Scan barcode
smateer73's review against another edition
3.0
This book was pretty good. There was some language/other inappropriate things that I didn't like, but overall it was great. It was interesting and a good read. It had several great quotes about just learning how to live with who you are, overcoming anxiety, and things like that. It really gives you a perspective on other people and how everyone struggles with something, and how life doesn't always need to be one awesome adventure, but the little things are what really make life.
carlisajc's review
This was a super interesting book—something I've never seen before. Review to come!
tell_them_stories's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
notaturnip's review against another edition
4.0
This book was recommended to me by a lecturer when I was considering writing a story about 'the other side'. The Han Solos in Jedi universes, the Xanders to their Buffys.
It took me a little while to get into this book, but once I started reading it all kind of pulled together. The characters are okay (although none of them really feel fully developed), but the protagonist's descent into OCD was really interesting to see. While I think that provides an interesting tool for kids (as this is a YA book) to check their behaviour against their overall mental health, I feel like some of the discussions about mental health–related behaviours in the book are on the nose. It's all a little 'social issue time!', which I think feels insincere to a kid and really awkward to an adult.
The story is cute, although I still think that the sub-plot is more compelling (which is entirely the point of this story, to tell the boring half). I also think that the book is a little insincere to its premise as it goes along, which turned me off a little.
I wouldn't call this a true underdog story, and I think that we're only invested in the characters in the book because of how they reflect on the 'indie kids', not because they're inherently interesting. It's a cute book, and the perspective was quite neat, but I'm not sure I could call it a 'great' book. The prose itself is very easy to read though, so if you're looking for something a little different, but still relatively light, it's probably worth picking up.
I've marked it as 4 stars because I can't give it 3.5
It took me a little while to get into this book, but once I started reading it all kind of pulled together. The characters are okay (although none of them really feel fully developed), but the protagonist's descent into OCD was really interesting to see. While I think that provides an interesting tool for kids (as this is a YA book) to check their behaviour against their overall mental health, I feel like some of the discussions about mental health–related behaviours in the book are on the nose. It's all a little 'social issue time!', which I think feels insincere to a kid and really awkward to an adult.
The story is cute, although I still think that the sub-plot is more compelling (which is entirely the point of this story, to tell the boring half). I also think that the book is a little insincere to its premise as it goes along, which turned me off a little.
I wouldn't call this a true underdog story, and I think that we're only invested in the characters in the book because of how they reflect on the 'indie kids', not because they're inherently interesting. It's a cute book, and the perspective was quite neat, but I'm not sure I could call it a 'great' book. The prose itself is very easy to read though, so if you're looking for something a little different, but still relatively light, it's probably worth picking up.
I've marked it as 4 stars because I can't give it 3.5
sweetstar229's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Animal death
Moderate: Alcoholism and Eating disorder
Minor: Child death
guillevaldata's review against another edition
2.0
2.50, actually. Tengo muchas opiniones... pero me las guardo para la reseña en mi canal así me puedo explayar más...
kellyoneill's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
amu_pdf's review against another edition
5.0
This was so fun. It’s about the people who aren’t main characters in teen books. Think like the rest of the town in Riverdale and what they just have to accept as part of life. I thought it was so good and I loved all the characters. I wish there was a sequel because I want to see how they live their lives when they go off to college and if the Indie Kids follow them or if they are replaced by new ones. I think Mike was very well written and was a very interesting character to follow with everything he was going through.
eesh25's review against another edition
3.0
I finally understand why this novel is getting so many three stars. It's not because this is a bad novel. Just an underwhelming one.
The concept of the novel is great. Even when I didn't know about it (or maybe before it came out), I wondered if someone would write about the people who weren't the chosen ones or in the thick of things. You know, the rest of the people. And then I heard of this novel and was pretty freaking excited. But the lukewarm response gave me pause. Finally read it though.
Like I said, it's about the people who aren't the protagonists. In this case, that's Micky. Bad shit is going on with beams of lights and fissures to another world, but none of it is happening to Micky. He's just living his life, worried about graduation, going to college, his OCD, a girl he's been in love with since forever. It's all normal stuff. He doesn't know much about what's going on with the "indie" kids. "Indie kids", in this novel, are the usual MCs to whom bad shit happens.
At first, I found Micky to be interesting. But then it turns out that it was his disorder that I found interesting, not him. I'm not sure if that's insensitive, but take away his struggle with anxiety, and he's just a guy pining after a girl who seems to be stringing him, and another guy, along. He's also prone to douchiness caused by jealousy.
Safe to say, he's not very likable. His older sister is better, but not that much. His best friend, Jared, is okay. The girl he's pining after, Henna, and the whole arc between her and Micky, is nothing but a source of annoyance. And there's this other guy who's just... there. It's like all the character have a gimmick. Micky's obsessive-compulsive, his sister has history with anorexia, his friend is one-quarter god, Henna's the love interest and the one going away soon, Nathan's the new guy who's part of the love-triangle. These are the gimmicks, and we don't explore the characters much further than these facts. We don't really get to know them and, therefore, don't connect to them.
There were things I liked. The disorders for one, especially Micky's, and how they was portrayed. I thought it was a really good representation. There was a chapter in which mental illness and it's perception was discussed which was my favourite chapter.
Also, at the start of each chapter, we would get a paragraph summarising what was going on with the "indie" kids (I still don't know what, specifically, makes someone an indie kid). Those paragraphs were great. They played with common genre tropes. They were funny and I loved the contrast between the shit going on in them and the normal stuff with Micky.
I wish the rest of the novel had that humorous tone because the overall tone was really off. On one hand, we got the summaries of supernatural stuff going on, the talk about "indie" kids and how some shit like that happened once every decade and yet adults never got involved and basically tried to pretend that they didn't know anything. On the other hand, we has serious stuff like OCD, anorexia, and Henna's parents taking her to a country that's in the middle of a war. There wasn't a proper balance between the two.
Overall, like I said before, this is not a bad novel. Very readable and with some good parts and truly good insight into OCD. But it didn't live up to its potential.
The concept of the novel is great. Even when I didn't know about it (or maybe before it came out), I wondered if someone would write about the people who weren't the chosen ones or in the thick of things. You know, the rest of the people. And then I heard of this novel and was pretty freaking excited. But the lukewarm response gave me pause. Finally read it though.
Like I said, it's about the people who aren't the protagonists. In this case, that's Micky. Bad shit is going on with beams of lights and fissures to another world, but none of it is happening to Micky. He's just living his life, worried about graduation, going to college, his OCD, a girl he's been in love with since forever. It's all normal stuff. He doesn't know much about what's going on with the "indie" kids. "Indie kids", in this novel, are the usual MCs to whom bad shit happens.
At first, I found Micky to be interesting. But then it turns out that it was his disorder that I found interesting, not him. I'm not sure if that's insensitive, but take away his struggle with anxiety, and he's just a guy pining after a girl who seems to be stringing him, and another guy, along. He's also prone to douchiness caused by jealousy.
Safe to say, he's not very likable. His older sister is better, but not that much. His best friend, Jared, is okay. The girl he's pining after, Henna, and the whole arc between her and Micky, is nothing but a source of annoyance. And there's this other guy who's just... there. It's like all the character have a gimmick. Micky's obsessive-compulsive, his sister has history with anorexia, his friend is one-quarter god, Henna's the love interest and the one going away soon, Nathan's the new guy who's part of the love-triangle. These are the gimmicks, and we don't explore the characters much further than these facts. We don't really get to know them and, therefore, don't connect to them.
There were things I liked. The disorders for one, especially Micky's, and how they was portrayed. I thought it was a really good representation. There was a chapter in which mental illness and it's perception was discussed which was my favourite chapter.
Also, at the start of each chapter, we would get a paragraph summarising what was going on with the "indie" kids (I still don't know what, specifically, makes someone an indie kid). Those paragraphs were great. They played with common genre tropes. They were funny and I loved the contrast between the shit going on in them and the normal stuff with Micky.
I wish the rest of the novel had that humorous tone because the overall tone was really off. On one hand, we got the summaries of supernatural stuff going on, the talk about "indie" kids and how some shit like that happened once every decade and yet adults never got involved and basically tried to pretend that they didn't know anything. On the other hand, we has serious stuff like OCD, anorexia, and Henna's parents taking her to a country that's in the middle of a war. There wasn't a proper balance between the two.
Overall, like I said before, this is not a bad novel. Very readable and with some good parts and truly good insight into OCD. But it didn't live up to its potential.