falon
Honestly there wasn't much I liked about this. It felt like a very basic grief ya contemporary. It had a very linear plot, the writing wasn't stellar, and I just didn't enjoy myself while reading it. The strongest point of this book was that Rumi was a unique main character because she was asexual, had Hawaiian family, and was interested in music. But in the end, this was very forgettable and not enjoyable for me.
I really liked the art style and how she chose to tell her story but it felt a bit scattered and like there wasn't a cohesive narrative. It was more of a collection of things that happened to her rather than a full story. There was a lot of things I wish I had learned more about like her relationship with her parents but I felt like I saw a lot more of things less important to the message, if that makes sense. That being said, I still had a good time reading this. I felt like I could relate to Tillie a lot and I felt like the art really added to the story and it wouldn't have been complete without it, which I like in a graphic novel.
The writing of this book was beautiful and I liked the main character but honestly, the romance really didn't work for me. I didn't understand the chemistry, there was really no repercussions for the things we find out about the love interest, and I feel like by the end I didn't really know Evan. The rest of the book had really strong, interesting points but in the end, a romance book should have a good romance and this one just didn't do it for me.
I had high expectations for this because of how much everyone else loved it, but honestly, it was very forgettable. The mystery didn't keep me intrigued and I really don't care about what happens next. I didn't really care about any of the characters, the romance was thrown in out of nowhere, and overall it just didn't blow me away.
When I first began this I thought it was going to be 5 stars, a new favorite. But as it progressed, I really didn't like the “poet” parts. They were quite basic modern poetry and didn't bring anything new or interesting that I hadn't seen before. But the Aphrodite sections were so off-the-wall phenomenal that it somewhat made up for it.
This book was pitched to me as a woman deludes herself into believing another woman has her child and begins to insert herself into their life, and that was what I got... for 20 pages. After that it was cringy writing, repeated plotlines, and very uncomfortable sexual things. It was messy, poorly executed, and can hardly be called a thriller. How it has such a high rating is honestly beyond me.
I really liked this book while I was reading it; it was face-paced, held my interest, and had no glaring issues. But stepping back, I'm already forgetting a lot of the finer points of this story. From the characters to the generic plot, it ended up being pretty forgettable. But I definitely still liked it.
Beautiful and heartbreaking. This was one of the most raw and honest books I've ever read. The way Eden deals with her trauma is so so honest and we are able to see exactly how an event like this shapes who you are for the rest of your life. I love how this book holds nothing back. I did have a couple issues, the main one being the time frame. Because it spans over four years, it feels a little rushed. If it had been over two years instead I think it would have run a bit smoother. I also really wish we got to see more of her relationship with her parents before and after because they were hardly in the story. But overall, this was a stunning book i won't be forgetting any time soon.
What a book this was! I was not expecting to love this as much as I did. Jane McKeene has now joined the gang of my favourite characters of all time. She's a liar and a cheat but she's also hilarious, clever, and is a good person. We're shown all of this through her actions without just being told and she had one of the best voices I've ever read. All of the side characters were interesting and complex as well and I loved everybody in this book. The way this book talks about racism in a setting we all have heard of but never lived in was done incredibly well. It kept me on my toes the whole time and I'm beyond excited for the next book. The only reason this wasn't a full five star read for me was that the plot itself was lacking. Looking back, I can't pinpoint any sort of build or climax; it was more of just events all happening. The ending also made me think of Divergent and I wasn't a fan of that. But, overall, an incredible and surprising read.
As with most contemporaries I've been reading, this book was very mixed for me. It was very different and unique from a lot of contemporaries I've read. It took a lot of the same tropes and things from this genre and made them unique and interesting and personal. The anxiety representation was also spot on and so fantastic. It was so genuine and accurate, and I also really appreciated how Jamie would get annoyed and frustrated. In books, the love interest is always this super tolerant guy who makes the heroine's panic attacks so much easier, but his frustration with Kiko was much more realistic and I loved that. Kiko had a very beautiful, if not predictable, character arc and her growth was great to watch unfold. Despite the fact that I haven't gone through the same specific things as Kiko, I really identified and connected with her. However, the actual plot was the same unrealistic and cliche bit where teenagers can just pick up and leave and do what they want without supervision and its very tiring to keep seeing something that could never really happen. I definitely had to suspend my disbelief with a lot of the events of this book. Sometimes the writing was really beautiful and other times it felt like the ramblings of an angsty teenager without any sort of style. I also wish that the friendship with Jamie had been explored more because we're just told how perfect they are for each other without ever really seeing it.
First off, I really enjoyed my time reading this book and I thought it was a very sweet and well-done YA contemporary, although not groundbreaking or massively original. I wish I had read this book back when I was 13 because I know I would have absolutely loved it then, which is a little bit of my problem with it now. The main character, Elise, is 16, but she seems more like 12 or 13. Most of her thoughts and feelings seem very much at the surface and there isn't a whole lot of depth or discussion with her, which is more of what I would expect from middle grade. All of the things that happen to her in school as well definitely don't seem like they take place in a high school setting and much more like a middle school. I had to suspend my disbelief for a lot of this story with many of the different plot points. I did enjoy how much music was a part of this story and I listened to The Smiths the entire time while reading it. The writing was not terrible by any means but had that very dramatic and angsty tone of a teenager without any sort of refinement or real “writing” put into it. That's no necessarily a bad thing, but it made the reading less enjoyable for me, at least. One thing I can't stop thinking about with this book is the (suicide attempt) at the beginning of the book. It was very graphic and I found it to be very triggering and I didn't know about it going in. I wish I had so I could have been more prepared. But all that aside, I really did have a good time with this book. It was a quick read that reminded me of my emo middle school days and I can definitely see the merit in it. Just a bit more polishing could have made this book much better.