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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-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:
Complicated
1 star because Goodreads won't let me do 0.
And 1/2 a star each for Andy & Anita.
That's it.
And 1/2 a star each for Andy & Anita.
That's it.
This book definitely wasn't perfect, but I really enjoyed the messages that it conveyed. Sometimes the writing was a bit over the top (hard to explain, but you'll understand if you read it) in that the author tried too hard to describe things in an obscure manner. I'm sure some people will enjoy that, but I found it kind of tedious. It is Tommy Wallach's first novel though, so maybe this will improve in his later works.
"We All Looked Up" tried hard to be impactful and emotional, and I think that for the most part, it succeeded. At least with me. It really made me think about what I would do if something like this was to actually occur, and how different things would be. How relationships would change, and how people as a whole would react if they knew just how limited their time was. I'm finding it hard to put all of my thoughts into words, but basically I just really liked how everything wrapped up. I for one, did not mind the ending. I don't think the point of this story was meant to be what exactly happened in terms of Ardor.
"We All Looked Up" tried hard to be impactful and emotional, and I think that for the most part, it succeeded. At least with me. It really made me think about what I would do if something like this was to actually occur, and how different things would be. How relationships would change, and how people as a whole would react if they knew just how limited their time was. I'm finding it hard to put all of my thoughts into words, but basically I just really liked how everything wrapped up. I for one, did not mind the ending. I don't think the point of this story was meant to be what exactly happened in terms of Ardor.
I liked this better than I thought I would, but then I am a sucker for a Vonnegut reference.
I really loved this book, but I also understood a lot of reviewers grief with this book, particularly the fact that Wallace doesn't fully understand how women work. Aside from that I quite enjoyed its nod to The Breakfast Club, quickly labeling these four high schoolers whose labels weren't really them at all, at least not totally. I think I'm reading this at the right time in my life however. If I would have read this in high school it might have changed who I was because of the idea of "what really matters?" and "what do I want to do with my life when death is inevitable?" As a 20 something, I can see past the high school love triangle and cringey moments and just relate to these characters as if they were my friends and this was happening to me today. I can have that serious question of "who am I and who do I want to be years from now?" because I'm at a cross roads, not yet married, no children, not even a full fledged career yet. I have everything in front of me to decide and I'm not going to take baby steps for granted, because the end of the world really could happen weeks from now, I won't know til it happens! I don't know that I'd reread this book, but I'd definitely recommend it to a few of my friends because of it's subject matter.
What would you do when you know there is a 2/3 chance that the world will end in 6 weeks?
The book is looking for the answer. It is told from the perspective of 4 very different teenagers with different approaches on life and different philosophies, who try to make the best out of their numbered days.
The topic is probably very common, although mostly found in books about cancer. In the novel, we had not only "how to make my life count" but "does it really count" and "what makes my life count", and again, the different understandings were super interesting.
In contrast to Your Typical Cancer Novel, the novel also told how the world in general was reacting, how different groups of society were reacting to the news and how they interpreted the freedom that comes with the seemingly inevitable death.
In the bubble, the main characters were described by labels.
Since I recently watched The Breakfeast Club, I couldn't hinder myself thinking about the message of the film - labels are only superficial, the real you is made of many labels - in comparison to the book. And I think the characters, who probably couldn't be more different, got to see beyond the labels and realise that labels, although to us millenials superior to anything else, aren't that important and there is so much more to a person.
This is one of the messages the book sends very clearly, the others - everything is unimportant and everything counts - are rather ambivalent due to the character's different philosophies.
Still, I think it was very clever by Tommy Wallach to tell the story from different angles, because probably every single reader found someone to identify with. Right in the beginning, a teacher says that it's not the books that talk about something we didn't already know count, but the books that talk about what you thought only you thought about, that give you the feeling that you are not alone.
And I think with the different perspectives he did not only show great creative skills but gave every reader at least a bit the feeling that they are not alone.
The book is looking for the answer. It is told from the perspective of 4 very different teenagers with different approaches on life and different philosophies, who try to make the best out of their numbered days.
The topic is probably very common, although mostly found in books about cancer. In the novel, we had not only "how to make my life count" but "does it really count" and "what makes my life count", and again, the different understandings were super interesting.
In contrast to Your Typical Cancer Novel, the novel also told how the world in general was reacting, how different groups of society were reacting to the news and how they interpreted the freedom that comes with the seemingly inevitable death.
In the bubble, the main characters were described by labels.
Since I recently watched The Breakfeast Club, I couldn't hinder myself thinking about the message of the film - labels are only superficial, the real you is made of many labels - in comparison to the book. And I think the characters, who probably couldn't be more different, got to see beyond the labels and realise that labels, although to us millenials superior to anything else, aren't that important and there is so much more to a person.
This is one of the messages the book sends very clearly, the others - everything is unimportant and everything counts - are rather ambivalent due to the character's different philosophies.
Still, I think it was very clever by Tommy Wallach to tell the story from different angles, because probably every single reader found someone to identify with. Right in the beginning, a teacher says that it's not the books that talk about something we didn't already know count, but the books that talk about what you thought only you thought about, that give you the feeling that you are not alone.
And I think with the different perspectives he did not only show great creative skills but gave every reader at least a bit the feeling that they are not alone.
This was a really good read.
I'm not sure why my local library had it in the Science Fiction section, because the only thing Science fictiony about it was the planet killer asteroid bearing down on the planet.
Really, I found it to be a piece of literature about what would happen to us, as humans, when faced with the extinction of our species.
For some, the potential for annihilation would bring out the best in us. For others, it would bring out the worst.
The story was believable, and the characters were well fleshed out. By the end, I really cared about what would happen to them.
The language could have been cleaner, with not so many F-Bombs, but that's just my preference.
I'm not sure why my local library had it in the Science Fiction section, because the only thing Science fictiony about it was the planet killer asteroid bearing down on the planet.
Really, I found it to be a piece of literature about what would happen to us, as humans, when faced with the extinction of our species.
For some, the potential for annihilation would bring out the best in us. For others, it would bring out the worst.
The story was believable, and the characters were well fleshed out. By the end, I really cared about what would happen to them.
The language could have been cleaner, with not so many F-Bombs, but that's just my preference.
... He said this amazing moment was going to come, when they all looked up from their tiny lives at once, to see if that big fireball in the sky is going to crush them. And maybe when they watched it pass them over, maybe when they felt that mercy, it would be just enough to convince them to change. Maybe ...
So this book combined contemporary with one of my favorite genre: dystopian/apocalyptic.
I get quite bored at some of the chapters... or rather a few character POVs in the chapter. And mostly this is about love... I don't know what to feel about the "love-square" between each characters.
Real winning was having the most to lose, even if it meant you might lose it all. Even though you would lose it all sooner or later.
As for the ending it is like [a: Patrick Ness|370361|Patrick Ness|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1244216486p2/370361.jpg]'s [b: More Than This|21969786|More Than This|Patrick Ness|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1398164413s/21969786.jpg|22008332]
Spoiler
you didn't know what happened next. And Peter's death kinda suprised me because the character build-up between him and Eliza is starting to be good... but still his character build-up is still great to the end, so is the other three main characters and Misery.
So much language especially for teenagers.
I kept listening
a) because it was for book club and
b) to see if the author could stick the landing.
The answer is: the author could not stick the landing. The last 1/3 was painful.
I kept listening
a) because it was for book club and
b) to see if the author could stick the landing.
The answer is: the author could not stick the landing. The last 1/3 was painful.