Review: Stars Above

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stars Above. Or: How Jen Found A Character Just Like Her Only To Have Her Heart Ripped Out By Ableism
This is a short story collection based in the world of Cinder and the other Lunar Chronicles. As fun as it was to dive back into this world, I have issues with Star's story. Spoilers abound, sweetie:

Mech6.0 is a droid. But she doesn't think like other droids, and people think that makes her dangerous and unpredictable. So she runs away, gets a new body, and returns to work as Star. Her new body doesn't communicate well with her brain, and she has trouble walking, experiences chronic pain, and is mute.

My heart immediately latched onto Star and won't let go.

My brain and body are wonky. I've never been diagnosed with autism but I identify very strongly with the way autistic people describe their thought processes. I was also selectively mute until I was 13.

And the way Star's body and brain don't communicate well? That, like, describes spinal muscular atrophy to a T. She basically IS me, okay?

So here I am, reading about Star trying to survive in a world that wants to destroy her because of the way she is and falling in love with a man who she's afraid will never love her back because she's disab--I mean, because she's a droid. And this is the first time I've seen a character so much like me. Sure, she can walk and my pain isn't chronic like hers, but still.

She's a female character who's neurodivergent AND has a disability that isn't from an accident and is literally the robot version of muscular dystrophy. Do you know how rare it is to find more than one of those at a time?

And I make the mistake of hoping for her, for us, but do we get a happily ever after?

Of course not. Even in a sweet, fluffy book all about good people finding their happy endings, we die so two other characters can find theirs.

And it just pisses me off.

If we can't find understanding and the opportunity for love and a happy life in a silly future full of space and magic... then where?

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