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tyghe_bright's review
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
From the outset, I knew I'd love this book, even if the story was imperfect. The *writing*. The prose in this little book is STUNNING. It's made me catch my breath several times. The writing is impressionistic, which I *love*, but may not be for folks who prefer narrative plot-driven novels.1
The prose remains strong throughout, though not quite as strong when she's focused on plot. And the plot often suffers from "that's not how it works" with unrealistic portrayals of life in a hospital. Something the author knows about, because she's struggled with autoimmune disease. I also really felt the author's youth. It feels a little immature at times.
There's a "twist" about the narrator which is handled a little clumsily. It's hinted at heavily, and then explained explicitly, where it would have been better left more open.
Some reviews say it needed to be more accurate and realistic... but I disagree. If I were her editor, I would have encouraged her to go MORE abstract and fantastical. Her work shines most when she focuses on emotion and sensation.
Overall, it's a beautiful, if slightly imperfect, book with lovely, tender, tragic relationships. I still recommend it and will look for more by Lancali.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Chronic illness, Grief, Medical content, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Ableism, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Body shaming, Self harm, and Religious bigotry
theboxoffice's review
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Oh my GOSH!! Did I LOVE this book, it was so heartbreaking and emotional and I can't help but think how much worse it could have been if Neo and C or two or more of them had Cystic Fibrosis. The ending though?? Wow
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Suicide
Moderate: Self harm, Eating disorder, and Death of parent
zuzu_k's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
sneha_sharma's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
It took me some time to grasp the story and build interest. The plot is slow in the beginning, speeds up a bit and maintains the same pace throughout, until the end. Also the dialogues are too poetic, and sort of hinder the flow of reading.
A major thing that should be mentioned somewhere in the beginning or on the back of the book is trigger warnings.
A major thing that should be mentioned somewhere in the beginning or on the back of the book is trigger warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Rape
kikiwest's review
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
1.0
I DNFed this book about a quarter of the way through. I have DNFed maybe 5 books in my life, so it’s very rare. I’m learning to let it happen more often, instead of suffering through bad books. Before I get into my very, very long winded review, I want to give a disclaimer - I have nothing against the author, I understand she has been through rough situations in life that inspired this book. That being said, I think this book was published far too early, and should have been edited, revised, and then maybe left to marinate for a little while before being released into the world.
The Writing:
There were multiple reasons I quit this book. The writing style itself was number one. This book was trying soooo hard to be whimsy and lyrical and poetic and wallflowery that it was painful to read. Some authors can pull that off, but this felt like I was reading a 14 year old writing Pride and Prejudice fan fiction. The way the characters spoke was so unbelievable. They’re sick teenagers living in current times - I’ve not met a single person in my 29 years of life who speaks like that, and I’ve met some insane and imaginative and theatrical people. The rest of the writing that was not dialogue was hard to follow and had very poor grammar. I’ve always been someone who can forgive fragmented sentences and run ons for the sake of style - so long as it’s still readable. This was not. Some ideas were so incredibly forced - I lost track of how many times Hikari was yellow, yellow, yellow, yellow hair, yellow eyes, the sun personified. There is such a thing as too much, and everything in this book was too much.
The Plot:
The beginning felt very much like a Fault in our Stars knock off. ‘Let’s get cigarettes and booze as a metaphor for telling death to f*** off!’ - except it wasn’t done very well. If you’re gonna rip off an idea or plot point from someone, you have to at least do it better to justify the rip off. I didn’t make it far enough in the book to really tear into the plot, but I did read several reviews that made it very clear to me that I will not be reading any further. Spoilers below.
————
Sam… isn’t real? I hate it, but I understand the appeal for some. What I DON’T understand is how Sam can’t interfere with anyone in order to help them - but she can interfere in harmful ways? Did she not help Hikari steal the items she used to harm herself in the beginning? This doesn’t make any sense, and was the nail in the coffin for me.
Harmful Characterizations:
There are multiple other reviews that discuss this, so I’ll try not to beat a dead horse. Instead I’ll talk about why I assume the author thought she was immune from this kind of criticism, and why that doesn’t work.
Many have said the characterization of Neo’s ED was glamorized or portrayed in a harmful way. Sam doesn’t tell anyone, and if we’re saying she can’t because she’s not real, then neither do any of the REAL characters, which is not right. The same exact thing can be said for Hikari’s self harm. Her friends absolutely should have spoken up and gotten her help, and yet they did not.
I think the author thought she could get away with this because she herself has either suffered from chronic illness or loved someone who has suffered and maybe died from chronic illness. The fact that she’s lived through the life she writes about probably leads her to believe she can write whatever she wants, no matter how dark, because she’s experienced it. I think this is not at all the case, and I’ll wrap up my review with why.
If young people read this (which I feel is the target audience, being written by a young author, with teenage characters, and marketed mostly through TikTok) they might see these ‘friends’ keep Neo’s ED and Hikari’s SH a secret and not tell any adults, which they might emulate in their own lives if they don’t know any better. While I don’t think it’s responsible for every book to be educational, nor do I expect authors to avoid darker topics for fear of having young impressionable readers, we all know how many, many young people glamorized 13 Reasons Why and To The Bone - if you’re writing to a young audience and you have these topics, I do think you should be very careful how you portray these elements.
I had high hopes, and yet BookTok strikes again. When will I learn my lesson?
The Writing:
There were multiple reasons I quit this book. The writing style itself was number one. This book was trying soooo hard to be whimsy and lyrical and poetic and wallflowery that it was painful to read. Some authors can pull that off, but this felt like I was reading a 14 year old writing Pride and Prejudice fan fiction. The way the characters spoke was so unbelievable. They’re sick teenagers living in current times - I’ve not met a single person in my 29 years of life who speaks like that, and I’ve met some insane and imaginative and theatrical people. The rest of the writing that was not dialogue was hard to follow and had very poor grammar. I’ve always been someone who can forgive fragmented sentences and run ons for the sake of style - so long as it’s still readable. This was not. Some ideas were so incredibly forced - I lost track of how many times Hikari was yellow, yellow, yellow, yellow hair, yellow eyes, the sun personified. There is such a thing as too much, and everything in this book was too much.
The Plot:
The beginning felt very much like a Fault in our Stars knock off. ‘Let’s get cigarettes and booze as a metaphor for telling death to f*** off!’ - except it wasn’t done very well. If you’re gonna rip off an idea or plot point from someone, you have to at least do it better to justify the rip off. I didn’t make it far enough in the book to really tear into the plot, but I did read several reviews that made it very clear to me that I will not be reading any further. Spoilers below.
————
Sam… isn’t real? I hate it, but I understand the appeal for some. What I DON’T understand is how Sam can’t interfere with anyone in order to help them - but she can interfere in harmful ways? Did she not help Hikari steal the items she used to harm herself in the beginning? This doesn’t make any sense, and was the nail in the coffin for me.
Harmful Characterizations:
There are multiple other reviews that discuss this, so I’ll try not to beat a dead horse. Instead I’ll talk about why I assume the author thought she was immune from this kind of criticism, and why that doesn’t work.
Many have said the characterization of Neo’s ED was glamorized or portrayed in a harmful way. Sam doesn’t tell anyone, and if we’re saying she can’t because she’s not real, then neither do any of the REAL characters, which is not right. The same exact thing can be said for Hikari’s self harm. Her friends absolutely should have spoken up and gotten her help, and yet they did not.
I think the author thought she could get away with this because she herself has either suffered from chronic illness or loved someone who has suffered and maybe died from chronic illness. The fact that she’s lived through the life she writes about probably leads her to believe she can write whatever she wants, no matter how dark, because she’s experienced it. I think this is not at all the case, and I’ll wrap up my review with why.
If young people read this (which I feel is the target audience, being written by a young author, with teenage characters, and marketed mostly through TikTok) they might see these ‘friends’ keep Neo’s ED and Hikari’s SH a secret and not tell any adults, which they might emulate in their own lives if they don’t know any better. While I don’t think it’s responsible for every book to be educational, nor do I expect authors to avoid darker topics for fear of having young impressionable readers, we all know how many, many young people glamorized 13 Reasons Why and To The Bone - if you’re writing to a young audience and you have these topics, I do think you should be very careful how you portray these elements.
I had high hopes, and yet BookTok strikes again. When will I learn my lesson?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder, Self harm, and Death
soyabeanos's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is my absolute FAVOURITE book hands down. There is no contest, I've reread this book at least 5 times and it would've been more had I not lent both of my copies out LOL. I cannot express how much I adore this book with a passion
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness
kmarr's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Heartbreaking story about love and growth and death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Grief, Medical content, Eating disorder, Bullying, Terminal illness, Suicide, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Child death
shaleen64's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I struggled to engage with the first half of the book as I found Sam the narrator’s character confusing. However, the second half of the book is inspiring and heartbreaking in equal measure and the ending does not leave any room for confusion. This book makes you reflect on what you have to be grateful for.
For those will a chronic or terminal illness it validates how hard it can be and for those without it gives you a glimpse of what our lives are like.
For those will a chronic or terminal illness it validates how hard it can be and for those without it gives you a glimpse of what our lives are like.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Death, Eating disorder, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Blood and Homophobia
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Vomit
thebombshellbooksta's review
sad
tense
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, and Eating disorder
oakairi's review
I really wanted to like this book, but it just wasn't for me.
My main issue with the book is how over the top it is when it comes to the language; it's too poetic and flowery and comes off as though it's trying too hard to be quotable. For this reason, I did find the story to be emotional, but a lot of it felt forced with how it was written.
My main issue with the book is how over the top it is when it comes to the language; it's too poetic and flowery and comes off as though it's trying too hard to be quotable. For this reason, I did find the story to be emotional, but a lot of it felt forced with how it was written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Rape, and Suicide
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Medical content