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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
A quick read. I definitely valued the aftermath of "the incident" (no spoilers) because I think we don't think much about that. I really am a little on edge with Bree's mother though. I do like that this book deals with how teens don't really understand how posting things on social media will affect them in the long run.
Trigger warnings: bullying/cyberbullying, suicide attempt, mental illness, depression, death threats, shaming of someone with mental illness, self-harm, fat-shaming, fatphobia, hint of homophobia
2 ⭐️
There's a lot to unroll in there, for such a tiny book. If you ever want to lose faith in humanity, this one will do nicely. Lake Hills is an awful town with shitty people who do and say disgusting thing behind each other's back.
It's an important book, but it's definitely not the best one about teen depression/suicide and cyberbullying. In fact, it's just slightly higher than 13 Reasons Why on my list of "YA books that talk about depression an teen suicide", which is not a good spot.
Was the cyberbullying spot on? Yes. Did the book give the impression to be in teenagers head? A bit too much. Does it give good depression/suicide rep and gives the reader the impression of knowing how Lara would have felt? NOPE.
Let me say it upfront, the depression rep is lacking. Lara didn't just decide to kill herself over text messages one day. It's the amount of bullying over the years and her depression that led her to do it. Everyone who is bullied will not try to kill themselves. I know, because I was a victim. I know exactly how it feels to be bullied for years and try to change and feel useless and all. But despite being disgusting and wrong and needing to be taken care of when it happens, bullying is not the only factor that will lead a teen (or a person in general) to suicide. And I'm not trying to take away from the cyberbullying theme of the book. But I feel the depression rep was cruelly underdone and it's not helping anyone.
When I finished this book, I had the feeling that there was so much left unresolved, despite the way the author ended it. There is no talk of Lara's medication other than her meeting a psychiatrist and figuring she's going to be okay. The fat-shaming/fatphobia is completely left on the page, "resolved" by Lara's mother having her exercise and eat better, never to be talked about again except to be used as a bullying weapon. Bree's mother stays a horrible person and never faces any consequences for her actions, apart from losing her job. The self-harm is never talked about except for a single page of father-daughter bonding (as if that would solve anything). The school doesn't do ANYTHING about the case once it comes to light, there's not even talk of an assembly about cyberbullying! It's like the author thought the characters getting over it would solve everything.
It made for a disappointing read and I hope no one who was ever bullied this badly, or ever attempted suicide because of bullying, reads it.
2 ⭐️
There's a lot to unroll in there, for such a tiny book. If you ever want to lose faith in humanity, this one will do nicely. Lake Hills is an awful town with shitty people who do and say disgusting thing behind each other's back.
It's an important book, but it's definitely not the best one about teen depression/suicide and cyberbullying. In fact, it's just slightly higher than 13 Reasons Why on my list of "YA books that talk about depression an teen suicide", which is not a good spot.
Was the cyberbullying spot on? Yes. Did the book give the impression to be in teenagers head? A bit too much. Does it give good depression/suicide rep and gives the reader the impression of knowing how Lara would have felt? NOPE.
Let me say it upfront, the depression rep is lacking. Lara didn't just decide to kill herself over text messages one day. It's the amount of bullying over the years and her depression that led her to do it. Everyone who is bullied will not try to kill themselves. I know, because I was a victim. I know exactly how it feels to be bullied for years and try to change and feel useless and all. But despite being disgusting and wrong and needing to be taken care of when it happens, bullying is not the only factor that will lead a teen (or a person in general) to suicide. And I'm not trying to take away from the cyberbullying theme of the book. But I feel the depression rep was cruelly underdone and it's not helping anyone.
When I finished this book, I had the feeling that there was so much left unresolved, despite the way the author ended it. There is no talk of Lara's medication other than her meeting a psychiatrist and figuring she's going to be okay. The fat-shaming/fatphobia is completely left on the page, "resolved" by Lara's mother having her exercise and eat better, never to be talked about again except to be used as a bullying weapon. Bree's mother stays a horrible person and never faces any consequences for her actions, apart from losing her job. The self-harm is never talked about except for a single page of father-daughter bonding (as if that would solve anything). The school doesn't do ANYTHING about the case once it comes to light, there's not even talk of an assembly about cyberbullying! It's like the author thought the characters getting over it would solve everything.
It made for a disappointing read and I hope no one who was ever bullied this badly, or ever attempted suicide because of bullying, reads it.
Although this book highlights an important issue, it touched the very surface of it without getting into the deep of the actual universal problem that is cyberbullying. I liked that the story showed both point of views of the bully and the bullied, but what was unnecessary is seeing it from the point of view of their siblings . I do understand that it was to show how these situations affect the people around the ones involved in the actual situation, but here it did not really make the book that much better. waste of time, but I do need to read books that just take my minds off stress during exams instead of reading a book that makes me actually think.
This book was very well written but I don’t think it gave us anything new or spectacular as far as story line goes. It reminded me a lot of the movie “Cyber Bully” but toned down a bit with the amount of bullying. Very ABC FAMILY, after school special.
This was my second time reading the book. I have gone through suicidal cycles and I feel this book does it justice. Sarah Littman got inside four teenager's heads and did it perfectly. I love how the two girls have all these issues to the siblings' romance is somewhat Romeo Juliet vibes? I think being in a place so dark and lonely is really scary. Being able to make it through the other side alive is incredible. Littman wrote not just about the beginning or the end, but the process. From start to finish. It touches on mental health issues, along with bullying, and poor self expression.
The Lara you meet at the beginning of the book is nothing like the Lara at the end. It is a light read for such heavy material. I recommend to anyone going through a difficult time, or wants some education on what the process is like for the victim along with those around.
The Lara you meet at the beginning of the book is nothing like the Lara at the end. It is a light read for such heavy material. I recommend to anyone going through a difficult time, or wants some education on what the process is like for the victim along with those around.
My heart ached as I read this book and thought of Megan Meier and all the real life Lara Kelleys. I thoroughly enjoyed the story being told from multiple perspectives and I feel it is more thought provoking because of that.
i think this book has a really important message, and it was executed very poorly. to be honest i was really disappointed, and i was surprised to see it has such a high average rating. it felt way too predictable, and i’m tired of parents being bad people for the sake of the plot. i want more supportive parents in books. honestly maybe it’s more of a 2 star and i’m being too harsh, but i’m going to stand with my 1 star. the writing really didn’t even make up for the plot for me. some of the writing just felt like an unedited first draft, and i really can’t ignore that.
So much drama and twist and unexpected situations that at times I wanted to stop but I couldn't