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jr2234's review against another edition
3.0
Clearly I’m in the minority on this one, but this ranked in at 3/3.5 stars for me. I enjoyed a lot of this book and couldn’t believe the author’s ability to succinctly sum up the human experience. There were many moments throughout this book where the author wrote of a feeling or situation I had experienced and it was like a bright light shone onto it and I realized others share feelings I thought were unique to me. However, due to the skips ahead and behind in time and no quotation marks, I felt like I wasn’t directly immersed in the characters and was instead viewing them from far away. Though I understand it was the author’s intent to write about average situations in a way that was relatable, parts of the text bored me and I ended up feeling like not much transpired.
livvylivvybowbivvy's review against another edition
2.0
Okay, here’s the thing….I really enjoyed the first third maybe? The characters seemed a little flat at first, but I thought that would wake as time progress in the story. I actually found this a harder and harder read as time went on. I’m sure different people could get more out of this book, but in general I just found in quite depressing (and not in the enjoyable book way). It just seemed to be getting worse and worse. I’m a firm believer in books not needing to have happy endings or characters learn things and change to be good, but this just feels like misery for the sake of misery.
BIGGEST THING: this book talks a lot of politics, very millennial political undertone. When the main characters were teenagers, I found that very relatable and accurate as teenagers being depicted as radical for the Time is pretty common. As these adults got older though, they slipped further and further away from being radical or liberal and into this really depressing misogynistic mode??? Especially depressing when Connell (main guy) started doing that to Marianne. Of course there’s something to be said about the real world in that, but it just didn’t work the way it could’ve. I thought a lot of the points this novel made fell flat for me.
Also, HUGE TW for abuse, verbal abuse towards women, sexual assault, just all the bad stuff. I have thankfully experienced minor or no amounts of those things, but even for me who has read those things in other books it made me extremely uneasy, just an fyi. Overall I started this book with high hopes and it just was downwardly mobile the rest of the way. Me personally, I found it DID say things about humanity, men, women, and our young adult generation, but not in the profound or new way that I think is comforting or as provoking as everyone says this novel is. 1.5-2 stars, and if you’ve read this at all, I’m very appreciative
BIGGEST THING: this book talks a lot of politics, very millennial political undertone. When the main characters were teenagers, I found that very relatable and accurate as teenagers being depicted as radical for the Time is pretty common. As these adults got older though, they slipped further and further away from being radical or liberal and into this really depressing misogynistic mode??? Especially depressing when Connell (main guy) started doing that to Marianne. Of course there’s something to be said about the real world in that, but it just didn’t work the way it could’ve. I thought a lot of the points this novel made fell flat for me.
Also, HUGE TW for abuse, verbal abuse towards women, sexual assault, just all the bad stuff. I have thankfully experienced minor or no amounts of those things, but even for me who has read those things in other books it made me extremely uneasy, just an fyi. Overall I started this book with high hopes and it just was downwardly mobile the rest of the way. Me personally, I found it DID say things about humanity, men, women, and our young adult generation, but not in the profound or new way that I think is comforting or as provoking as everyone says this novel is. 1.5-2 stars, and if you’ve read this at all, I’m very appreciative
pulkit_dixit17's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jessicams1116's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
hornywinemom's review against another edition
3.0
I like the character drama but the weak social commentary was off-putting. Animorphs said more about society than this brick of shit. All together rather enjoyable
mikelyn31's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
milla28ciroth's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
klylxy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5