Chloe is just weeks away from heading off to college and starting a new life far from her home in Maine when she embarks on a great European adventure with her boyfriend and two best friends. Their destination is Barcelona, but first they must detour through the historic cities of Eastern Europe to keep an old family promise.
Here, in this fledgling post-Communist world, Chloe meets a charming American vagabond named Johnny, who carries a guitar, an easy smile—and a lifetime of secrets. From Treblinka to Trieste, from Karnikava to Krakow, from Vilnius to Venice, the unlikely band of friends and lovers traverse the old world on a train trip that becomes a treacherous journey into Europe’s and Johnny’s darkest past—a journey that jeopardizes Chloe’s plans for the future and all she ever thought she wanted.
But the lifelong bonds Chloe and her friends share are about to be put to the ultimate test—and whether or not they reach Barcelona, they can only be certain that their lives will never be the same again.
A sweeping, beautiful tale that mesmerizes and enchants, Lone Star will linger long in the memory once the final page is turned.
Nothing gets to me quite like an unrequited love story! As I am writing this, I am just wiping the last tear away. I wasn't expecting to have this reaction at all when I first started reading it - yes, it seemed like an interesting YA story that involved travel with a few mishaps and twists...and of course someone had to fall passionately, eloquently, head-over-heels in love, in a Paulina Simons story! (just thinking about The Bronze Horseman still gives me goosebumps!!) but I definitely wasn't expecting to feel my heart break along with the lead female characters, and so strongly!
I've tried, but I can't write about this book without including spoilers…
About halfway through the book I had my suspicious as to how it would generally turn out (although there were still bits I didn't see coming), so I had a feeling that Johnny still had his 'demons' and that he might probably end up dying before he made it back to Chloe - but how Chloe's grief was written was what made my reaction so strong. It was almost like I was in the car with her, witnessing her pain and confusion. Simons really does have a gift for making you feel something.
At the beginning, it look me a little while to get over how annoying the main characters were - especially their moaning about how their FREE trip to Europe was inconvenienced but a few other destinations. But I guess just because I wouldn't never think that way, doesn't mean other teenagers would I guess? I also think how the story changed voices to read like their individual journals also helped to better understand them and where they were each coming from. And as shallow and one-dimensional as some of the characters were, the others were so intelligent with their deep observations and prophetic quotes, that it balanced it out. There were too many quotes sprinkled throughout the story for me to pick a favourite.
Apart from making me weep with love and loss, I also felt like I received a bit of a History and Geography lesson as well. If Johnny was a real life tour guide, I would join his group in a heartbeat.
