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cafe_con_cass's review against another edition
4.0
*Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review!*
"The worst part about lying to those you love is that you question if they are worth the truth."
Wow. I mean, seriously. I went into this book with a bit of hesitation. I wasn't really in the mood for it, and I was a tad bitter that chronological preference was going to have me read it before [b:All of This Is True|35068735|All of This Is True|Lygia Day Peñaflor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516900954s/35068735.jpg|56364168]. Then I read the first chapter.
Right off the bat, I knew this was going to be a whirlwind of emotions. The characters had my attention and my heart within a few pages. I suddenly found myself in the middle of one of the most emotionally driven books of the year with no warning.
Not only does this book cover a topic usually left untouched by YA fiction, homeless youth, but it handles others such as dating violence and coming out unconventionally. So much good stuff shoved into this beauty. So. Much.
And the characters. Sweet Lord, the characters. Linden, Seung, and Ham are all precious children that deserve the world. Even some of the less pleasant characters had me rooting for their success.
Honestly, an amazing read with an awesome plot and message with a glorious ragtag band of outcasts that will leave you educated and emotionally sated.
"The worst part about lying to those you love is that you question if they are worth the truth."
Wow. I mean, seriously. I went into this book with a bit of hesitation. I wasn't really in the mood for it, and I was a tad bitter that chronological preference was going to have me read it before [b:All of This Is True|35068735|All of This Is True|Lygia Day Peñaflor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516900954s/35068735.jpg|56364168]. Then I read the first chapter.
Right off the bat, I knew this was going to be a whirlwind of emotions. The characters had my attention and my heart within a few pages. I suddenly found myself in the middle of one of the most emotionally driven books of the year with no warning.
Not only does this book cover a topic usually left untouched by YA fiction, homeless youth, but it handles others such as dating violence and coming out unconventionally. So much good stuff shoved into this beauty. So. Much.
And the characters. Sweet Lord, the characters. Linden, Seung, and Ham are all precious children that deserve the world. Even some of the less pleasant characters had me rooting for their success.
Honestly, an amazing read with an awesome plot and message with a glorious ragtag band of outcasts that will leave you educated and emotionally sated.
ashnreads's review
4.0
Where I Live was an insightful, frank, read-in-one-sitting story that tackled several deep issues without feeling bogged down. There were parts in which the action became a little muddled/hard to follow, but it was still a terrific read.
meesereadsbooks's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this, especially since I don't see a lot of YA books with homeless characters. Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me for a couple of reasons.
I went in with the impression that Linden's relationships with her friends, Seung and Ham, would be where this book shines, but this turned out to be where it fell short. Most of the development of the relationships in the friend group seems to have happened off-camera. We are constantly told how much Linden and her friends love each other, but their actions seem to show the opposite. I simply couldn't believe Linden and Ham were best friends when about half the time, Linden's inner monologue is about how she wishes he would go away so she could be alone with Seung.
It should be noted that I almost never like romances in YA books, so I'm not entirely surprised that Linden and Seung's romance did not appeal to me at all. It baffled me that Seung didn't stand up for Linden when Bea and her friends called her a "trailer trash bitch", and I could barely see why they were friends, let alone a couple.
I think the concept for this book was interesting but I personally didn't love the execution. I can't say much about the representation of homeless teens since I'm far from an expert, but I hope I see more YA books doing what Where I Live tried to do.
I went in with the impression that Linden's relationships with her friends, Seung and Ham, would be where this book shines, but this turned out to be where it fell short. Most of the development of the relationships in the friend group seems to have happened off-camera. We are constantly told how much Linden and her friends love each other, but their actions seem to show the opposite. I simply couldn't believe Linden and Ham were best friends when about half the time, Linden's inner monologue is about how she wishes he would go away so she could be alone with Seung.
It should be noted that I almost never like romances in YA books, so I'm not entirely surprised that Linden and Seung's romance did not appeal to me at all. It baffled me that Seung didn't stand up for Linden when Bea and her friends called her a "trailer trash bitch", and I could barely see why they were friends, let alone a couple.
I think the concept for this book was interesting but I personally didn't love the execution. I can't say much about the representation of homeless teens since I'm far from an expert, but I hope I see more YA books doing what Where I Live tried to do.
c_cullen29's review against another edition
1.0
I found it difficult to motivate myself to pick this book up. I had high expectations of this book really tackling stereotypes and showcasing life for homeless young people. Although, I felt like this wasn’t really a major point in the story and it just jumped between minor student problems. I just didn’t feel anything for the characters and found some of the plot points quite cringey and overdone.
wittymombooklover's review against another edition
4.0
You truly never know what someone else's life is like, what they've been through, and what they've overcome to get to today. This book is an incredible reminder of that. Homelessness is an epidemic in our country and it does not discriminate between adults and children. This book sheds a realistic light on its effect on one child who overcomes those obstacles. People can only see what's going on when they truly look and pay attention.
ayyymonie's review against another edition
3.0
I have mixed opinions about this book. I enjoyed the quirky characters and yet they felt out of place at times. Their dialogue was often weird and the writing itself seemed to be all over the place. I liked that the topics of domestic abuse and teen homelessness were covered and thought that they were both covered well. But the pacing of the story and the writing sort of threw me off.
angelune's review
2.0
i'm not gonna lie to y'all... i read this in january and i don't remember a single thing about this book, besides the homeless thing and the protagonist wanting to bone her best friend. that's huh, not good.
entirelyashley's review against another edition
1.0
DNF at 10%. I loved the synopsis and thought it sounded promising, but the writing was horribly choppy and difficult to follow. I found myself re-reading sentences/paragraphs after being puzzled about what was happening.
darbyjane1's review against another edition
3.0
(spoilers)
This book deals with heavy subjects, and I don't mind that, but you probably won't enjoy this book if you do mind.
For a book dealing with such hard hitting topics, I thought that the writing would be more serious sometimes. I know that she's pretending to live a normal life, and hide her homelessness, but it just didn't make that much sense. I get that she can be happy and enjoy her time with her friends, but I just don't think it'd be that happy. And even when she was happy and joking with her friends, the dialogue came across as cringey and forced to me.
Sometimes I found it hard to route for the main character. I don't understand why I'd want her to win if she's constantly lying and hurting everyone she cares about to protect her image. I know that's also part of Linden's conflict, but it just made me dislike her.
I thought Ham was very obnoxious, and I didn't see any point for his character other than some comic relief, and he was more annoying than comical.
There were also points in the book where the description was just kind of weird. I only remember one specific instance where this happens. Linden's thinking about Seung, her friend and love interest, and how he had a major glow up over the past year. She's looking at him, and he yawns, and she thinks: "Seung's 2.0 is so hot. His breath used to smell like breakfast, but now it just smells like toothpaste." I just thought that was really weird, and redundant. And gross.
I was originally going to give this book 2 stars, but I liked Linden and Seung's romance. And even though some things with the plot of Linden's homelessness didn't really make much sense for me, I felt like the plotline with domestic abuse was handled quite well. I also liked the ending, it was really sweet and cute.
Some parts of this book were just kind of off to me, but I did like the ending, and the heavy topics were handled well, for the most part.
This book deals with heavy subjects, and I don't mind that, but you probably won't enjoy this book if you do mind.
For a book dealing with such hard hitting topics, I thought that the writing would be more serious sometimes. I know that she's pretending to live a normal life, and hide her homelessness, but it just didn't make that much sense. I get that she can be happy and enjoy her time with her friends, but I just don't think it'd be that happy. And even when she was happy and joking with her friends, the dialogue came across as cringey and forced to me.
Sometimes I found it hard to route for the main character. I don't understand why I'd want her to win if she's constantly lying and hurting everyone she cares about to protect her image. I know that's also part of Linden's conflict, but it just made me dislike her.
I thought Ham was very obnoxious, and I didn't see any point for his character other than some comic relief, and he was more annoying than comical.
There were also points in the book where the description was just kind of weird. I only remember one specific instance where this happens. Linden's thinking about Seung, her friend and love interest, and how he had a major glow up over the past year. She's looking at him, and he yawns, and she thinks: "Seung's 2.0 is so hot. His breath used to smell like breakfast, but now it just smells like toothpaste." I just thought that was really weird, and redundant. And gross.
I was originally going to give this book 2 stars, but I liked Linden and Seung's romance. And even though some things with the plot of Linden's homelessness didn't really make much sense for me, I felt like the plotline with domestic abuse was handled quite well. I also liked the ending, it was really sweet and cute.
Some parts of this book were just kind of off to me, but I did like the ending, and the heavy topics were handled well, for the most part.