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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
Even though you kind of know who didn't commit the crime, it was still really suspenseful. And I loved reading Daria's point of view, which was written in free verse.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Okay, I'm starting to see how this author writes with this second book lol. She takes the stories of the unfortunate or misunderstood and tries to make them understood. If I were in high school still, I would have loved these.
Alex is a high school student who is also HIV positive. The students at his school are all freaked by this, which makes the book seem really dated. They're scared to sit next to him even. This book was published in 2006, so I don't know if the author was just really dating it or what? Anyway, Alex gets attacked one morning by an unknown person (and I can't remember how it ended, how sad is that!?) but Daria, a girl with Down Syndrome, says she saw the attacker and it was Clinton, the main bully at the school. This was a good, quick little read but like I said, feels very out-dated.
Blogged: SeeJennRead
Alex is a high school student who is also HIV positive. The students at his school are all freaked by this, which makes the book seem really dated. They're scared to sit next to him even. This book was published in 2006, so I don't know if the author was just really dating it or what? Anyway, Alex gets attacked one morning by an unknown person (and I can't remember how it ended, how sad is that!?) but Daria, a girl with Down Syndrome, says she saw the attacker and it was Clinton, the main bully at the school. This was a good, quick little read but like I said, feels very out-dated.
Blogged: SeeJennRead
A little dated by now but that doesn’t make it bad. Mostly, the resolution isn’t good enough. Not that it isn’t good for the characters, it’s just that it’s treated by the narrative like it’s no big deal when it kind of is.
Lotta slurs, be forewarned. Not in a “no one should ever use slurs in fiction,” but in a “be warned, if you don’t want to read them, this isn’t a book you want to reads way.
Lotta slurs, be forewarned. Not in a “no one should ever use slurs in fiction,” but in a “be warned, if you don’t want to read them, this isn’t a book you want to reads way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Homophobia, Medical trauma
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Racism
When I hauled this book I said it was about a gay HIV+ guy who gets his window bashed in by a
dickhead with a bat. I was wrong lol The guy is straight and HIV+, now this didn't hurt the book for me, it was interesting to read and The characters were realistic and deep. But the mystery part of this story was a letdown. The main story line of this book is finding out who performed the hate crime but when the culprit is caught, it's just like it's no big deal... that was the main part of the story and it was like a shitty sugar-free glaze on a yummy looking doughnut that was unappetizing and just blah. I love Alex Flinn's writing though, she knows how to hook people and make her characters come to life.
-R.D.
dickhead with a bat. I was wrong lol The guy is straight and HIV+, now this didn't hurt the book for me, it was interesting to read and The characters were realistic and deep. But the mystery part of this story was a letdown. The main story line of this book is finding out who performed the hate crime but when the culprit is caught, it's just like it's no big deal... that was the main part of the story and it was like a shitty sugar-free glaze on a yummy looking doughnut that was unappetizing and just blah. I love Alex Flinn's writing though, she knows how to hook people and make her characters come to life.
-R.D.
Three points of view: Alex, an HIV-positive boy who is attacked by an unknown assailant while he's in his car and is hospitalized; Clinton, a prejudiced bully who's previously tormented Alex; and Daria, a girl with Down syndrome who witnesses the attack. It's all about the point of view, because Daria says Clinton did it but Clinton says he didn't. Who is right? Very discussable book.
This was a really good, short, book about a boy with HIV and the problems he faces after switching schools, and the other students knowing about his diagnosis.
I give this book more of a 3.5 stars.
I give this book more of a 3.5 stars.