Starting the year by catching up with a long-overdue review of this lovely little seasonal book. I read this just before Christmas in an attempt to finally read a book in the season it's set in and it definitely helped that I was in the holiday mood already when reading this!

Christmas historical fiction is not one I frequently read, so I was very curious about it as I was going into this book. I enjoyed the setting in Christmas 1919, the first after the end of the First World War, and I felt like the special occasion and the contrasting feelings of the characters were very well captured. I also liked the small English village setting, where everyone knows one another and there is a real sense of community - with all its challenges as well as the joys this can bring.

Margot was an interesting main character. She is guarding a heavy secret and has had to deal with a lot of pain, and I liked how tactfully some of the heavier themes were tackled (e.g. teenage pregnancy and emotional trauma/PTSD). Her relationships with her family and her presumed-dead-now-returned ex-fiancé are complicated and very realistic. She was certainly good to get to know, even though I found her to be extremely frustrating at times, though I won't go into more detail to avoid potential spoilers. The rest of the characters also remained very surface-level and lacked any significant depth, and that meant I wasn't very sold on the romance aspect of this either.

This was an issue I had with most of the book actually. The way it's structured makes it feel more like a connection of journal entries of episodes rather than a single story flowing smoothly, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in itself, but ended up making this feel rather disjointed to me. It also felt like the book was dragging in quite a few places, which for a story this short is problematic.

Overall, this is a cute Christmas story. It's not bad but remains a bit too superficial for my liking even though this will probably not be an issue for younger readers.


I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way. ( )

The Silent Stars Go By is a sweet bitter story. Taking place at Christmas time, it follows the everyday life of a young woman, Margot, as she prepares herself to take one of the most important decisions in her life : share a family secret with her fiancé Harry. We are in 1919, a few months after the end of the First World War and every family is still suffering from the aftermath of the Great War.

This historical novel explores how the War changed the British Youth. Not only the young men that went to fight on the front, but also the young women that stayed behind, sometimes leading to family secrets that if revealed would threaten to ruin the young women's life, or the reputation of their families.

Sally Nicholls created broken characters, wounded too young by life difficulties. The story is wonderfully written, focused on the character of Margot, a nineteen years old who saw all her dreams collapse after her fiancé went missing in action in the Great War three years before. I loved the intimacy of the story, centered on Margot’s parents and siblings. I love how the author focuses on Margot feelings, thoughts and emotions. It is really a beautiful story, full of hopes, that explores a difficult time in European History. ( )

The premise of this novel intrigued me, but I never connected with it. Margot frustrated me even though I felt sorry for her as a single mother whose baby was being raised by her own mother. Margot was in a horrible position but I don't think she helped herself, especially around Harry.

"The Silent Stars Go By" was an okay read but not as good as "Ways to Live Forever" by the same author. ( )

I don't very often read YA fiction but the premise of The Silent Stars Go By really caught my imagination. I'm so glad I read it. It's a really quick and easy read, but with plenty of depth to it at the same time.

It's 1919 and the war is over. However, for Margot Allen her own private war is beginning. Two years earlier she had given up her baby, believing her fiancé, Harry, to have been killed. Like many girls in similar situations, Margot's parents agreed to take baby James and raise him as their own, whilst Margot had to watch from the sidelines and behave like his sister, in a kind of silent torture. But now Harry has returned after all which leaves Margot with a terrible dilemma. Does she tell Harry or pretend it never happened? Do they still have a future together, with or without James?

This is a gorgeous read. It's pitched perfectly so that it reads well for both young adults and the older adults amongst us. Whilst it's not quite as intense as a full adult novel, it still portrays the heartbreak of war and the inner turmoil, not only of Margot but of her mother, who is bringing up her grandson as her own child. I did have to read between the lines a bit and fill in the gaps in terms of Harry, and Margot's brother, Stephen, and the horrors of their war, but I think the author was trying to stay away from making it too traumatic a read.

One aspect of the storyline I particularly enjoyed was the romance and intensity of feeling between Margot and Harry. I found myself smiling at their encounters and hoping they could work things out. Did they? Well you'll have to read it for yourself but I was thoroughly satisfied by the ending.

The Silent Stars Go By is a thoughtful, emotive and beautifully written story. I really enjoyed it. ( )