Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
i loved all the 80s/90s references, brought me back to my high school and college days. However, could have cut out about 100 pages, Erena got to be a little bit too much for me at times.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
At some point as a young writer, you are typically told to not over use parathesis or italics, and to choose your words more carefully to guide the reader to the point you're trying to make.
This book is an example on why. Also - the author couldnt write a story compelling enough to have anything other than a "choose your adventure" ending.
in addition to other problems:
This book is an example on why. Also - the author couldnt write a story compelling enough to have anything other than a "choose your adventure" ending.
- Its written like a bad 2000s coming of age rom com
- Some characters have zero individual personality - you can make long list of adjective that's describe both Gina and Erena
- Absolutely nothing deep about any single character is reviewed or discussed in depth, leaving Young's outburst late in the book as extremely confusing
DNF at 18%
I wanted to like this. I waited a fairly long time for it at the library, so it was disappointing. I was game for all the promised 90s nostalgia. Some parts of that were pretty cool, but they couldn’t make up for the rest of it. I was just very bored and couldn’t get into it at all. I also found the dialogue and relationship for the MC and his love interest to be both juvenile and fairly annoying. It read like a YA book. The jumping in timelines all over the place was confusing and distracting. There are likely people who will love this, but it was not for me.
I wanted to like this. I waited a fairly long time for it at the library, so it was disappointing. I was game for all the promised 90s nostalgia. Some parts of that were pretty cool, but they couldn’t make up for the rest of it. I was just very bored and couldn’t get into it at all. I also found the dialogue and relationship for the MC and his love interest to be both juvenile and fairly annoying. It read like a YA book. The jumping in timelines all over the place was confusing and distracting. There are likely people who will love this, but it was not for me.
slow-paced
This is such a deeply quirky book that I think it’s the first thing I have to mention. Capital D, Deeply Quirky. There were parts of it I enjoyed, from some of the repetitions reflecting Young’s fixations with the same, the way we follow Young growing up. I liked when we moved through loves 1-3 to understand the way Young grew up in NYC and his family dynamics, but this also felt quite self inserty in a way that just felt too obvious. Every woman in Young’s life seems to fall for him wholeheartedly and does their part in seducing this wholesome young boy. Wendy feels at least somewhat believable, and even Gina to some extent where they have a weird conversation because of prom and then messily want to start something. But Erena is such a big part of this book and all of her dialogue is so deeply a fantasy of this fun, somewhat nerdy, hot girl who likes the same things that Young does where it counts. It’s just so blatant and hard to read at many points. And the parts with Erena drag because so much of this book is her and Young dating with no issues. It genuinely feels like a jumpscare at the end when the book says they’ve only been dating 6 months, and I get the way college relationships get so intense, but my god. The few conflicts in their relationship are so dumb and always paint Young in the most saintly, perfect boyfriend light that just can’t help that other women are just soo into him. I was really debating giving this a 2.75 stars but ultimately I enjoyed the ending, because I do think they needed to break up and find themselves. And I love the concept of the multiple futures that could play out (even if the futures with Gina and with Erena are almost disgustingly corny), especially the final future that rings the most true for a kid who is doing his best to find himself.