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aribe2002's review against another edition
emotional
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
librerika's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This was so hard to read, and not just because it was about a pandemic that was clearly a stand-in for COVID. The characters, particularly Parisa, are really difficult to root for. I could've been sympathetic about the anxiety, but it pretty quickly became less an issue of her anxiety getting in the way of her acting like a good, caring person, and more an issue of her being self-centered and hypocritical and completely lacking any self-awareness. I'm sure there's an audience for this book, but I can never get into books when I can't root for the main character so this one's not for me.
madisontoled0's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.75
brailey_kerber's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
alinaborger's review against another edition
This is the YA pandemic novel I didn’t know I needed. Authentic voices, and a love story that’s entirely focused on friendship and family. Really beautiful stuff.
meg510's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
edenadelei's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.0
selena74321's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
nataliedc's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
An emotional exploration of loneliness, friendship and the risks we take to live told through the perspectives of two teen best friends who must survive a pandemic apart. With the praise-filled reviews, gorgeous cover and relateable, timely subject matter, I thought I was really going to enjoy this book. However, I quickly found myself despising both the main characters due to their lack of relatability (both because of Parisa's privelige and her and Gabriela's dry-ass proper-punctuation texts like???) as well as their annoying narrations and plots (examples: Parisa has an emotional affair with her sister's boyfriend and makes up stories about her parents to her online therapist and Gabriela thinks her boyfriend wearing his dead mother's sweatshirt is brave because it's a "women's sweatshirt" and that God should use "them/they" pronouns - the latter I agree with, for the record, but am disappointed that no one in the editing process thought to switch up the order of "them" and "they" in that sentence). These all might sound like minor, albeit cringe-y, moments in the story but combined with the two characters' lack of chemistry with one another (rather, it seems like they hate each other, as shown by Gabriela thinking that Parisa shouldn't have anxiety because she's rich and has "nothing to worry about" and Parisa thinking that Gabriela has "beauty privilege"), it all just became a bit much, even for me. Like, I get best friends can fight sometimes but it shouldn't make the reader (me) want them to just friendship break-up by the end of the book. Finally, while I was hooked to the story, I felt that this book was WAY too jam-packed with sub-plots and themes for a book that's about two best friends trying to survive a pandemic. While the ending is satisfying, it left me feeling hollowed out (and not in a good way). Overall, this was certainly an engaging read, but I don't think I'll be picking up this book again.