When The Stars Go Blue

When the Stars Go Blue: A Novel

Soledad falls hard and fast for Jonathan.  He opens her horizons by inviting her to join his drum and bugle corps as a featured dancer.  For Soledad the decision shouldn’t be easy.  She wants to be a ballerina, which requires formal training and practice and not the type she’ll be getting with the drum and bugle corps.  There’s also a surprising offer on the table that could help her career.  But her feelings for Jonathan make the decision for her.  The summer begins full of promise, but is love that blazes so bright destined to burn out, or become something out of control and dangerous?

I knew this would be a retelling of Carmen, but this is where I have to admit my lack of cultural literacy led me to google the story of Carmen. While I could hum Habanera for you without difficulty, I didn’t actually know the plot.  Whether or not you choose to do this vastly affects your reading of the book.  If you know the story, you are watching the inevitable unfold; if not, the story’s twists and turns may shock you.

Despite the racy story lines, I didn’t find the book all that compelling.  In fact, I found myself sort of skimming parts.  The slang use seemed to be a bit off, maybe it was dated? And of course, while a gay character does appear (and in a positive manner), one of the main indicators of his sexuality is his slightly ridiculous overuse of the word “girl.”

This is best saved for readers who are old enough to be reading about sex and manipulation in relationships.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – There is a lot of sexual tension in this book, along with nudity and some actual, on screen sex. Soledad undresses in front of Jonathan, he looks at her boobs.  She claims she’s not that naked because she’s in tights and pasties.  Her grandmother dates a much younger man.  She jokes about porn.  The story of Moulin Rouge involves prostitution.  A member of the corps states that in coed corps there is a lot of hooking up, Soledad asks if the same thing doesn’t happen in the all-male corps too and the members admit there is.  Hard-ons both literal and metaphorical are referenced. It’s quite graphic throughout, there’s kissing, necking, plenty of it.  “wanting to jump each other’s bones”  Hands caressing, bodies pressed hard together, descriptions of tongue use. Sex is left off sort of where the parts go, but hazy for the during part.  Condoms are sort of implied (boxes tossed on the bed, but no specific talk of protection).  Soledad thinks girls might throw their panties at the soccer players.  Raj tells Soledad she doesn’t have to “give the guy a hummer”  A song is described as a “sex on the floor song”, sensual, arousing, seductive. A girl is called a whore.  Two women on a television talk show are described as big-boobed.

Profanity – “ass/kick-ass/tight-ass/hardass/kissass/jackass”, “damn/ed,” “crap,” “hell/hella,” “bitch/y,” “Jesus Christ,” “shit,” “piss/ed off,” “suck/suckage”, “dick,” “balls,” “darn” “oh God/ Dios mio” “goddamned”,”fuck/ing”, “apeshit, bullshit”, “bastard”, “cabron”, “pendejo” all swears are used multiple times and I can’t promise I caught every swear in Spanish.
Death, Violence and Gore – There’s some fighting.  In the past there was tragic early death, a very bad accident possibly but suicide is intimated.  A talk show host on television gets death threats (this is not part of the story, just a random piece of information offered about a show they’re watching).  Without trying to give away the story, there’s some violence that changes the course of the plot.  It is reasonably graphically described.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Soledad points out that some dancers smoke to help stay small.  Soledad’s mother may have done drugs or drank while pregnant.  Plenty of medical drugs (used properly) following a serious injury.
Frightening or Intense Things – Soledad mentions that dancers make themselves throw up or skip eating in order to be thin.  Her dance teacher talks about anorexia and bulimia and how it cost her the ability to have children.  Soledad was abandoned by her mother and never knew her father.