As the Stars Fall

A Heartwarming Dog Novel (Books for Dog Lovers, Book 1)

By: Steve N Lee

Narrated by: Karissa Vacker

A Desperate Dog. A Scarred Girl. A Bond Nothing Can Break.

An injured, young dog trudges the city streets, trembling from cold, from fear, from lack of food. Battered by the howling wind, he searches desperately for his lost family, yet day after day, week after week, all he ever finds is heartbreaking loneliness. But then, one magical spring morning....

Across town, a little girl sobs into her pillow in the dead of night. Her life devastated by a family tragedy, she can’t understand how the world can just carry on. Her days once overflowed with childhood joys, yet now, despair, darkness, and emptiness smother her like a shroud. But then, one magical spring morning....

…the dog and the girl meet.

In a tale as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking, As the Stars Fall explores how compassion can make us whole again and friendship can heal even the most broken of hearts.

©2020 Steve N Lee (P)2021 Steve N Lee

I fell in love with this book

Overall: A beautiful, emotional story with excellent narration

Story: As Stars Fall is intensely emotional. I teared up more than once reading this, it's such a poignant story. Beautiful, full of love, and at times heartbreak, your heart will overflow at times and at other tears will overflow your eyes. If you're looking for a book that will take you on en emotional roller coaster and light some hope in you, then you'll want to snag and read this.

Narration: Reading this book was an emotional ride, but Vacker added a whole new level of depth I wasn't expecting. I fell in love with Kai and Mia all over again. An excellent narration job that had me crying and smiling all over again.

All the love

It was such a roller coaster of emotions my husband and I can’t wait to start next book. So very well written

All the feels!! You have to listen to this!

I read the ebook of this 2 years ago, so the author recently asked for me to check out the audio version of this, and of course, I said yes! This book really stayed with me from when I first read it back a couple years ago. Heck, it even won Best Book of the Year for 2020!

The story follows a young, desperate dog who has not had a lot of luck. A young girl finds him suffering in a moldy old box and takes him home. Little do they realize that they need each other. They quickly form an unbreakable bond that will last forever.

Doing the audio of this scared me JUST a tiny bit. I had adored this soooo much when I first read it...I was worried the narration might ruin it or I question why I had liked it so much. However, my fears were for naught.

This had me scrambling to find my tissue box still. In a way...the narrator brought the story to life even more. She added so much feeling to her words and I must bow down to the narrator. Fantastic job. So much happiness...so much sadness...so much joy...all the feels. I feel like I have heard the voice before, but I was skimming through some previous works and I didn't see anything I have listened to but she seems to be popular and there are SOOOO many books she has read for.

My feelings for this book have not changed in the last two years or with a different format. This is a fantastic read and I highly recommend it. I still want Dad to have his own book someday. I feel like there is more to his story. He deserves to find some peace.

In the end...I loved this. The narrator was fantastic...the story is wonderful. It has all the feels and then some. 100% recommend. 5 stars yet again from me.

Wonderful read

The author really builds the relationships, dog people can totally relate. Some parts were difficult but great book

A special relationship

A beautiful, heartwarming story. I absolutely loved how the story is told from the very unique perspective of the dog.

Steve N Lee immediately captured my interest and heart with this tale. I experienced the full range of emotions while listening. This is a story that will definitely stick with me.

Karissa Vacker gave a fantastic performance. I love how she was able to bring out all of emotions so effortlessly.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

Loved listening to this story

I enjoyed listening to this story. I laughed so much at the thoughts and antics during the book. My family has had talks about what do we think the pets are thinking. And this book were never any of the discussions we had.

I was very surprised at times and could not get to the end fast enough. Astonishingly the story ending was such a surprise. You will not regret listening to this book. I did receive a copy. However, this review is my opinion and I highly recommend this book.

Heartfelt and heart wrenching

This book is so heartfelt, but heart wrenching. My heart went out the Dog, when he was small and on his own. Seeing life from the perspective of our faithful furry friends, was heart warming and heart wrenching at parts. Knowing what Kai went through while waiting on Mia, his Alpha, to return and all the fun things he did along with her as well. It makes me appreciate my dog that much more. I cried through parts of this and thought of what my dog had to go through when I was sick and away from the house for a very long time. I believe every person with a pet needs to read this or listen to it and get a small interpretation of what our beloved pets go through. This is an amazing book.

A Dog’s View of Life and Much More

This novel takes an unusual approach to storytelling: it’s written in the third person from the point of view of Dog (who is later named Kai). Dog is a sweet, streetwise puppy who has clearly been mistreated in his short life. He is rescued from life on the street by nine years old Mia and “Daddy”.

Kai’s insights into humanity are sometimes funny and sometimes incredibly accurate. He actually thinks he is training Mia rather than the other way around. He soon comes to realize that Mia is the Alpha in their pack of three. Kai and Mia discover that grief and fear are best overcome together.

Kai describes his world from a true dog’s perspective. Dog lovers will recognize many of his “gifts” and behaviors in their own dogs. His unconditional devotion to Mai is quite realistic.

I started writing my review at the halfway point in the book. But I had to revise most of it when I got about a third of the way in and the book took an unexpected turn. (My initial review suggested that this was a good family book, but I believe that parents should read/listen first before sharing with children.)

The story is a tearjerker, so have some tissues handy when you read. I look forward to other books in this series of books for dog lovers.

Karissa Vacker was the perfect voice for Kai.

Brilliantly heart-wrenching

Wow.
This book invokes so many emotions, constantly and just … wildly. Even if you’re not a dog person, I expect this book would tear at your heartstrings. And this book stars the absolutely sweetest, most wise-beyond-her-years 9-year-old girl, who, early in, proves just as lovable as ‘Dog’.

The writing is brilliant—I’ll have to see what else this author has out. It’s terrible only in how heartbreaking it is, however ultimately, it’s great. I did predict the end but, not until the last 12 minutes or so of it, so I’m not sure that counts.

It’s also not quite like anything else I’ve ever read or seen, which is quite a feat.

This is a tale of friendship and loyalty, in their purest forms.

5 stars
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️


Audio:
Perfect narration, very well 5-star performance.

Five stars all the way!

This book touched my heart more than anything I've read in a long time. The story told from the point of view of a dog rescued from a dismal life by a young girl who is as in need of someone to love as the dog is. This story was as heartwarming as it was heart wrenching. I cried. I knew I would. The story was worth the tears. I really loved that it attempted to give us the possible thoughts of the dog, but the high point of the book had to be the love and devotion apparent in the bond between dog and girl (his alpha).

I listened to the audio version of this book. The narration by Karissa Vacker was incredible.

I was gifted a copy of this audiobook by the author. All thoughts are my own.