). Santiago is privileged and falls deeply in love with Valentina, but marries Lila. He would prefer to keep his student days a secret. His daughter Paloma seems happy enough, but goes digging into the past, uncovering secrets she is not sure she wants to know. She is not really all that interesting and Franco, whose parents were disappeared and murdered, is not all that interesting either. In the end, this was probably not the book for me.
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