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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
Wow, that is really all I have to say, wow. That definitely wasn't what I was expecting.
Perfect for those who loved 13 Reasons Why.
Listening to the audio book was a whole different reading experience. The characters felt extremely real but the plot felt a little lacking toward the end - would have loved to have followed the characters for longer.
Fantastic premise though and well written.
Listening to the audio book was a whole different reading experience. The characters felt extremely real but the plot felt a little lacking toward the end - would have loved to have followed the characters for longer.
Fantastic premise though and well written.
I'm not sure how I felt about this one. Mostly because I really hated the main character. Because she was a bully and didn't see it in herself. Because she made excuses for her behavior. Because I don't know that she ever really understands what it is that she did, even at the end. But that's the point. So maybe I liked it. It was such a different take: the bully's perspective. And I think I expected the author to make me sympathize or empathize with her, but...that's not what happened. Even when she was doing something somewhat redeeming, she never really did it for the right reasons. She still, ultimately I think, believed that she was innocent. So anyway, this was an interesting read for me, because I just really hated the main character and wanted to shake her.
Book: Random
Author: Tom Leveen
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary
Themes: Mental-health, Suicide, Cyber-bullying
Goodreads rating: 3.68 average
My rating: 2.5 stars
First of all, yes I rated this book 2.5/5 stars, but that’s only because I have some problems with the characters and how they acted throughout the story, not because of the plot itself.
Random is about a girl Tori, who, with six other people, are being blamed for the “alleged murder” of a guy named Kevin. Now Tori and her friends don’t think they did anything wrong, they were simply joking. But little did they know that their comments about Kevin on Facebook would lead to him committing suicide. Tori at least seems to have just been joking and teasing Kevin for the sake of being closer friends with the rest of the group. They were the popular jocks and cheerleaders and you know how everyone just loves to be a part of that group. Not unlike most teenagers, Tori wanted to be popular and belong to the “cool kids’ gang”. So Tori doesn’t think her comments or anyone else’s on Kevin had anything to do with his death. According to her, he killed himself; she had nothing to do with it.
But just because she didn’t literally tie the knot around his neck does not mean that she is innocent. This book teaches the readers that everything we say and do has consequences. Nothing is ever insignificant when it comes to a matter of life and death.
“There's a whole big gulf between innocent and not guilty. You won't be in court today and plead innocent, you'll plead not guilty. Two very, very different things, if you ask me.”
One night before her trial, Tori receives a mysterious call from a random stranger. He calls himself Andy and says that he will take his own life unless Tori can give him one pretty good reason to not do it. Scared out of her mind and realizing that she’ll be connected to yet another suicide, she tries to stay on the phone all night and save him. But can she save him or will she be caught up in another suicide, knowing that this time she might again be one of the reasons for his death?
Suffice to say, Tori loses her so called “friends” as soon as the charges of murder are brought against them. Everyone she worked so hard to be friends with simply abandon her in the time of need. Aside from Noah, no one even tried to talk to her and ask her how she felt about the whole situation. Speaking of Noah, he’s my spirit animal (not a good comparison I know). He loves anime, I love anime. He tries his best to learn Japanese and use every opportunity to speak it, so do I. He has a lot of similarities to me among other things. He’s the only character in the book I could really relate to.
“Noah wants nothing more than to live in Japan. He’s been in love with everything Japanese ever since he first saw Fullmetal Alchemist. The obsession grew from there.”
I hated Tori. I hated how she seemed to think nothing was her fault. She acted like the victim while it was just the opposite. I’m not saying she deserves all that she got, she probably doesn’t. At first, she really didn’t mean to take it so far with the teasing but as time passed, she just went with the flow and couldn’t stop trying to suck up to the other kids. She didn’t have the mental strength to realize exactly when she needed to stop, but then again, do most people? We all do things we don’t ever expect to have such profound consequences on other people’s lives. We laugh and joke about a lot of things but no one knows exactly which of our actions or words might spark something negative in someone else.
Random really gets you thinking about who really is good and who’s bad. I kind of sympathized with Tori but I also realized just how wrong she was. Just because you don’t mean to hurt someone with your words doesn’t mean they won’t get hurt by it.
Words have a greater impact on teenagers than you would think. Especially in this age of social media where everyone can see everything and where everything stays forever, it can cause a lot of damage.
“Don’t let your mouth write checks your heart can’t cash.”
Random, despite taking place over a single night and consisting mostly of a phone conversation, felt like a long, some-what emotional, learning experience that not only opened my eyes to something that most people prefer not to think about, but also showed me that the opposite of guilty isn't always innocent and that your actions, or lack thereof, can a bigger effect that you think. I couldn’t stop reading it, I just had to know what happens next. I ended up staying up all night and finishing the book in the span of 4 hours. The story flows really well and it’s easy to finish it in one sitting. I was staring at the page with my mouth open for a whole minute after reading chapter sixteen. (I’m not gonna say what happens there because it’s a major spoiler but just know that it will blow your mind )
That.Freaking.Plot twist.
“'Because that's what being dead means,' Andy says. ‘It's the zenit of 'never'. Never again, never this, never that. You don't come back from never. You can't enjoy never. You just sit there, not existing, not listening to your favorite songs or eating you favorite foods. Never.'”
Now, I can rant a lot about the ending and say how I wish it was different but that would mean giving major spoilers so I’ll refrain from doing so. Just go read the book and tell me what you think so that we can discuss.
You can also find my review here: https://myscarletblog.wordpress.com/2017/06/20/review-random-by-tom-leveen/
Author: Tom Leveen
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary
Themes: Mental-health, Suicide, Cyber-bullying
Goodreads rating: 3.68 average
My rating: 2.5 stars
First of all, yes I rated this book 2.5/5 stars, but that’s only because I have some problems with the characters and how they acted throughout the story, not because of the plot itself.
Random is about a girl Tori, who, with six other people, are being blamed for the “alleged murder” of a guy named Kevin. Now Tori and her friends don’t think they did anything wrong, they were simply joking. But little did they know that their comments about Kevin on Facebook would lead to him committing suicide. Tori at least seems to have just been joking and teasing Kevin for the sake of being closer friends with the rest of the group. They were the popular jocks and cheerleaders and you know how everyone just loves to be a part of that group. Not unlike most teenagers, Tori wanted to be popular and belong to the “cool kids’ gang”. So Tori doesn’t think her comments or anyone else’s on Kevin had anything to do with his death. According to her, he killed himself; she had nothing to do with it.
But just because she didn’t literally tie the knot around his neck does not mean that she is innocent. This book teaches the readers that everything we say and do has consequences. Nothing is ever insignificant when it comes to a matter of life and death.
“There's a whole big gulf between innocent and not guilty. You won't be in court today and plead innocent, you'll plead not guilty. Two very, very different things, if you ask me.”
One night before her trial, Tori receives a mysterious call from a random stranger. He calls himself Andy and says that he will take his own life unless Tori can give him one pretty good reason to not do it. Scared out of her mind and realizing that she’ll be connected to yet another suicide, she tries to stay on the phone all night and save him. But can she save him or will she be caught up in another suicide, knowing that this time she might again be one of the reasons for his death?
Suffice to say, Tori loses her so called “friends” as soon as the charges of murder are brought against them. Everyone she worked so hard to be friends with simply abandon her in the time of need. Aside from Noah, no one even tried to talk to her and ask her how she felt about the whole situation. Speaking of Noah, he’s my spirit animal (not a good comparison I know). He loves anime, I love anime. He tries his best to learn Japanese and use every opportunity to speak it, so do I. He has a lot of similarities to me among other things. He’s the only character in the book I could really relate to.
“Noah wants nothing more than to live in Japan. He’s been in love with everything Japanese ever since he first saw Fullmetal Alchemist. The obsession grew from there.”
I hated Tori. I hated how she seemed to think nothing was her fault. She acted like the victim while it was just the opposite. I’m not saying she deserves all that she got, she probably doesn’t. At first, she really didn’t mean to take it so far with the teasing but as time passed, she just went with the flow and couldn’t stop trying to suck up to the other kids. She didn’t have the mental strength to realize exactly when she needed to stop, but then again, do most people? We all do things we don’t ever expect to have such profound consequences on other people’s lives. We laugh and joke about a lot of things but no one knows exactly which of our actions or words might spark something negative in someone else.
Random really gets you thinking about who really is good and who’s bad. I kind of sympathized with Tori but I also realized just how wrong she was. Just because you don’t mean to hurt someone with your words doesn’t mean they won’t get hurt by it.
Words have a greater impact on teenagers than you would think. Especially in this age of social media where everyone can see everything and where everything stays forever, it can cause a lot of damage.
“Don’t let your mouth write checks your heart can’t cash.”
Random, despite taking place over a single night and consisting mostly of a phone conversation, felt like a long, some-what emotional, learning experience that not only opened my eyes to something that most people prefer not to think about, but also showed me that the opposite of guilty isn't always innocent and that your actions, or lack thereof, can a bigger effect that you think. I couldn’t stop reading it, I just had to know what happens next. I ended up staying up all night and finishing the book in the span of 4 hours. The story flows really well and it’s easy to finish it in one sitting. I was staring at the page with my mouth open for a whole minute after reading chapter sixteen. (I’m not gonna say what happens there because it’s a major spoiler but just know that it will blow your mind )
That.Freaking.Plot twist.
“'Because that's what being dead means,' Andy says. ‘It's the zenit of 'never'. Never again, never this, never that. You don't come back from never. You can't enjoy never. You just sit there, not existing, not listening to your favorite songs or eating you favorite foods. Never.'”
Now, I can rant a lot about the ending and say how I wish it was different but that would mean giving major spoilers so I’ll refrain from doing so. Just go read the book and tell me what you think so that we can discuss.
You can also find my review here: https://myscarletblog.wordpress.com/2017/06/20/review-random-by-tom-leveen/
From the "Final Thoughts" Portion of My Review:
This one had the potential to be AMAZING for me — the concept, the writing and the absolutely intensity that made me read faster and faster to find out how all this would end. But when it came time to the ending…it just wasn’t what I expected and made me feel a bit disappointed. There was a lot of build up for awesome and mindblowing and I just found myself staring at the pages not even able to reconcile the ending and how I felt about it. And the fact I felt nothing emotional, aside from anxiety, just didn’t help. I need to be emotionally connected at SOME point.
Read my full review on my blog!
This one had the potential to be AMAZING for me — the concept, the writing and the absolutely intensity that made me read faster and faster to find out how all this would end. But when it came time to the ending…it just wasn’t what I expected and made me feel a bit disappointed. There was a lot of build up for awesome and mindblowing and I just found myself staring at the pages not even able to reconcile the ending and how I felt about it. And the fact I felt nothing emotional, aside from anxiety, just didn’t help. I need to be emotionally connected at SOME point.
Read my full review on my blog!
I posted this review on my book review blog, Rachel Reading. If you like this, check it out for more!
This book started my Labor Day book marathon and it set the tone for the rest of the books I read that weekend.
Honestly, I was kind of talked into buying this book. The woman at my favorite bookstore told me that she LOVES this author etc etc and his writing style didn't disappoint. I also loved that the copy I ended up buying revealed that he was a local author (double the local!) and ended up being signed. Pretty cool.
Overall, this book was a really quick read. I knew I was supposed to feel conflicted or whatever, and I didn't really get that. Tori royally fucked up, this is true. But cyberbulling is so heavily covered these days that the whole intrigue of "is this guy for real or not" just...I didn't care. I was more interested in the actual Facebook posts that this book included. The phone call was...I don't know how to describe it, it seemed a little weird? But again that was probably intentional on the authors part.
I did fly through this, wanting to know more about the characters but in the end,when Tori found out that everyone had planned this to teach her a lesson it felt like an after school special. I don't like books that tend to leave me feeling like I've been lectured at, which this did in a way. Bullying is so heavily covered in the world now that I feel like I've beat my head against with it.
Yes, bullying is real. Yes, I was bullied, I'm not discounting those experiences, but I didn't feel a visceral connection to many of the characters in here. I know that bullying is bad, I've experienced it, but I think because I work with kids and I repeat that so many times, maybe that's why this book didn't connect with me? I would have much preferred something revolving around the trial? Maybe because I'm weird and like law and order-y like things.
ANYWAY, I did love the writing style, it flowed, I wanted to keep reading, which is why this gets four stars. There are absolutely people out there who need to read this, no doubting that, just not sure if it was me.
This book started my Labor Day book marathon and it set the tone for the rest of the books I read that weekend.
Honestly, I was kind of talked into buying this book. The woman at my favorite bookstore told me that she LOVES this author etc etc and his writing style didn't disappoint. I also loved that the copy I ended up buying revealed that he was a local author (double the local!) and ended up being signed. Pretty cool.
Overall, this book was a really quick read. I knew I was supposed to feel conflicted or whatever, and I didn't really get that. Tori royally fucked up, this is true. But cyberbulling is so heavily covered these days that the whole intrigue of "is this guy for real or not" just...I didn't care. I was more interested in the actual Facebook posts that this book included. The phone call was...I don't know how to describe it, it seemed a little weird? But again that was probably intentional on the authors part.
I did fly through this, wanting to know more about the characters but in the end,
Yes, bullying is real. Yes, I was bullied, I'm not discounting those experiences, but I didn't feel a visceral connection to many of the characters in here. I know that bullying is bad, I've experienced it, but I think because I work with kids and I repeat that so many times, maybe that's why this book didn't connect with me? I would have much preferred something revolving around the trial? Maybe because I'm weird and like law and order-y like things.
ANYWAY, I did love the writing style, it flowed, I wanted to keep reading, which is why this gets four stars. There are absolutely people out there who need to read this, no doubting that, just not sure if it was me.
I liked the idea of it, I just didn't really like the writing, or how the plot turned out.
Yet another Message Book, this one with a particularly stupid premise and particularly fake characters.
This is an amazing concept and the book caught my interest immediately.
The problem is that (probably not surprisingly) there's a twist, and I thought that the twist ruined things a bit.
I also wish that we had gotten more of Tori's recent past (in terms of what led up to the cyberbullying trial) and a little less of Tori-and-random-caller.
Still, this is a solid three stars, possibly 3.5. It's definitely worth reading (especially for teens; it shows just how easily "teasing" someone on Facebook can have tragic consequences. I don't want to sound like an elderly person, but kids today don't seem to realize that stuff on the internet is there forever, whether that's bullying someone or taking risque pictures).
It could've been a lot better than it was, but it's still an interesting read.
The problem is that (probably not surprisingly) there's a twist, and I thought that the twist ruined things a bit.
I also wish that we had gotten more of Tori's recent past (in terms of what led up to the cyberbullying trial) and a little less of Tori-and-random-caller.
Still, this is a solid three stars, possibly 3.5. It's definitely worth reading (especially for teens; it shows just how easily "teasing" someone on Facebook can have tragic consequences. I don't want to sound like an elderly person, but kids today don't seem to realize that stuff on the internet is there forever, whether that's bullying someone or taking risque pictures).
It could've been a lot better than it was, but it's still an interesting read.
This book was a quick-read, I read it in one afternoon. I think the reason I enjoyed it so much was because from the very first chapter I was sucked in, always waiting for the shoe to drop in the story.
The book starts off with Tori sitting in her room, worrying about the up-coming trial that she is forced to attend after engaging in cyber-bullying, which led to a boy committing suicide. Then one night her phone rings and a boy on the line starts to talk to her. The thing is, this boy wants to commit suicide, and he is waiting for Tori to give him a reason not to. After all the bad press and high-school students vandalizing her property, she couldn’t believe the caller didn’t know who she was. But she couldn’t chance the fact that he was serious. So, she stays on the line, hoping to convince him to stay safe.
Almost the entire book is taken place in Tori’s bedroom. Because of that fact, I though the book was going to be pretty dull. But, I was so, so wrong. In Random, it didn’t matter where the characters were. All I could focus on was the dialogue, which was so intense. The suspense gripped me in the very beginning, and it did not let up until the acknowledgements page. Mr. Leveen captivated the situation perfectly, letting us readers know about the true effects of cyber-bullying, and bullying in general.
Each chapter there would be a little blurb of Facebook comments, letting us readers see what was truly said, leading up to the day Kevin committed suicide. It was a truly brilliant idea, to keep the Facebook comments coming that way, leaving just enough of a cliff-hanger to make me keep reading until the next posts. Rather then tell us what was said by a character’s point of view, Mr. Leveen decided to show us first hand what the posts said, letting us readers decide for ourselves who was at fault. Pure genius.
Now, while I truly did enjoy this book, there was just one thing that kept bothering me. No matter how many people talked to Tori, she didn’t seem to understand the roll she played in Kevin’s life. She kept repeating the same sentences over and over again, trying to explain how she didn’t “tie the rope”, so to speak. I could tell she was a good person, because she wanted to help a stranger on the phone, but the lines of right and wrong got severely twisted in her head. She really came off as a dislikable character. I couldn’t connect to her personality at all.
“I didn’t do anything wrong!” I shout, ignoring both Andy’s comment and how late -or early- it is. “It was a bunch of stupid jokes on stupid Facebook, for God’s sake. Happens to everyone, all the time, what makes him so special?”
– Tori
Still, I urge anyone who hasn’t read this book to pick it up or add it to their TBR list. You will not regret it, because this book is impossible not to get hooked on. I give this book four stars simply for the amazing writing and dialogue.
The book starts off with Tori sitting in her room, worrying about the up-coming trial that she is forced to attend after engaging in cyber-bullying, which led to a boy committing suicide. Then one night her phone rings and a boy on the line starts to talk to her. The thing is, this boy wants to commit suicide, and he is waiting for Tori to give him a reason not to. After all the bad press and high-school students vandalizing her property, she couldn’t believe the caller didn’t know who she was. But she couldn’t chance the fact that he was serious. So, she stays on the line, hoping to convince him to stay safe.
Almost the entire book is taken place in Tori’s bedroom. Because of that fact, I though the book was going to be pretty dull. But, I was so, so wrong. In Random, it didn’t matter where the characters were. All I could focus on was the dialogue, which was so intense. The suspense gripped me in the very beginning, and it did not let up until the acknowledgements page. Mr. Leveen captivated the situation perfectly, letting us readers know about the true effects of cyber-bullying, and bullying in general.
Each chapter there would be a little blurb of Facebook comments, letting us readers see what was truly said, leading up to the day Kevin committed suicide. It was a truly brilliant idea, to keep the Facebook comments coming that way, leaving just enough of a cliff-hanger to make me keep reading until the next posts. Rather then tell us what was said by a character’s point of view, Mr. Leveen decided to show us first hand what the posts said, letting us readers decide for ourselves who was at fault. Pure genius.
Now, while I truly did enjoy this book, there was just one thing that kept bothering me. No matter how many people talked to Tori, she didn’t seem to understand the roll she played in Kevin’s life. She kept repeating the same sentences over and over again, trying to explain how she didn’t “tie the rope”, so to speak. I could tell she was a good person, because she wanted to help a stranger on the phone, but the lines of right and wrong got severely twisted in her head. She really came off as a dislikable character. I couldn’t connect to her personality at all.
“I didn’t do anything wrong!” I shout, ignoring both Andy’s comment and how late -or early- it is. “It was a bunch of stupid jokes on stupid Facebook, for God’s sake. Happens to everyone, all the time, what makes him so special?”
– Tori
Still, I urge anyone who hasn’t read this book to pick it up or add it to their TBR list. You will not regret it, because this book is impossible not to get hooked on. I give this book four stars simply for the amazing writing and dialogue.