I never thought I'd say this, but this book had made me like Cassie a lot less. I'll explain why as we go through, but she's no longer after Scarlet, Piper and Libby at the top of my faves.
So we begin with some texts between Cassie, Scarlet and Vega. Cassie never got a text from Vega, saying to meet at the maze, but she says she hates it anyway, so can they just text. Scarlet joins them and they discuss the weird things happening lately. Cassie thinks they may be being sabotaged from the inside.
The first chapter starts with blah blah Bitty. It's cute, but the writers need a serious thesaurus, because they use "creature" farrrrrrr too much this whole book. And they don't tell us much we don't already know. Then Cassie thinks about the flowers and how only Astra and Clover still have theirs. She threw out hers and Sage's, Leona and Scarlet's disappeared, Vega and Piper's are in the botany lab, she threw out Gemma and Libby's while they were distracted, and she convinced Tessa that the flower scent interfered with the scent of her baking. Blah blah MO-J4 is obsessed with Sage.
At breakfast, Clover and Astra are still fighting and Cassie is determined to get rid of their flowers today. Then Cassie runs off to class, which is usually boring, but today, they're going to try to identify the wish if an animal and she's excited. She's annoyed when someone calls for her to wait up, but happy when it turns out to be Leona. Cassie thinks about how different they are and how they got to be friends, which is pretty cute. But then she thinks about how Leona cut her out and started hanging with only Ophelia and she's still got some resentment about that. Leona starts babbling about how weird Scarlet is and how she's stuck with her again and now I get annoyed, because I hate Leona so much. How are we supposed to like this judgmental bitch? And then Cassie does something I hate, too. Even though she actually likes Scarlet, she doesn't stick up for her, because she's too happy to have Leona paying attention to her again. How fucking weak-willed and two-faced is that? "But her pleasure at being back in Leona's good graces outweighed her loyalty to Scarlet." And that's when I started to really dislike Cassie. I don't like people who throw one friend under the bus for another. That's so not cool. Leona starts to talk about how she's worried about Ophelia and she tells Cassie that Ophelia is also an orphan. She gets Cassie to promise to keep an eye out for her.
During class, the girls are all gathered around and no one steps aside to let Cassie see the animal they're all looking at. She's gotten a rep as a reserved girl, so they mostly leave her alone. She doesn't like that some people confuse her quiet nature with aloofness and think that she has nothing to contribute, just because she likes to sort her thoughts out before speaking. Gemma and her constant chatter may make her popular, but Gemma exhausts Cassie and she couldn't imagine being that way. She's glad she's a Star Darling, because she feels at ease there. Professor Delphinus comes in and everyone sits down. Cassie is finally able to see the "creature" they'll be working with: a glowfur. Of course. The prof asks if anyone can tell her the type of animal and a girl gets it wrong and is then teased by another. The mean girl is bitched out by the prof, because starlings are supposed to be supportive of their classmates. But the mean girl, Aerabelle, is one of Vivica's friends, so she'll never fathom that. Everyone coos over the glowfur a bit and then the professor asks what he's wishing for. Cassie figures it out right away, but instead of contributing, she decides to text Vega and Scarlet. This irritated me, because a) Vega and Scarlet are both in class, so how are they supposed to answer? and b) I thought Cassie's whole thing was thinking things over and getting her thoughts worked out before she spoke. Well, she did that, so why not just give the answer? Lame. Anyway, Vega and Scarlet do reply, but are then cut off and Cassie's Star-Zap starts to vibrate and beep. She drops it and gets in trouble. The professor takes her out in the hall to punish her, berating her on the way out the door. Cassie starts to have panicky thoughts.
For no reason. As soon as the door closes, the prof lets on that it was all an act. She understands that introductory lessons are really boring when the SDs are so far ahead of everyone else. She says she'll tell the class that she sent Cassie to talk to Lady Stella, but actually she's got free time until her next class. The prof says she needs to get back in the room to help the glowfur, but Cassie's probably already figured out his wish. Cassie says what she thinks and she's right. Cassie decides to spend her free time reading her uncle's latest thriller. She's annoyed when she's interrupted, but it's Ophelia. Cassie remembers her promise to Leona and talks to the girl for awhile. At one point, Ophelia speaks as if her mother is still alive, which is odd, but Cassie thinks it's because it's hard to talk about someone you love in the past tense. Ophelia heads off and as she goes, it occurs to Cassie that she knows why she wasn't in class, but why wasn't Ophelia?
After classes, Vega tells Cassie that she never got her last few texts, but she and Scarlet both have band practice and can't help Cassie get rid of the last flowers. Clover will be with them, so Cassie just has to face Astra on her own. She tries being honest about the flowers, but it doesn't work. Then she tries convincing her that athletes have said fresh flowers weaken their performance, but that doesn't work either. Finally, she asks for help in Physical Energy class, and that Astra loves. She helps Cassie learn some Star-Away moves, which involve a stick with a net on it. Cassie sees her chance and starts moving closer to the flowers. Clover comes in at just the right moment and Cassie scoops up the flowers and tosses them into the trash, where they vanish. Astra tries to catch them and is annoyed for a split second, but then starts being nice to Clover and everything is good.
Cassie tells Vega and Scarlet that she got rid of the flowers, but they don't respond to her texts. She decides to stroll through the ozziefruit orchard before dinner and runs into Lady Stella, who says Cassie has been on her mind recently. She asks Cassie why she thinks she was chosen as a SD and Cassie knows the answer, but doesn't say it. Lady Stella says Cassie isn't as confident as she should be and that she was chosen because she's one of the most intuitive students Lady Stella has ever seen. Cassie is pleased, because she knew that, but disappointed in herself for not speaking up. At dinner, everyone is getting along. Even Leona and Scarlet. Sort of. At least they're not fighting. After dinner, the girls' Star-Zaps all chime with an invitation to a mani-pedi party. All the SDs go there and after a bit, Cassie texts Ophelia, who she'd seen sitting by herself in the cafe, with an invite. Ophelia says she'll be right there. Cassie gets into one of the "starbeautychambers" and Libby shows her how to use it. After beauty time, the girls watch a starlight show and listen to music. Leona starts to dance and Cassie joins her, which she normally would not have. The girls start to behave a bit oddly. Cassie heads off to bed and wonders why Ophelia never showed up.
The next day, it's apparent (to the readers) that once again, someone has set the girls up. Each one is now acting oddly. Cassie is overconfident and thinks she's the best at everything. Sage can't stop laughing. Scarlet skips. Piper finishes everyone sentences (which amuses me, because it reminds me of Rani the Disney Fairy, who Piper kind of reminds me of anyway). Leona either says the opposite of what she wants or can't do what she says. (And mentions that Ophelia got a care package. If she's an orphan, who sent it?) Vega is rhyming everything. Adora is speaking so quietly no one can hear her. I'm not quite sure on the others yet. Tessa orders one thing and gets another, then gets it again, so I'm not sure what's going on with her. Or maybe she can't taste what she actually has? The others aren't mentioned clearly yet. In SD class, there's a young guest speaker, who selects Mirror Mantras. Each girl gets a mirror, because the researcher believes there's a lot of power in the mantras and the more they use them, the stronger they'll be. Cassie suddenly doesn't like her mantra and wants one with more pizzazz. I think Gemma's oddness is that she takes everything literally and Astra's might be to make a joke out of everything. The researcher is frustrated with Cassie wanting a new mantra and then with Adora being so quiet that she thinks she hasn't said anything. Then the Star-Zaps go off and it's Wish Orb time.
One good thing about Cassie's overconfidence is that she's no longer afraid to be chosen to go to Wishworld. In fact, she thinks there's no better choice than her. The Wish Orb apparently thinks so, too, because instead of travelling by each girl, it goes right to her. Cassie continues to be confident the next day, as she selects her outfits and prepares for her mission. When all the girls gather bid her farewell, it's clear what Libby's weirdness is. She's still asleep, so she's sleepy all the time. Clover is throwing a lot of hugs around, so maybe she's overly affectionate. She gets her backpack from Lady Cordial and then realizes that someone tied her shoelaces together. Yeah, Astra's got the jokes. Lady Stella notices that Cassie isn't herself and says that she seems different, to which Cassie responds, "I am."
On Earth, Cassie's caught in the rain. She changes her outfit to something rain appropriate, then enters the school, where she tries her mind-manipulation skills on the principal. On the way to her classroom, the principal pauses before a student's photo and explains that it's the Student of the Month. And Cassie has a run-in with said student in her new classroom, when the girl snippily tells her cell phones aren't allowed. Cassie's confident she'll spot her wisher soon, even though she doesn't seem to be in that class...until the door opens and there she is.
Annabel notices Cassie's glasses flashing and complains that they have to be against the rules. The girl who was late is Lila, who quickly shows that she's the class clown. The teacher asks Annabel to show Cassie to the cafeteria, but outside the classroom, Annabel's immediately bitchy. Lila befriends Cassie and invites her to have lunch with her and her friends. She says Annabel has all the teachers fooled. Cassie asks if Lila wishes to get even with her and Lila says she wouldn't waste a wish on that. It quickly becomes apparent that Lila rarely says anything serious, so Cassie tries to hang out with her after school. Lila's in the ice-skating club, so Cassie follows her there. Cassie, who thinks she's a natural at everything, is certainly not gifted on the ice. But Lila is a patient and excellent teacher and soon, Cassie's improved a lot. After skating, Cassie wrangles an invitation to Lila's where the girls eat and do homework. Lila's great at math, but something's not right with her reading. Lila flounces off and Cassie follows after giving her some time. It turns out that her reading isn't great, but she wants the teacher to like her, so she tries to be funny all the time. Unfortunately, that doesn't work, while Annabel has the teacher fooled into thinking she's a good person. Cassie suggests Lila just be her kind self in school and offers to help her with reading, which she says Lila will improve at with practice and patience.
Sadly, Lila's attempts at being good are thwarted by Annabel being a nasty bitch. When Lila's homework goes missing, she starts to make a joke and Cassie wills her voice quiet. She realizes her special power is to change the volume of people's voices. Cassie thinks Annabel stole Lila's homework and she leaves Lila to go to lunch by herself. Then she spots Scarlet and knows her mission's in trouble. There are only a few hours left. Lila brings Cassie some pretzels and Cassie shares her mantra with her. They say it together and feel better. Then Annabel comes by and throws out the pretzels and pretty much says she took Lila's homework.
Scarlet joins the class and the principal asks to see the teacher in the hall for a minute. Cassie uses her volume powers to increase Annabel as she turns her bitchiness on Scarlet. First, she teases her about skipping, which Scarlet doesn't seem to realize she's doing, then she makes fun of her clothes. Lila tells Annabel to stop and welcomes Scarlet to the class properly, also at Cassie-volume. Both adults are pleased with Lila and she gets to be Student of the Month. Cassie collects the wish energy and she and Lila hug, which erases the girl's memory.
Back in Starland, Cassie's still overconfident and Scarlet doesn't know she skips. They do the ceremony and Cassie's odd actions attract Lady Stella's attention. Cassie goes back to her room, where the SDs are gathered. She tells them that something weird is going on and all the clues point to Ophelia. Cassie doesn't think she's an orphan at all or anywhere near as clueless as she seems. Leona doesn't like this theory, but everyone (except sleeping Libby) goes to Ophelia's room to investigate. There's no answer at the door and they get a BotBot to let them in...and find no one. All that's left is "I'M SORRY" scribbled on the wall in yellow letters. Then all the lights go out.
Welp, that's it for this one. I have mixed feelings on it. I do like Cassie, but her treatment of Scarlet pissed me off and her wavering ability to stand up for herself or speak up in general is annoying. But we've finally solved the bitchy flowers problem and now we've got a new issue. I didn't mind the flowers too much, but another thing causing problems so quickly after is a bit much for me. I would like to see the girls interact NORMALLY with each other. For more than just one meal. And Cassie's weird twist makes her actually obnoxious a lot of the time, so it's not helping me get to know her actual character. She needs backbone, but not THAT much.
