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at the time (grade 6), this book was my favourite and i absolutely loved it. it’s not a five star for me *now* but it was when i read it, that’s why it’s marked as five stars. but it is still a phenomenal book.
fast-paced
THIS book! This is the children's book I've been waiting for! OUTSTANDING! It was so so good with well developed characters and a storyline that left me wanting more. I love Ethan and Kacey and coralee and Grandpa Ike. I hope this is up for a Newbery!
I'm conflicted.
Ethan worked extremely well as a narrator. His flashbacks/memories of Kacey were genuinely poignant; this one was hard to read at times because I shared his guilt and frustration and that constantly looming sense of "but MAYBE if I just go over that scene in my mind again, I can say something different, and none of this will ever happen...."
The grief and anger are handled very well. The fraught family relationships feel real and multidimensional. And yet......something was missing.
The pairing of the grief/loss story with his new friendship didn't quite work for me. By the end I was supposed to have Coralee and Kacey on the same level in my mind, but instead, while I liked Coralee, I felt that the book ended with her and Ethan finally Actually Becoming Friends For Real. Which is a fine way to end, but felt tonally weird because the book tried to convince me that they were now BFFs, but I just hadn't seen that kind of stability yet. The brief memories of Kacey were much more convincing.
I loved the depth and nuance throughout most of the book, but it wrapped up too neatly for my tastes, especially Ethan's grief. I found the last few resolutions unrealistic and overly, well, resolved. Grief isn't a thing you just Get Over.
Ethan worked extremely well as a narrator. His flashbacks/memories of Kacey were genuinely poignant; this one was hard to read at times because I shared his guilt and frustration and that constantly looming sense of "but MAYBE if I just go over that scene in my mind again, I can say something different, and none of this will ever happen...."
The grief and anger are handled very well. The fraught family relationships feel real and multidimensional. And yet......something was missing.
The pairing of the grief/loss story with his new friendship didn't quite work for me. By the end I was supposed to have Coralee and Kacey on the same level in my mind, but instead, while I liked Coralee, I felt that the book ended with her and Ethan finally Actually Becoming Friends For Real. Which is a fine way to end, but felt tonally weird because the book tried to convince me that they were now BFFs, but I just hadn't seen that kind of stability yet. The brief memories of Kacey were much more convincing.
I loved the depth and nuance throughout most of the book, but it wrapped up too neatly for my tastes, especially Ethan's grief. I found the last few resolutions unrealistic and overly, well, resolved. Grief isn't a thing you just Get Over.
Cried for the last 50 pages or so. Top five of 2019 for sure.
I'm conflicted about this one.
The voice--both character and author--got my attention immediately, and my care for Ethan pulled me through until the end. I was interested in what was happening and found it compelling to read.
I've wondered a little if the fact that it has a similar plot device to a book I read and really liked last year made the device in this book a little bit of a harder sell. Even thinking about them side by side, though, it didn't feel like this book earned it as much as the other one did (I'm being quite vague because Spoilers). I don't know. Something about it was unsatisfying.
This book also had a really strange tone shift part way through that I don't think really WAS supposed to be a tone shift--and yet parts of that plot thread remained in play for dozens of pages, confusing the tone and genre and point of the story, I think.
I also really liked a lot of what it was trying to do, but something about it just fell a shade onto the side of too tidy. Too exact. A little too on point and on the nose, not even really in message, but something in the plotting and characters, which lost some emotion and meaning in the process. At the same time, I found parts of Coralee's story resolved in really unsatisfying ways. It's weird to have a book that seemed both too well put together and still not quite all /there/.
It's hard because there were many elements I really wanted to like. The subplot with his brother was probably my favourite aspect all around.
I will be interested to read more work from this author, but ultimately this was a miss for me.
The voice--both character and author--got my attention immediately, and my care for Ethan pulled me through until the end. I was interested in what was happening and found it compelling to read.
I've wondered a little if the fact that it has a similar plot device to a book I read and really liked last year made the device in this book a little bit of a harder sell. Even thinking about them side by side, though, it didn't feel like this book earned it as much as the other one did (I'm being quite vague because Spoilers). I don't know. Something about it was unsatisfying.
This book also had a really strange tone shift part way through that I don't think really WAS supposed to be a tone shift--and yet parts of that plot thread remained in play for dozens of pages, confusing the tone and genre and point of the story, I think.
I also really liked a lot of what it was trying to do, but something about it just fell a shade onto the side of too tidy. Too exact. A little too on point and on the nose, not even really in message, but something in the plotting and characters, which lost some emotion and meaning in the process. At the same time, I found parts of Coralee's story resolved in really unsatisfying ways. It's weird to have a book that seemed both too well put together and still not quite all /there/.
It's hard because there were many elements I really wanted to like. The subplot with his brother was probably my favourite aspect all around.
I will be interested to read more work from this author, but ultimately this was a miss for me.
It's not often I find a book that I can't put down. The Ethan I Was Before is one of the select few. And I mean, I could not let go of that book. I finished it in a few hours. Wonderfully told story of friendship.
Ethan's family had hoped that a move to Georgia would give him a fresh start. But he honestly didn't know if anything could help him escape the pain and guilt he was enduring. Then when Coralee came into his life it felt like maybe he could find a little piece of the Ethan he was before.
While this book was filled with tragedy, it didn't fall prey to the "sad just for the sake of being sad" trap that many middle grade books have fallen into recently. There is mystery, intrigue and hope among the angst in Ethan's life. This book deals with real life issues in a heartfelt manner without falling into the morose.
While this book was filled with tragedy, it didn't fall prey to the "sad just for the sake of being sad" trap that many middle grade books have fallen into recently. There is mystery, intrigue and hope among the angst in Ethan's life. This book deals with real life issues in a heartfelt manner without falling into the morose.
Absolutely fantastic, couldn't-put-it-down, 5 star story
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced