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3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
Another teen angst novel, but refreshingly unsentimental and straightforward. Wolitzer creates a narrator so appealing you don't realize how unreliable she is until the crucial moment near the end. What might be a self-indulgent setting - a boarding school full of gifted-but-damaged teens - is made tolerable by Wolitzer's careful focus on a tiny community-within-a-community and their close, unexpected bond.
Idk. Super intriguing story, but I don’t think Meg Wolitzer knows any teenagers. I love a dark psychological thriller YA, but this one gave me an ICK
I'm not yet sure between 1 and 2 stars, I need to think about it...
Throughout the book, I was interested in the story, but had to keep taking two-second reading breaks to roll my eyes. I really dislike romances where the characters don’t show me how they have a long-term sustainable relationship based on something other than, “I just knew it,” or “We had a special connection.” I couldn’t get past how Jam was so in love with a guy that she knew for approximately a month, and whom we as the reader know nothing about besides she thinks he’s hot.
I’m glad I kept reading, however (full disclosure: until 3am). The author, Meg Wolitzer, is not a bad romance writer, and everything made sense in such a clear way in the end. It’s one of those endings that makes you think back and remember all the clues and hints that were dropped along the way.
The book isn't really about romances though. It's about the balance of living in the present, and what it costs to stay stuck in the past.
Full review on Papercuttts: 'Belzhar' Strikes a Good Tone
I’m glad I kept reading, however (full disclosure: until 3am). The author, Meg Wolitzer, is not a bad romance writer, and everything made sense in such a clear way in the end. It’s one of those endings that makes you think back and remember all the clues and hints that were dropped along the way.
The book isn't really about romances though. It's about the balance of living in the present, and what it costs to stay stuck in the past.
Full review on Papercuttts: 'Belzhar' Strikes a Good Tone
3.5
Tengo ya algunos días de haber terminado este libro y aún me encuentro mirando a la pantalla de la computadora pensando que es lo que quiero decir acerca de este libro, sin duda tuve una experiencia que no esperaba para nada...
*EDITADO*
Aquí les dejo el link a la reseña en el blog:
http://bookeverywhere.blogspot.mx/2016/06/resena-belzhar.html
Tengo ya algunos días de haber terminado este libro y aún me encuentro mirando a la pantalla de la computadora pensando que es lo que quiero decir acerca de este libro, sin duda tuve una experiencia que no esperaba para nada...
*EDITADO*
Aquí les dejo el link a la reseña en el blog:
http://bookeverywhere.blogspot.mx/2016/06/resena-belzhar.html
This is one of my favorite books! Jam, Griffin, Marc, Casey and Sierra are five friends who meet in a boarding school called the Wooden Barn for “emotionally fragile, highly intelligent teenagers.” They each have a story to tell, and they express themselves in journals given to them by their Special Topics in English teacher known as Mrs. Q. The friends in this tight knit group lean on each other to come to terms with and learn to let go of their pasts.
Eh.
So I liked that this was different than most other recent YA I've read, and I liked the premise quite a bit. But it fell flat for me in several ways. I wasn't a fan of the writing style - the characters sounded too old and not authentically teen. The dialogue was often stilted. I really disliked the ending -.
So I liked that this was different than most other recent YA I've read, and I liked the premise quite a bit. But it fell flat for me in several ways. I wasn't a fan of the writing style - the characters sounded too old and not authentically teen. The dialogue was often stilted. I really disliked the ending -
Spoiler
while it's pretty obvious very early on that Jam's situation isn't what it appears to be, and I had even guessed that he wasn't dead about halfway through, I thought the ending twist was excessively manipulative and really put a damper on how I perceived Jam's character. The unreliable narrator is fine and an ending twist is fine, but there's a fine line between being true to the story and being gimmicky and this crossed that line. (See also, We Were Liars).
Wow, I knew the twist sort of from the start, but the way it was reached was a fun tangle of a story.
For more reviews see my blog: https://adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com
For more reviews see my blog: https://adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com