As Far As You'll Take Me
Ratings6
Average rating2.7
15
Ratings6
Average rating2.7
"A beautiful tribute to every queer kid who's ever had to leave their home in order to find one." - Leah Johnson, bestselling author of You Should See Me in a Crown The author of The Gravity of Us crafts another heartfelt coming-of-age story about finding the people who become your home--perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli. Marty arrives in London with nothing but his oboe and some savings from his summer job, but he's excited to start his new life--where he's no longer the closeted, shy kid who slips under the radar and is free to explore his sexuality without his parents' disapproval. From the outside, Marty's life looks like a perfect fantasy: in the span of a few weeks, he's made new friends, he's getting closer with his first ever boyfriend, and he's even traveling around Europe. But Marty knows he can't keep up the facade. He hasn't spoken to his parents since he arrived, he's tearing through his meager savings, his homesickness and anxiety are getting worse and worse, and he hasn't even come close to landing the job of his dreams. Will Marty be able to find a place that feels like home? Acclaim for The Gravity of Us An IndieNext List Pick An Amazon Best Book
Reviews with the most likes.
The cover is cute and there are some parts that made me smile and relate, but when it came down to it, I couldn't get into the story. The MC didn't stand out in any way at all and the story felt like every other YA contemporary book I have read. Not bad...just not great.
So I want to start by saying this book is good. But I wasn't quite expecting what I found. Honestly, I enjoyed Marty's story and at the beginning had so much anticipation for how he was going to resolve the discord between his parents, his ‘best friend' and ultimately whether he was going to be able to remain in London, after leaving Kentucky ‘for good'.
I loved reading Marty's thought process throughout and I think the way Stamper initially introduces Marty's eating disorder and his anxiety, I think that is done really well.
I was expecting more before the breakdown of his first relationship but I'm glad the end up separated but still friends, I honestly wasn't sure what kind of a relationship this would be and Pierce really kept me guessing along the way.
I also love the tremendous amount of detail that Stamper goes into when he talks about music. You can really tell that he looks at the subject with so much fondness, as do I, and it comes from a really empowered place.
I liked the fact that his relationship with his hometown changed but I don't think the portrayal of the resolution of conflict caused by the homophobia he received, anxiety and eating disorder were done particularly well. But I'm also glad that it didn't try and resolve those by making something extremely dangerous or climatic happen, it's nice to see issues represented that demand to be dealt with done so in a meaningful way without the use of too much melodrama.
I think the book took on a lot of themes that it quickly resolved. There's conflict with Marty's parents and it's heavily implied that if/when his parents find out that he isn't planning on returning to Kentucky they'd in some way force him to return. And yet by the end of this story this conflict is half-resolved by a sudden change of heart and a paragraph or two. I'm glad these things were represented though I think they needed more space and it ultimately led to this book lacking substance.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this book. It almost felt rushed towards the end where I would have perhaps liked to have seen Pierce and Marty breakdown overtime, travel more and develop connections with friends. A lot more could have been done to make the reader truly connect with the characters a bit more and give them more of a three-dimensional quality.
Stamper's writing and storytelling is much improved from his debut novel and it was a joy to read but I felt like there was room for so much more and I could have easily read more of Marty's story. I look forward to reading more from this author because I think we need stories that represent such a diverse and individual audience.
