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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
It was a good story, based on the feelings that we all go through that when we are going through a trauma, or trying to deal with emotional aftermath, we do sometimes wish we could just forget everything and live in a perfect place where nothing bad happens.
I loved this book. It was essentially a fantasy — twins move with their parents to a town where everything is perfect because they are able to forget their most painful and difficult memories. However, to get their fresh start, they must also forget their most joyful moments. If I were to ascribe a genre to this book, I’d call it realistic fiction. The unflinchingly honest discussion of what pains and joys the past can cause, and how to embrace it, is truer than many books I’ve read. Also Lawrence’s mental health issues are discussed openly. I feel the entire book discusses mental health and the way it can feel that we just want to push the hard times away. I really liked that some characters wanted to do this more than others. Most of all, I loved Elodee’s narration. Her voice is childlike without sounding like an adult trying to be a child. It captures all the wisdom and wonder that childhood embodies. Fantasy/realistic fiction. Grades 3-6.
"I want to skip over the hard parts, the boring parts, the lonely and sad and angry parts. But if I do that, the cake won't be good. It won't be right." --Corey Ann Haydu, EVENTOWN
This is one of the most important middle grade books I've read this year. It's decidedly brilliant.
It will intrigue you, draw you in, raise your hackles, break your heart, and tape it back together again.
It's THE GOOD PLACE meets ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND meets Camazotz from WRINKLE IN TIME.
This is one of the most important middle grade books I've read this year. It's decidedly brilliant.
It will intrigue you, draw you in, raise your hackles, break your heart, and tape it back together again.
It's THE GOOD PLACE meets ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND meets Camazotz from WRINKLE IN TIME.
An interesting take on dealing with grief. It's okay to feel happy and sad and angry and sometime all at the same time, but remembering is important even though it hurts or brings on feelings of guilt.
"Love has a lot to do with imperfections.” This line from the book sums it up for me. I loved this one. I loved the message, I loved how the weirdness of Eventown creeps in slowly, and I loved Elodee and her perfect imperfections.
“There’s always something worth remembering.”
Full disclosure: I did not like this book when I first started it. It’s a Middle Grade Book, and it read like a middle grade book to me. But then, after I closed the book and put it down, I found myself wanting to read more — to get back in the story. It was oddly hypnotic (?) and I think that’s a testament to the story Haydu created. Eventown was very Stepford — idyllic and pretty, but with just a whiff of something “off.”
This book reminded me a lot of The Giver — the idea that to make life better you pretty much have to forget everything which makes you unique and causes “negative” emotions. But whereas The Giver was very open-ended in its conclusion, this book was a lot more concrete and definitive. It was less a commentary on utopian society,l than it was a commentary on grief and dealing with pain and the value of memory.
It was, perhaps, a little longer than it needed to be — and the magic of the Town was never explained, not that it needed to, I guess — but I think the book, and the topics it dealt with, was powerful in its own way. I don’t think stories like this — that addressed the benefits of feeling your emotions, of remembering the bad stuff - were available when I was the age of the target audience.
Full disclosure: I did not like this book when I first started it. It’s a Middle Grade Book, and it read like a middle grade book to me. But then, after I closed the book and put it down, I found myself wanting to read more — to get back in the story. It was oddly hypnotic (?) and I think that’s a testament to the story Haydu created. Eventown was very Stepford — idyllic and pretty, but with just a whiff of something “off.”
This book reminded me a lot of The Giver — the idea that to make life better you pretty much have to forget everything which makes you unique and causes “negative” emotions. But whereas The Giver was very open-ended in its conclusion, this book was a lot more concrete and definitive. It was less a commentary on utopian society,l than it was a commentary on grief and dealing with pain and the value of memory.
It was, perhaps, a little longer than it needed to be — and the magic of the Town was never explained, not that it needed to, I guess — but I think the book, and the topics it dealt with, was powerful in its own way. I don’t think stories like this — that addressed the benefits of feeling your emotions, of remembering the bad stuff - were available when I was the age of the target audience.
I was intrigued by the general concept (I’m a big fan of “Pines” by Blake Crouch), but I didn’t like all the flowery, philosophical writing… maybe it lands with other people, but I found myself just rolling my eyes and checking my watch to see how much longer it was going to take to find out what happened at the end of the book. 🤷🏻♀️
In one word: ugh.
Elodee, a 6th grader who’s a whiz in the kitchen, and her twin sister Naomi, who’s a gymnastics star, have had some sort of awful thing happen to their family. It’s resulted in anger issues for Elodee and Naomi becoming withdrawn. Their parents decide they need a change and they move to ‘Eventown.’
And everything there is perfect - the weather is always perfect, the ice cream never melts, it’s nearly magical and you always feel good. But Elodee starts to notice things - she’s forgetting things, and they only have three flavors if ice cream, and her twin is changing...
This book absolutely CRAWLED. I just can’t give it more than two stars and I wonder if a kid reading this would stick with it...
Elodee, a 6th grader who’s a whiz in the kitchen, and her twin sister Naomi, who’s a gymnastics star, have had some sort of awful thing happen to their family. It’s resulted in anger issues for Elodee and Naomi becoming withdrawn. Their parents decide they need a change and they move to ‘Eventown.’
And everything there is perfect - the weather is always perfect, the ice cream never melts, it’s nearly magical and you always feel good. But Elodee starts to notice things - she’s forgetting things, and they only have three flavors if ice cream, and her twin is changing...
This book absolutely CRAWLED. I just can’t give it more than two stars and I wonder if a kid reading this would stick with it...
I loved everything this book was saying, but the pace was a little sluggish and the reveal of the "Before" trauma was unnecessarily teased and delayed. I love that Elodee is weird and her descriptions of not fitting in are spot on--coming from a former weird kid and current weird adult.