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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
Interesting premise, muddled execution.
We All Looked Up centers around a group of high school kids (mostly seniors) who try to find the meaning of their lives in the months before a meteor is set to collide with Earth. Intriguing enough, no? The novel has everything going for it in the beginning. We have several different stereotypical characters who lives begin to intersect in unexpected ways in the face of impending doom. As the novel progresses, we see each of these characters tear down their own stereotypes and reveal themselves to be well rounded characters. They also begin to deal with important questions regarding life, death, faith, love and everything in between.
Now onto the parts which bogged down the good.
As far as plot goes, this one started strong enough. Each character realizes that most of the things they find important in their life don't matter in the long run, especially when a meteor is coming to kill you in a matter of weeks. However, what started as a mixture between large pre-apocalyptic chaos and average high school drama soon turned into a plot mostly overrun by the latter. This was detrimental, as wasn't the point of the novel to show how we, as a society, classify trivial things as important. So, why would the author choose to make the plot revolve around such trivialities? Maybe this was to show that even in the face of death, a majority of the time we still have messed up priorities. I respect that statement, most of the time it is true, but adding SO much of this into the plot definitely weighted it down. Perhaps there could have been a better way to show this, but such was not to be found in this story.
Also, just as a side note: some of the dialogue was uncharacteristic of teens today. Many, if not most, of my friends don't know older musical references such as Bob Dylan and don't go around singing his (or other artists of that era's) song lyrics. And I also don't know anyone who says "yo" as many times as some of these characters did. But I guess there are worse things I could be upset about.
We All Looked Up centers around a group of high school kids (mostly seniors) who try to find the meaning of their lives in the months before a meteor is set to collide with Earth. Intriguing enough, no? The novel has everything going for it in the beginning. We have several different stereotypical characters who lives begin to intersect in unexpected ways in the face of impending doom. As the novel progresses, we see each of these characters tear down their own stereotypes and reveal themselves to be well rounded characters. They also begin to deal with important questions regarding life, death, faith, love and everything in between.
Now onto the parts which bogged down the good.
As far as plot goes, this one started strong enough. Each character realizes that most of the things they find important in their life don't matter in the long run, especially when a meteor is coming to kill you in a matter of weeks. However, what started as a mixture between large pre-apocalyptic chaos and average high school drama soon turned into a plot mostly overrun by the latter. This was detrimental, as wasn't the point of the novel to show how we, as a society, classify trivial things as important. So, why would the author choose to make the plot revolve around such trivialities? Maybe this was to show that even in the face of death, a majority of the time we still have messed up priorities. I respect that statement, most of the time it is true, but adding SO much of this into the plot definitely weighted it down. Perhaps there could have been a better way to show this, but such was not to be found in this story.
Also, just as a side note: some of the dialogue was uncharacteristic of teens today. Many, if not most, of my friends don't know older musical references such as Bob Dylan and don't go around singing his (or other artists of that era's) song lyrics. And I also don't know anyone who says "yo" as many times as some of these characters did. But I guess there are worse things I could be upset about.
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
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
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I picked this book up because of the premise and the title. A contemplative YA perspective of teens trying to cope with the end of the world is a super appealing concept, however it largely fell flat.
There were a few moments I thought were well written and impactful but for the most part I just kept thinking ‘this could be better.’
If only it was better, then this book would’ve been worthy of a higher rating. Alas, the writing style, character development and plot progression make We All Looked Up a satisfactory novel but nothing greater. 3/5 stars.
There were a few moments I thought were well written and impactful but for the most part I just kept thinking ‘this could be better.’
If only it was better, then this book would’ve been worthy of a higher rating. Alas, the writing style, character development and plot progression make We All Looked Up a satisfactory novel but nothing greater. 3/5 stars.
It was a good book even though it had foul language all the way through. And the language was surprisingly accurate of a teenage protagonist...
emotional
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