My mother always called it the eventuality. Not the maybe, or the probably. ‘It’s going to happen,’ she would tell me calmly. ‘I even know when. It’s a twist in my stars. It’s written there, and we have to accept it. My mother, Joanne Nielsen Crowe. She has a name, she’s not a was. Avicenna Crowe’s mother, Joanne, is an astrologer with uncanny predictive powers and a history of being stalked. Now she is missing. The police are called, but they’re not asking the right questions. Like why Joanne lied about her past, and what she saw in her stars that made her so afraid. But Avicenna has inherited her mother’s gift. Finding an unlikely ally in the brooding Simon Thorn, she begins to piece together the mystery. And when she uncovers a link between Joanne’s disappearance and a cold-case murder, Avicenna is led deep into the city’s dark and seedy underbelly, unaware how far she is placing her own life in danger. Goodreads Summary NOTE: Australian YA fiction is beginning to become popular in America! Rebecca Lim is an Australian-based author and as of late, Australian YA novels are permeating into the mainstream flow of popular YA and I can see why. Though it's not one the best books I've ever read, The Astrologer's Daughter is definitely intriguing. The author weaves the complex layers together to keep the reader interested and wanting to know how the mystery ends up. There's a constant atmosphere of danger and mystic that makes the book appealing, yet the confusion with all the characters almost ruins it for me. Because it's a mystery with a lot of layers, there are constant characters that are constantly coming and going and there's never something prominent about the character that helps the reader remember who is who. Avicenna and Simon, Avicenna's love interest and probably the second most important character in the book, aren't developed as thoroughly as I thought they should have been. Consequently, their decisions were always unexpected and not necessarily in a good way. Since the book obviously advertises that it incorporates astrology, it does, but beware if you don't know a thing about astrology. Fortunately, I do know some astrology. Even so, I wasn't able to note the significance as Avicenna explained star charts to clients since their "harsh aspects between Mars and the sun conjunct Venus, between Mars and the ascendant, between the moon and Jupiter, between both the luminaries and Mars... Couple those stars with multiple afflictions to natal Mercury..." You get the picture. The author never teaches you anything about astrology or explains any technical aspect to it (sorry if you're disappointed). Thankfully, she does explain the characteristics that are created in the person by their star chart so something does come out of it, but the rest is almost extraneous. But if you can keep track of the characters and their names, I do suggest this book for you because underneath all it's flaws, it really is an intriguing book. Read on for spoilers and more discussion of the characters! -Alise Simon, as noted before, is Avicenn'a love interest and the "unlikely ally", and you would never know that until he abruptly forces his way into her life by following her in lieu of being angry that she isn't working on their group project. He is briefly mentioned by her friend (that is also briefly introduced then never seen again, nor is she really important) previous to his physical introduction and Avicenna is panics because they hate each other and are competing for the same scholarship and he's sooooo different from her and whatnot. So when it's clear that he's the love interest before he makes a move on her, it's a little bewildering because there wasn't any buildup and why would he be interested in her? As previously stated they're not friends, and he has intimidated her a couple times. Another thing that really bothered me about Simon was his physical appearance. Why does he have to look like "one of those ugly-beautiful French boys: the kind with interesting bony faces and long, off-kilter noses who model kilts and combat books on the runway. All grey, green eyes, nuclearwinter pale skin, strait dark brows and slicked-down, side parted short hair that's long on top..." apparently very attractive and rich-looking. Whereas Avicenna on the other hand is facially disfigured and very self-conscious of her ear. I don't see the point of making Avicenna the "beast" (since she's already alienated by her mother's profession) and making Simon the successful and snobby "beauty". We later learn of his "flaw" (being poorer than Avicenna and a late druggie mother) and why he was interested in her in the first place (her amazing skill at a Scrabble phone game?). Unfortunately, these answers came up too far into the book to the point that these questions have been left unanswered for too long just like many of the other mysteries in the book. Hugh de Crispigny is one of the clients Avicenna has to read a star chart for. He's a rich socialite who is apparently so very, very, very attractive, enough that Avicenna totally forgets about Simon and everything that she's suppose to be doing. She loses her mind and goes weak in the knees whenever he's around even though he shows no interest her other than her ability to read star charts with which he is always focused on and obsessed with. Yet she still can't stop thinking about his looks even though he came into her home and nearly assaulted her through her bathroom door while he was drunk. I know some people say Avicenna is a great heroine, but as you would expect, I say otherwise. I admit, she is a strong character, determined, and loyal, but she yields to "fate" and outside influences when I think it's the most important. She is always preoccupied with other's looks (possibly a psychological effect of living with her own facial wounds), and abruptly decided to become an astrologer (even though she resisted everyone that urged her to read their star charts) because her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother had been one then abandoned their own daughter to continue the tradition. Why not break the chain? Why follow what the stars lay out for you? Why not make your own destiny? Why do this after working so hard to become something MORE?
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