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cschaepe84's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Honestly, I didn't know what I was really getting into when I read this book, thinking it was going to be too much like [book:A Thousand Boy Kisses|25912358], another great book about love and loss. However, it was very different. Yes, both had similar themes about living moment by moment and making those moments meaningful. Both also point out what it is to REALLY live and what is life but a collection of memories connected by love. But each captured me in different ways.
We start off with Kacey, a rock star who is miserable with life and blurring and numbing her existence with meaningless sex and alcohol. She has a troubled past, feels unloved, unwanted, and unaccepted by her parents, which is the heart of the problem, and does not know what it is to REALLY love. But she craves it, and in many ways, which are destructive, tries to reach for it.
Jonah, on other hand, is dying after a failed heart transplant. He is loved, and he has a lot of unfinished business to do, which makes it so hard for him to accept. He has a rigid routine going with only months left to live in order to finish his life's legacy, a glass sculpture and installation, and tries to stick with keeping everything exactly the same to avoid the panic and anxiety that comes with knowing he'll soon die. I really loved how Jonah describes his experience of dying like a lone man drifting away from shore on a little boat while his loved ones watch on, unable to do anything. It captured so well my own thoughts of death and dying, as well as the anxiety and panic of needing to do something to avoid thinking about the inevitable. His existence is drab, albeit self-induced, but it works for him, and he doesn't need any distractions to take him from the mission.
Until Kacey practically literally crashes into his life. Wild, reckless, spontaneous, and at times impulsive, Kacey is everything Jonah isn't, but turns out to be everything he needs. On a fateful night when she crashes out drunk on his couch, sad, desperate, and on the road to self-destruction, ready to throw her life away while Jonah is clinging to his. Yet, he is full of compassion for her, they talk, and a spark ignites between them that cannot be denied. While Jonah is challenged into splashing as much into his moments, breaking away from his routine by Kacey, Jonah shows Kacey what it is to stand still, savor life, and to be brave to go after what you really want in life.
One thing that resounded in me with this book that [book:A Thousand Boy Kisses|25912358], didn't quite go into, is that any time is good time to accept and give love, to try new things, and to embrace existence in its entirety, whether that life has just begun, or is about to end. Kacey and Jonah knew their time together would be short, that tragedy was on the horizon, but chose love over fear, and healed one another.
This book was so beautiful, I cried to the very end. Considering the subject matter, it was also shockingly hopeful, and makes sit down and reflect on what it is to really live.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death and Chronic illness
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Cursing, Medical content, and Alcoholism
flor3nce17's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
An emotional read. Heartbreaking.
Loved the ending, even though it was painful.
Moderate: Terminal illness and Sexual content
Minor: Medical content and Alcoholism
ariana_m's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
About the second book in this duology, I don't know man...because It's about Theo and her and I don't know how to feel about that. It might be some time before I read that one. But this book, 10/10.
Graphic: Grief, Death, and Medical content
Minor: Sexual harassment
lilyemmaaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Medical content, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Sexual content, Addiction, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual harassment
tragicgloom's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Medical content, Grief, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Abandonment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Vomit, and Drug use
drishthings's review
4.75
idk maybe i was in a mood
still amazing though
Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical content, Alcoholism, and Death
meeklovestoread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I'm not sure if it was because tropes like this have been used so many times. Or the insta love or what I don't know, but I wasn't really feeling the soulmate everlasting love this book was presenting us to believe. I just didn't feel the spark between them. I didn't really feel their emotional connection at all.
I found everything in the book pretty textbook/predictable. Nothing in this book shocked me or was surprising. I highkey don't ever think you need to read it to know what happens. Maybe the characters and their life style just wasn't my type of read. I don't know.
I didn't really care much for the characters and just wanted the book to be over. I just wasn't in it. I'm not sure why.
This may be why I didn't find the ending as emotional as it's portrayed to be. I didn't cry once the entire book including the ending.
Overall it was pretty average to me. I didn't hate it, but I don't really care much for it either. So therefore, I will not be reading the sequel. Plus I feel like I already know what's gonna happen. I bet Kacey and the brother, Theo get together. They were alluding to it the whole book.
Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, and Medical content
Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse
molly_rose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, and Terminal illness
Minor: Abandonment, Medical content, Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, Vomit, Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
gabriella_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical content, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Death, Grief, and Alcohol
readbyrana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical content, and Death