The Same Bright Stars: A Novel by Ethan Joella
Product Details
Web ID: 19876490Small Town and Family Fiction...
Have you ever known someone who is attached to their work to the extent that they wonder what they would be without it? In "The Same Bright Stars" that's our main character, Jack Schmidt. Finally, at 52 he’s thinking seriously about focusing on himself and his future beyond work. He's been offered a sweet deal for "Schmidt's", his family restaurant, by the DelDine group and if he accepts it he'll be free to do the things he's been dreaming about for too long... Is it possible, yet again, to love the third book in a row by this author? Ethan Joella, how do you do it? "The Same Bright Stars" is full of well-developed characters, struggling relationships, and challenging family dynamics. Jack Schmidt is one of my favorite characters. He's kind, empathetic, and centered on taking care of those close to him. I love the decisions he makes, how he makes them, and how he owns them, good or not so-good. The setting, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, felt like another character in this story. The author knows this storybook town (as he calls it) and sprinkles little nuggets, tour guide style, throughout that capture the full flavor of this picturesque beach town. Once again Joella has created a story around small-town life with characters who feel like home. If you grew up in a small town, like I did, you know what I mean. I'll say this again, as long as Ethan Joella continues to write, I will continue to read his books. "The Same Bright Stars" is one of my top five reads of 2024 and I highly recommend it to readers who enjoy Small Town and Family Fiction and a well-written story! 5⭐ Thank you to Scribner and Ethan Joella for the DRC via NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
The Same Bright Stars
3rd generation, nearly burned out restauranteur Jack Schmidt has an juicy offer on his Delaware beachfront eatery, a gaggle of employees he needs to consider & long-ago incidents surfacing like the ghosts of Christmas past. Busboy to attorney, salt air to stale pizza, Joella's lyrical writing weaves every element of solid storytelling into a novel bursting with hope & heart under those same bright stars.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Wonderful characters
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.25/5) The setting is the beautiful town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Schmidt’s is a family owned restaurant operated by 52 year old Jack Schmidt. This restaurant is all Jack has known. Passed down from his grandparents, to his dad and then to him upon his father’s death. But, Jack is tired both physically and mentally. He is once again approached by the DelDine Corporation to buy his restaurant. Jack is sorely tempted to sell, he has no life outside the restaurant and he wants one before it’s too late. I love to read books set in places I know and love. Plus, I’ve been reading glowing reviews of this book so I needed to jump in. Character driven books are always a tough start for me and this was no different. Once I was 40% in, I was totally vested! I loved each and ever character in this book. Joella brought the town and characters to life, revisiting connections from the past and bringing them current. But don’t think of this as ‘light’ beach read. It deals with some tough subjects. Don’t let this deter you. I look forward to reading this author again.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Heartwarming
Ethan Joella's writing has so much heart and this book is no exception. Joella puts the reader in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware with Jack. Jack is the third generation to run his family's restaurant. It has all he has ever known. When his father passed away, Jack picked up right where he left off with the business and has been working nonstop to keep it afloat ever since. With a local developer breathing down his back, Jack begins to question whether this is the right choice and if there is more out there for him. There is so much to love about this book. Joella writes people that are real and fully-formed better than most. The people make this book. The found family at the restaurant is great. The people in Jack's life show up in the quietest ways and yet have so much impact. The setting is great and works as a read year-round as it's at the beach and takes place through the fall and winter months. I liked the conversations about finding your way at a later age. It's like a second coming-of-age story and celebrates the idea that you can make a choice when you're younger that may not work for you later in life as you change. You can make new decisions as you grow. There are complicated plotlines that lead to this growth. I loved watching Jack figure out what he wanted and then going for it. Joella's books are ones to be celebrated. He understands the human condition and makes his readers think and reflect in the most beautiful ways. I would recommend this book to anyone. A solid 5 stars! Thank you to Scribner for an ARC of this book. The opinions here are my own.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
My first Joella book; won't be my last
I’m late to be joining the Ethan Joella bandwagon/fan club, but here I am. The Same Bright Stars is my first book by Joella but it certainly will not be my last. It was refreshing to read a book which centered on a man in his early 50s, unmarried and childless. I can’t say that I can think of another one like it, although I’m sure they’re out there. Jack Schmidt is the third generation owner of a popular restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, a quintessential beach town, with its seasonal way of life. The town is almost a character itself and, while I’ve never been there, Joella’s descriptions made it seem very familiar. (I do know a number of New Jersey beach towns, so maybe that also helped.) Jack is being wooed by a restaurant conglomerate who wants to buy him out. He’s tired. He lives and breathes his restaurant. I loved the insights into running a place like Schmidt’s, with its long-running staff that feels like family, and how the off-season business is managed. The descriptions of their preparation for Thanksgiving Day was enough to make ME tired! This is a character-driven book, a bit slow for me to start, but it really picked up about midway, and I wound up loving it and its characters. Don’t be fooled by the lovely idyllic cover, which features two beach chairs (significant to the story). This is not a light “beach read.” There are quite a few serious topics covered along the way, including the loss of family businesses, dementia (this one in particular hit home for me), drug abuse, depression and suicide, loneliness, and early parental death. Another reader has labeled this as “men’s fiction”, which made me smile. Man, woman, whoever: pick up this book and you won’t be sorry. You’ll also want to visit Rehoboth Beach, Delaware! Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Wonderful read
As long as we’re under the same stars, my dad used to say, there’s still a chance. from The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella Jack Schmidt inherited the family beachside restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. His grandfather had built it, and after it burned down, it was rebuilt. His father took it over, and Jack literally grew up there, for after his mother’s tragic, early death he hung out there after school and worked there summers. Jack met his first love on the beach. The memory of the joy and the pain haunts him, as do the short years he had together with his beloved mother. At fifty-two years old, Jack was married to the restaurant. His staff was his family. The long hours and responsibility are wearing him out. Someone has been stealing small amounts of money. It’s one more worry. He has an offer to buy the restaurant. It would make him wealthy and give him time to enjoy life. But he feels a responsibility to his heritage and to his staff. The DelDine group buys family restaurants and strips them of the family atmosphere, turns them into upscale, trendy, efficiently run businesses. Nicole is the DelDine representative working to close the deal. She appeared to be the enemy, but reveals a vulnerable side as she and Jack get to know each other better. She doesn’t change Jack–he changes her. Jack’s long time girlfriend gave up on him and had moved away ears ago, but is back in town to care for her dying mother. The attraction is still there. But she reveals a stunning secret she had long kept from him. It turns Jack’s world around. Deep psychological insight into the characters makes for a rich story. It starts slow, then builds up to scenes of great emotional intensity. It is a wonderfully satisfying story of a man adapting to change, to opening to new possibilities. Thanks to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A tale of family lost and found in Rehoboth Beach!
**Many thanks to NetGalley, Scribner, and Ethan Joella for an ARC of this book!** Jack Schmidt is proud to call Rehoboth Beach, Delaware home...but prouder still to continue the legacy of his family's beachfront restaurant, Schmidt's. Three generations in, the restaurant has weathered all sorts of storms, and Jack might not have much in the way of a social life due to his workaholic ways...but he has a staff that feels like family and has kept the doors open and the balance sheet in the black...and there's part of him that can't imagine life any other way. Sure, after so many years he would LIKE to kick back his heels and relax in a beach chair...but he OWES his family, especially after his father's passing, and Jack isn't one to let others down. But when wealthy restaurant group DelDine, who own several restaurants in the area and beyond, come along and make Jack an offer to buy the restaurant to add it to their portfolio...Jack can't help but consider the prospect. He would be handsomely compensated, and could finally have some TIME to explore all of the things in life he's been missing...and perhaps even rekindle an old romance. But what does DelDine ACTUALLY have in mind for the property? Can he trust a couple of strangers who know just what to say to maintain the integrity of Schmidt's and show the same type of care and compassion for the staff that are truly family to him? And when Jack gets some SHOCKING news about his past that is set to change the course of his life forever...will he be brave enough to make the first move and finally get answers? Will this be the impetus he needs to pull the trigger on the sale of the restaurant...or will his fears keep him trapped in a hamster wheel of indecision, where DelDine will end up with the upper hand...and Schmidt's as he knew it will cease to exist? This is my first Ethan Joella novel and NOW I get what all the hype is about! This book reads like a perfect blend of contemporary and literary fiction, with ample doses of nostalgia, quiet reflections about the past, plenty of angst about the present, and an air of uncertainty about the future. I appreciate that though it feels like a bit of a genre hybrid, it is very much in the vein of literary fiction I appreciate most: one grounded in reality rather than an air of pretentiousness. At the center of the conflict is an exploration of family, what it means to 'owe' your family, and how found family and blood relations can sometimes intersect...and sometimes in the unlikeliest of ways! It makes a LOT of sense that Rehoboth Beach is the setting for this story and that it practically leaps off the page with authenticity: the author lives there currently, and did an excellent job capturing the sort of 'endless summer' feel of the area. The book is interspersed with little snippets from a 'guidebook' about the town, and while at first I wasn't a fan of the device, by the 2nd half of the book, I was eagerly anticipating these segments. But be warned: although the setting is technically the beach, this isn't EXACTLY what I'd call a beach read. There are heavy topics aplenty here, from addiction, abortion, and abandonment, to estrangement, so NOT exactly a light and sunny read. By the same token, this setting sort of helps to balance the tension and ground the book at times. Although I had assumed this was set in summertime (both due to the book's release date and by the cover) the tale actually starts off in November (right before Thanksgiving) so in that sense it can really be read ANY time of year (and part of me wishes it had come out in winter as more of a 'remember how great the summer is?' sort of read!) Aside from the beautifully depicted setting, the beauty of this book lies in its characters, led by our multifaceted narrator Jack. We watch as he revisits snips of his past, deals with the strife of his present, and imagines what his future could be...and although he is our only narrator, this is HIS story, so it completely works. We see all of the other characters through his lens, but Joella's characterizations are subtle and effective. These seem like people you COULD know or that you might know already, and they all fit effortlessly into the world of Rehoboth Beach. It's hard to say too much about the plot without giving anything away, but although the 'main' plot of this one revolves around the sale of the restaurant...this is just the lynch pin that holds the novel together and gives it a beating heart. You may change your mind about certain characters along the way, but despite Jack's indecision and foot-dragging when it came to whether or not to sell the restaurant, I never quite felt frustrated with him. This was simply a journey he needed to take on his own, in his own way, and as you might have guessed there is more to this story than a simple restaurant sale: like winter to spring, a transformation of sorts takes place....but unlike a simple changing of the seasons, it is both beautiful and unexpected, in the best possible way. And though I won't spoil the ending, Jack's revelations by the end of this one were akin to Dorothy's in the Wizard of Oz right before her return to Kansas: "If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with." 4 stars
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Family drams and finding your dreams
Jack Schmidt owns a restaurant in Rehoboth beach that’s been in his family for generations. In his early 50’s, he’s wondering if there isn’t more to life than just work, but has no idea what that would be. Besides, the restaurant family is his family. As the corporate conglomerate DelDine moves into town and starts snatching up restaurants along the way, Jack seriously considers whether to sell or to stay. He would love to at least be able to sit on the beach in his new unused beach chair he’s bought. There are flashbacks to his younger days, and we understand how events have shaped him into the person he is. Just when he thinks he’s decided to sell, he uncovers information that would affect not only him, but the future of the beach town itself. Filled with drama, secrets and lots of beach vibes, (I especially liked the author’s inserts of “Rehoboth Beach Guidebook” where we get an inside look at this beach town throughout the year and why it’s so special), this is a quick, satisfying read. Highly recommend!
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com