JMSwan

A great and beautiful book. Made me weep!

So gripping! Just took me by storm. Such a blast to read. Could not put it down!

I think this book is really interesting, but it’s far too slow for my tastes and the stakes felt too low for me, if I’m honest. I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but maybe just not as much as everyone else did.

I cried like a dozen times… 5 stars

I really enjoyed this! I was gripped the whole way through and the author continually made compelling choices that had me thinking. Tons of moments where I thought "I should write that down, that's a great line!". I would recommend this one to friends :)

I'm rounding up from 2.5 stars to be generous. I think this had so much potential, but it really didn't feel like a complete thought or a finished story. Love Jason Pargin's TikToks and his writing style was enough to keep me engaged the entire read, but by the end I just wanted some actual change within the main character. He kinda sucked a lot and didn't really seem to evolve in that. It just sort of felt like I read an early draft of a novel that could have been great, but didn't quite get the editing and plot adjustments needed to get there.

All that being said, the writing style for the book was genuinely very fun and I unironically loved that Pargin used character monologues to discuss fun facts he was excited to share, and that some of them came back to be important plot devices. I also think the book had a lot of valuable things to say about society and specifically internet culture, but again not enough of that value.

Despite the less than stellar review, I remain excited to read his other work.

This was a reread but I found it as gripping and interesting and fun and endearing as the first time. This book is glorious. Amaze.

T.J. Newman always strikes a remarkably profound chord with me. She really captures the feeling of everyone coming together to solve a problem that's make or break, life or death. I cried really hard throughout all of this one. I've read all of her books, but this one was easily the heaviest and hardest.

I was a little worried early on that she might have chosen too many stories to tell in this one, but as usual she nailed it.

I don't think I'll tire of reading her extremely intense thrillers any time soon.

Absolutely couldn't put it down! So so so good. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.

I very confidently thought to myself “Wow I guess this book isn't gonna make me cry” about 15 minutes before I started sobbing uncontrollably in my car because of this book, so another point for Fredrik Backman, I suppose.

This gave me such a beautiful insight into the worlds my parents and grandparents grew up in. For so much of this book, it felt like I was reading about my mom's life. Loved this.

I think this was more enjoyable than Addie LaRue and stuck the landing better than Addie LaRue, but not as much as I'd hoped it would. Still enormously charming and very easy to get sucked into.

This book made me cry in the middle of a food court. 5 stars.

Oh my god

I'll be honest here. I found this book utterly mind numbing and after starting it, I literally had to force myself to pick it back up. I never once felt any sort of desire to continue, whatsoever. It was just a deep dive into mundanity and being well-written is not an excuse for me to finish a book that I find painful and horribly boring to read. Nothing about this interested me and I'm sure I just didn't “get it”, but if I'm being perfectly honest, I'm not sure I want to “get it”. Frustrating book. I genuinely would rather watch paint dry than read another page of this book. At least with the paint, I have something to root for.

Having just finished the book, I wanted to write down my initial thoughts.

I really enjoyed the writing style. I really liked that the pacing kept me engaged. It was very easy to read. I liked Henry. He was a believable and likable character.

I think the different moments in time in Addie's life over time were interesting and engaging.

That all being said, probably not one of my favorites. I feel very similar after finishing it as I did once I finished The Midnight Library. I'm not sure there was anyone for me to really root for and I feel certain that Henry is better off at the end of the book than he was with Addie, because Addie kinda sucks a lot, to be honest with you. I honestly don't even know if I think that they liked each other much less loved each other. They just ran into someone who was different and it was intriguing enough to stop everything for them, despite not being good for each other.

She's an unlikable protagonist and the only reason you'd even consider rooting for her is because she got screwed by Luc. She doesn't grow at all throughout the entire book. She doesn't have a moment where she realizes what a shitty person she is. Even when Henry calls her out on it multiple times, her reaction never fails to go to “well he wouldn't understand, he hasn't lived in my shoes” which was so thoroughly underwhelming, which might be the word I would use to describe the book as a whole.

Underwhelming.

All in all, I think it was a very neat concept with great writing and a lackluster finish. Those are my initial thoughts.

Didn't grip me as much as I wanted it to, but I think that's my fault more than the books and I want to give it another chance.