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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
No notes. I love this. The references are getting dated, but so am I. No idea how Johnson makes this plot work. Hits as hard as fan fiction (looking at you network connectivity problems by BasicBathseba, ha!).
SUCH a comfort read! Very addictive format. Also slightly annoying, but alas. I still find it noteworthy that M (and the reader) knowing he's the wrong Martin doesn't end up entirely cringe. Also that there's to Martins? Why is this not unbelievable and weird? This book speaks my language. So. Again couldn't really tell Haley's girl friends apart because they kinda blended into each other. And I don't (want to) buy that they're 17. Other than that everyone had their own voices and I felt like having a glimpse into their worlds, even though it was just texting, magic!
May 2023, 4 stars:
This was very sweet and a great, if probably ill-advised sick-in-bed-reading-till-3-am book. The texting format didn't really work on any of my devices, which was a pain. Wouldn't have minded more input on Haley being demi, because there's not a lot of deminess out there in books. I thought the confusion with the two Martins wasn't too cringe, the characters and their blossoming relationship felt natural and the conflicts didn't feel forced. I didn't really follow Haley's girl-clique drama... Surprisingly engaging for a book solely based on texting. Wanna reread!
3.5 stars to this sweet story.
I did read it almost non stop and enjoyed the dynamics and conversations between these two.
I did read it almost non stop and enjoyed the dynamics and conversations between these two.
I loved the concept of this book, but the writing style was indigestible! The two characters are supposed to have very different personalities, and yet they sound exactly the same, so much so that it soon becomes boring. Besides, this is not how teenagers talk: it feels contrived and fake.
The world needs more demisexual and bisexual representation, but this book didn't do it for me.
The world needs more demisexual and bisexual representation, but this book didn't do it for me.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Two kids fall in love over text? Ex boyfriends, creepy cousins and anxiety issues are just some of the things that our two protagonists talk about through text. It all starts out with a text about an essay question. The sender – Martin Nathaniel Munroe II. The issue is that there are two boys with that exact same name in Haley’s class. Does she know which one is she talking to?
While there were some good things about this book (Haley is demisexual), overall teens are going to have issues connecting with it. There is a lot of reading between the lines that needs to be done as we are missing the conversations these characters have between the texts. They cover a lot of US History, video games, architecture and engineering topics that will be difficult for many to follow unless they are Teen Jeopardy wanna-bes. That and the fact that these two keep talking about how incredibly smart they are will be a turn off to most.
While there were some good things about this book (Haley is demisexual), overall teens are going to have issues connecting with it. There is a lot of reading between the lines that needs to be done as we are missing the conversations these characters have between the texts. They cover a lot of US History, video games, architecture and engineering topics that will be difficult for many to follow unless they are Teen Jeopardy wanna-bes. That and the fact that these two keep talking about how incredibly smart they are will be a turn off to most.
I was surprised by how good this book was. It was all texts between two teens whose romantic relationship was growing over the course of the book. But the girl didn't know the true identity of the guy. That part stretched credulity especially since she was supposed to be super brilliant and it was pretty obvious who the guy was. But the banter and the self-revelation was interesting enough so that I was willing to suspend disbelief for the course of the book.
This was really cute! And it made me stay up longer than I had planned just to finish it haha
It was fun. It also definitely did its job and got me back in a reading groove.
solid 4/5 stars
I read this in between books when I needed something light and fun. The text format makes it easy to read, and it made me reminisce my early internet days (wow I sound old) when I would first start messaging a new internet friend and find out all these minute but interesting things about them. This book really shows that you can reveal so much about yourself over text - slowly at first, because it's hard to open up and get into the thick of it - but not having the face-to-face interaction makes it so easy to reveal all your innermost thoughts
Haley and Martin are hard to know at first, because you're thrown into the book with little to no introduction to their characters, but they slowly grow on you. I love Haley's intense love for reading absolutely everything, knowing the most random facts that make for interesting conversations. Maybe I'm strange, but it was relatable how excited she was about learning some random fact and telling Martin about it.
Despite the book focusing on the text messages of H and M, I felt that Haley was more of the main character. Maybe it's because she's the "sender" in the texts, or maybe its because she's not the one in the know that Martin isn't the Martin she thinks. It's always the main character who has to uncover secrets and make revelations, after all.
It's very sweet, seeing these characters talk about familial life and friends and just little high school things that get overlooked in most YA books. For a book in text format, it manages to be very personal.
I read this in between books when I needed something light and fun. The text format makes it easy to read, and it made me reminisce my early internet days (wow I sound old) when I would first start messaging a new internet friend and find out all these minute but interesting things about them. This book really shows that you can reveal so much about yourself over text - slowly at first, because it's hard to open up and get into the thick of it - but not having the face-to-face interaction makes it so easy to reveal all your innermost thoughts
Haley and Martin are hard to know at first, because you're thrown into the book with little to no introduction to their characters, but they slowly grow on you. I love Haley's intense love for reading absolutely everything, knowing the most random facts that make for interesting conversations. Maybe I'm strange, but it was relatable how excited she was about learning some random fact and telling Martin about it.
Despite the book focusing on the text messages of H and M, I felt that Haley was more of the main character. Maybe it's because she's the "sender" in the texts, or maybe its because she's not the one in the know that Martin isn't the Martin she thinks. It's always the main character who has to uncover secrets and make revelations, after all.
It's very sweet, seeing these characters talk about familial life and friends and just little high school things that get overlooked in most YA books. For a book in text format, it manages to be very personal.