The Necessity of Stars is a lush, quiet novella that explores decline in big and small ways. Set in the future, our main character Breone is an elderly UN diplomat who lives in France in a nice house with a nice garden that somehow still flourishes even as the climate crisis has ravaged the world at large. Her best friend Delphine lives next door. She is starting to forget things. And then an alien, a creature, shows up in her garden.

That is about all I can say for a plot. This is a character study at heart, weaving together themes that explore loss of self, loss of the world, how we see the world around us and how or when we choose to look away. 

Tobler's writing is beautiful, but at times I felt that the writing overpowered the story a little. I would get a slightly lost in the scene going on, but then remember Breone is also a little lost and maybe it's all on purpose and things felt right again. 

It's a lovely little novella, one I would recommend for anyone looking for something a little quieter yet still impactful in the themes its exploring.