Book Description 

Simon and Charlie, actors on a long-running sci-fi show, can’t stand one another. Charlie is impetuous, outgoing, and basically feral, and Simon thinks he should have stayed in reality television where he belongs. They’ve spent the better part of a decade quarreling over the spotlight and pretty much everything else, and everybody in the industry knows it. Now that Simon’s contract is finally done, he can move to New York, start fresh with work he actually likes, and get away from Charlie.

Simon’s only problem is that people might assume he’s been pushed off the show due to being impossible to work with. And he is kind of difficult to work with. He doesn’t get along with people—unlike Charlie, who somehow tricked everyone on the show into adoring him despite some outrageously bad on-set behavior during the show’s first season. Simon would rather never have to see Charlie again, but reluctantly agrees to stage a very public friendship during the short time before he moves. When Charlie has to leave town to deal with a family emergency, this means Simon comes along. Their road trip brings Simon to places he would never have willingly chosen to visit—and he finds he’s actually not having a terrible time.

The more he gets to know Charlie, the more Simon suspects he’s underestimated his former coworker. Simon also realizes that after seven years, Charlie might know him better than anyone ever has. Even stranger, Charlie seems to be starting to actually like him, despite knowing him so well. Still, Simon is about to move three thousand miles away, so whatever’s starting between him and Charlie can’t really amount to anything… right?

My Review 

I have been a fan of Sebastian’s books since her debut novel ten years ago.

I refuse to acknowledge that it has actually been ten years. 

But I need to acknowledge that it has been ten years in order to actually write this review. 

Needless to say, I have been a fan since the very beginning, and I was eagerly anticipating Sebastian’s contemporary debut. Despite jumping from the Regency to the 1950s and most recently the 1960s, Sebastian has never published a story set in the 21st century. 

Until now. 

Simon and Charlie are co-stars on a popular sci-fi tv show. Their characters are frequently featured in fanfics. There are gifs. There are even interludes within the text featuring conversations on Discord about the two men. 

But Simon and Charlie are not friends because Simon is grumpy and Charlie is a cinnamon roll and there is a ton of backstory that precedes the narrative. I’m fairly certain that Simon is from the Cabot family from Sebastian’s other series, although even if he’s not, his family is Cabot adjacent. That is to say, they are well-connected politically, which means that Simon, as the youngest member of his generation, stands out for being an actor. Meanwhile, Charlie stumbled into acting after appearing on a car-centered reality show. 

Needless to say, that’s too much backstory, so I will sum it all up by saying that the two men were never friends until suddenly they are. 

There’s definitely some… okay, a lot of fourth wall breaking because as Simon and Charlie are suddenly hanging out together, this piques the interest of people who have been speculating about the relationship between their characters for years. (Hence the Discord interludes)

I would absolutely recommend Star Shipped. Yes, it is full of tropes, but it is also a reflection on anxiety and moving past fears and vulnerabilities. Once again, Sebastian has found two silly gooses (geese?) and pushed them together into a beautiful partnership. The best metric of how much I’ve enjoyed a book is how quickly I acquire a copy of it. I have already purchased a physical copy and I’ll be grabbing the Audible as well in the near future. And you better believe I’ll get the Kindle edition eventually so I can appreciate everyone’s highlights.      

I received a digital ARC of this book from Avon/NetGalley.