Book Review – Stars like Gasoline by Jessika Grewe Glover

It’s time for another indie author, and this time, it is one whom you may recognise as we have had her on our Speaking LITerally Podcast about a year and a half ago. She also recently returned to talk about this book, her next novel, which comes out today on Amazon and tomorrow (25th April) everywhere else.

Her first two novels were part of a series, with the first one called Another Beast’s Skin, which if you are a fan of fantasy and haven’t read it, do yourself a favour and get it and read it. However, Stars Like Gasoline has a brand new set of characters and features a missing Japanese artist, ghosts, an international art scandal, and a stalker among many other things. What else could you want?

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If you previously read my review of Another Beast’s Skin you will know I really enjoyed it and especially the characters. Her writing style was fun, fantastical and emotional but this book is on another level. Jessika has definitely raised the bar with Stars Like Gasoline.

The majority of the novel is set in Florida, a place I have never been to but the way she described each scene transported me to that world where I could see every detail. One of my favourite aspects about the book is the heavy emphasis on art. The main character, Celia is an art curator for a museum and so we read about many different pieces of art from paintings to sculptures. Each one was a masterpiece in its own right and I was shocked (and slightly saddened) to hear these were fictional works as I would love to have any of these pieces in my house. The time and language used on the art and composition of the paintings clearly shows a passion and appreciation for art from the author which is always a pleasure to witness as it bring more depth to the world and the story.

This book reminded me of a previous title I had read called The Colour Storm. This too had that passion for art and for colour in particular shine through. The way Jessika talks about each piece of art was very reminiscent of the way Damien Dibben talked about each colour as a rare and magnificent thing in The Colour Storm.

But, back to Stars Like Gasoline. The writing style of this one is so different from Another Beast’s Skin that it is hard to believe it was written by the same author. But, if anything, Stars like Gasoline shows us a transition and a maturing, and it is a pleasure to see her grow and develop as an author. Her writing style in this one was more prosaic and at times poetic. The story was so beautifully written that each chapter smoothly transitioned into the next one and it was easy to get lost in her writing.

The characters in this book were just as wonderfully complex, and deep as Another Beast’s Skin, if not more so. I loved the two siblings, Celia and Oscar. Their fierce loyalty for one another as well as their overall personalities were a joy to follow.

Privilege doesn’t understand the animosity of those who struggle. The ones who spend their lives from cradle to grave clawing for purchase on some semblance of the life so often romanticized.

There are so many different aspects to this book, it truly is a multi-faceted gem of a read. It’s about family loyalty, it’s about art, it’s about the past coming back to haunt them and it’s about moving on. It’s about all of that and so much more and that’s one of the aspects which I loved about it the most. There were so many different plot lines and stories, but they were woven together into such a beautiful picture that you were never lost or confused with the plot. You were just raring to find out what happened next, and because of this I read this in about 2 days, as I struggled to put this down.

I love discovering indie authors and this is definitely one I have been glad to have been introduced to. Each of her novels I have loved but this one is by far her best so far and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

If you want to listen to our interview with Jessika on Speaking LITerally podcast you can do so through any platform you listen to shows on but here the link to the first interview and to our most recent interview with Jessika Grewe Glover this month.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – An absolute gem of a read, it had me hooked from the start and those final lines will stick with me for a long time  

Have you read anything by Jessika Grewe Glover? Which has been your favourite? If not, who is your favourite indie author? Let me know in the comments below.

Much love 💘