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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
This book was a complex cake of many flavors of emotion and was so very sweet to savor. I read this book to my 11yo son who really enjoyed it, but I will say the final few chapters had me choking and fighting back tears unsuccessfully. It tackles tough subjects and big feelings in such a beautiful and simple way. There are a lot of books that cover feelings of sadness, hurt and anger. But this book takes on the complex feelings that aren't so simply put. Like feeling sad and happy at the same time. It illustrates through storytelling how it's ok to be different and how things can hurt and be awful but our stories are important and you can't taste the sweet without the existence of bitter.
Very lovely, would recommend.
Very lovely, would recommend.
4.75 I won't say what the readalike is, but this may be a great novel geared at kids, but really for adults to read.
EVENTOWN has an unreliable narrator in Elodee. Elodee is unhappy but we don't know why. She, her twin sister Naomi, and her parents are moving to Eventown to start a new life. Everything is perfect in Eventown and they need a fresh start. The problem is that things are too perfect in Eventown. It took me a longer than usual amount of time to read a book of this length. The story dragged and dragged for me. In my opinion, the big reveal of what Elodee wasn't saying, took too long to be explained. I would have rated it lower except for the ending. The story really does have an important message and came together in a meaningful way.
Here are a few quotes I liked:
"Love has a lot to do with imperfections."
"Love is messy"
"Love, in the way we take care of each other when we're hurting. . . Love, strongest in the worst, scariest, most painful moments. Love, even better when the sky is gray and your heart is breaking." (p.308-309)
"There can't be one gold button for joy an done for grief and one for fear. Sometimes you're all of those things at once" (p. 314)
"Memory is like that, I guess. Not quiet the same as it was when it was alive and happening. Delicate. Something you have to care for, tend to, love gently, and hang on to as hard as you can." (p. 316)
Here are a few quotes I liked:
"Love has a lot to do with imperfections."
"Love is messy"
"Love, in the way we take care of each other when we're hurting. . . Love, strongest in the worst, scariest, most painful moments. Love, even better when the sky is gray and your heart is breaking." (p.308-309)
"There can't be one gold button for joy an done for grief and one for fear. Sometimes you're all of those things at once" (p. 314)
"Memory is like that, I guess. Not quiet the same as it was when it was alive and happening. Delicate. Something you have to care for, tend to, love gently, and hang on to as hard as you can." (p. 316)
Wow okay, so beginning to read this book I thought this would probably be a three star or so. I know that it's a middle grade book so I should be fairly lenient with my rating since it's not a book geared towards me, but I was still thinking around three stars. But then at about 80% of the way through the book, the whole mood just changed, we learned some new information and it just...got way better.
Eventown is about a girl named Elodee, and she and her family move away from their dreary little town to this brighter town, Eventown, for this new beginning. Eventown is just this perfect place - all the houses are beautiful and perfectly manicured, everything is just done perfectly. Elodee's twin sister Naomi no longer has to practice for her gymnastics because she can just do them perfectly, and Elodee can bake whatever she wants and make it beautiful. But after the twins' visit to the Welcoming Center is interrupted by a group of unhappy citizens, things begin to go wrong in the town.
Eventown was...weird. The town, I mean, not the book. It was just too perfect and...yeah, I didn't like it. Which I suppose is the point.
I liked Elodee. I liked that she was curious and she didn't really know her place in the world. She felt really out of place everywhere, especially Eventown where everyone else seemed to fit in perfectly and she just...didn't. And this whole book was her trying to figure out why and her trying to change Eventown. She was insistent on not changing herself and wanted to change the town instead and in this case, that's a good thing.
This whole book was, essentially about memories. About why memories are so important to hold on to, even if they hurt. And it was about not fitting in, and being able to ask the right questions, and knowing when to do the dangerous things so that they end up being the right things. And I think that this book is really important.
Eventown is about a girl named Elodee, and she and her family move away from their dreary little town to this brighter town, Eventown, for this new beginning. Eventown is just this perfect place - all the houses are beautiful and perfectly manicured, everything is just done perfectly. Elodee's twin sister Naomi no longer has to practice for her gymnastics because she can just do them perfectly, and Elodee can bake whatever she wants and make it beautiful. But after the twins' visit to the Welcoming Center is interrupted by a group of unhappy citizens, things begin to go wrong in the town.
Eventown was...weird. The town, I mean, not the book. It was just too perfect and...yeah, I didn't like it. Which I suppose is the point.
I liked Elodee. I liked that she was curious and she didn't really know her place in the world. She felt really out of place everywhere, especially Eventown where everyone else seemed to fit in perfectly and she just...didn't. And this whole book was her trying to figure out why and her trying to change Eventown. She was insistent on not changing herself and wanted to change the town instead and in this case, that's a good thing.
This whole book was, essentially about memories. About why memories are so important to hold on to, even if they hurt. And it was about not fitting in, and being able to ask the right questions, and knowing when to do the dangerous things so that they end up being the right things. And I think that this book is really important.
I found this book a bit slow paced for the middle school crowd. Interesting story about wanting things to be perfect and then finding out that you don’t want things to be perfect.
An interesting look a grief--what happens when you go to a fictional town and give away your greatest memories of heartbreak, joy, embarrassment, and more? You learn that life isn't full of just ONE of those emotions--you can feel many at one time, and also it's the memories that are important to hold onto. Life is good with its imperfections.
I would definitely give this to an older crowd, maybe middle school and early high school. It doesn't go into great detail about depression or about suicide, but focuses instead on the grief felt by the people left behind.
I would definitely give this to an older crowd, maybe middle school and early high school. It doesn't go into great detail about depression or about suicide, but focuses instead on the grief felt by the people left behind.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Imagine a perfect world, where the weather was perfect, anything you set out to do would only end in success, all your cooking meals would be perfect. Do you think you'd be truly happy? Elodee and her twin Naomi, have experienced something traumatic, and they have a chance to move to Eventown. Eventown is perfectly even - the weather is great, everyone's houses are pretty much the same - there really isn't room for highs and lows - just medium. Yet Elodee feels like something is lacking. Part Stepford wives and part Giver, this book will make you wonder if living in a perfect world is really all it is cracked up to me. After all, life is messy, but isn't there a lot of beauty and joy among the sorrow and mess?
Elodee and Naomi are twin sisters who have been going through a rough patch. Their parents decide that the best solution for their family is to move to Eventown. They are ready for the change, but Elodee notices that they leave a lot behind when they move. It takes a little while in Eventown for Elodee to notice that things are all the same. All the houses are the same. There are only three ice cream flavors. The Eventown Anthem is the only song in town. There are no books or internet or televisions or even cars. Everything is pretty even and similar everywhere. Things get even stranger when they are sent to the Welcome Center for their Welcoming Ceremony. Naomi goes first and completes the process but Elodee is interrupted. She only tells three of her six stories. What she notices though is that she has no memories of the three stories she told. There are now gaps in what she knows and remembers. Big gaps that she feels are important. At the same time the rosebush they brought to town with them starts to grow extremely rapidly. Soon other flowers and weeds are taking over their yard and covering their house and they are spreading. What does this mean for the town and for the family?
Eventown asks the question of what is happiness? Can you be happy without the sad parts of life? Can you be happy without the high points of life either? Everyone in Eventown appears to be content with their even life. They have all willingly given up the highs and lows of the past in order to have a happy life, but are they truly happy? Elodee realizes that she doesn't want to be like everyone else. She likes being sad and mad and creative. She doesn't want to only cook things from the approved recipe box. She wants to remember what drove them to Eventown even if it is hard.
Eventown asks the question of what is happiness? Can you be happy without the sad parts of life? Can you be happy without the high points of life either? Everyone in Eventown appears to be content with their even life. They have all willingly given up the highs and lows of the past in order to have a happy life, but are they truly happy? Elodee realizes that she doesn't want to be like everyone else. She likes being sad and mad and creative. She doesn't want to only cook things from the approved recipe box. She wants to remember what drove them to Eventown even if it is hard.