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onceuponabookcase's review
5.0
This is a compelling and beautifully written novel about first love, first sex, and everything in between. Maddy Fisher has decided to fall in love. And not just any sort of love: can't-eat can't-sleep crazy in love. Rich Ross is after the same thing. He's set his sights high, and he's going to make it happen. The problem is, in life's messy whirlwind of friends and lies and sex and porn, the real thing can be hard to fine. But there's always a first time for everything... From Amazon UK
I am 23. I am quite obviously not a teenager. However, I still have the mentality of a teenager, and continue to find the opposite sex baffling. After reading Rich and Mad, about two teenagers who are falling in love for the first time, I swear it was written for me! I cannot tell you just how amazing this book is!
As I read on William Nicholson’s website (some tiny spoilers on that page, so beware), this is a book written for girls and guys to show them what girls and guys think about love and sex. I have read several YA novels that deal with teen love and teen sex, but none of them really come at it from this angle, and it’s absolute genius! I can’t tell you how often I was surprised at how much I empathised with Rich! I empathised with Maddy a fair amount too, but it was Rich that surprised me.
I loved the characters! I thought it was brilliant that, although we mainly follow Rich and Maddy, everyone had some sort of view on love and sex that was shown. Maddy and Rich were very much teenagers; they were curious, they questioned, they worried, they made mistakes, but what I also loved was that they also had strong feelings about what they wanted from love – this is not about having sex as soon as possible, it’s about meeting the right person and all it entails for them personally. It was refreshing to read about characters, especially teen characters, who knew their own mind so well.
I was blown away by Maddy. She is not completely without flaws, and there were moments when I wanted to just grab her arm and stop her from doing things, because you just know it’s a mistake, but she was just so driven! She would make a decision about something, and then she would go ahead with it, seemingly very easily. She had this nervous confidence that I am just so envious of. Rich is just lovely! He has opinions and views that I have, and it was just so odd yet eye opening! He’s cute and funny, and doesn’t take himself too seriously, but also doesn’t have the best self-esteem. He is just adorable, and I would quite like to adopt him.
Rich and Mad is graphic in places, but most of the time it’s just so sweet! That might sound odd, but I don’t think there really is any other word to describe it. There is one scene where Mad and her friend watch porn, which is a little bit shocking – for me anyway – but also pretty hilarious in how the girls react to it. None of it is gratuitous, and it’s all dealt with maturely yet realistically.
Although Rich and Mad is mainly focussed on their relationships and the way they think, there are other issues covered in the story that teens may come across. I loved all these little sub-plots, it made the book seem more realistic – there were other things going on outside Rich and Maddy’s individual bubbles, but effect them indirectly.
Overall, I absolutely loved this book! I stayed up quite late last night to finish it, and closed book "aww"-ing at what a lovely, sweet read it was. I swear every girl and every guy should read this book; not only is it an amazing story, it’s opens your eyes and makes you think. I very much doubt there will be a sequel, but I so wish there would be! Another book joining my favourites!
From Once Upon a Bookcase - YA book review blog.
I am 23. I am quite obviously not a teenager. However, I still have the mentality of a teenager, and continue to find the opposite sex baffling. After reading Rich and Mad, about two teenagers who are falling in love for the first time, I swear it was written for me! I cannot tell you just how amazing this book is!
As I read on William Nicholson’s website (some tiny spoilers on that page, so beware), this is a book written for girls and guys to show them what girls and guys think about love and sex. I have read several YA novels that deal with teen love and teen sex, but none of them really come at it from this angle, and it’s absolute genius! I can’t tell you how often I was surprised at how much I empathised with Rich! I empathised with Maddy a fair amount too, but it was Rich that surprised me.
I loved the characters! I thought it was brilliant that, although we mainly follow Rich and Maddy, everyone had some sort of view on love and sex that was shown. Maddy and Rich were very much teenagers; they were curious, they questioned, they worried, they made mistakes, but what I also loved was that they also had strong feelings about what they wanted from love – this is not about having sex as soon as possible, it’s about meeting the right person and all it entails for them personally. It was refreshing to read about characters, especially teen characters, who knew their own mind so well.
I was blown away by Maddy. She is not completely without flaws, and there were moments when I wanted to just grab her arm and stop her from doing things, because you just know it’s a mistake, but she was just so driven! She would make a decision about something, and then she would go ahead with it, seemingly very easily. She had this nervous confidence that I am just so envious of. Rich is just lovely! He has opinions and views that I have, and it was just so odd yet eye opening! He’s cute and funny, and doesn’t take himself too seriously, but also doesn’t have the best self-esteem. He is just adorable, and I would quite like to adopt him.
Rich and Mad is graphic in places, but most of the time it’s just so sweet! That might sound odd, but I don’t think there really is any other word to describe it. There is one scene where Mad and her friend watch porn, which is a little bit shocking – for me anyway – but also pretty hilarious in how the girls react to it. None of it is gratuitous, and it’s all dealt with maturely yet realistically.
Although Rich and Mad is mainly focussed on their relationships and the way they think, there are other issues covered in the story that teens may come across. I loved all these little sub-plots, it made the book seem more realistic – there were other things going on outside Rich and Maddy’s individual bubbles, but effect them indirectly.
Overall, I absolutely loved this book! I stayed up quite late last night to finish it, and closed book "aww"-ing at what a lovely, sweet read it was. I swear every girl and every guy should read this book; not only is it an amazing story, it’s opens your eyes and makes you think. I very much doubt there will be a sequel, but I so wish there would be! Another book joining my favourites!
From Once Upon a Bookcase - YA book review blog.
arisbookcorner's review
4.0
IQ "The ideas came as the words formed in her mouth. What was so liberating about talking with Cath was that she could say things she maybe didn't really mean just to see how it felt saying them." Maddy, pg. 220
Isn't that ^ the sign of a real best friend? When you can throw out whatever comes to your mind, just to see if your friends think it sounds crazy too, or if by-george it just might make sense. One of the most realistic depictions of teenage relationships I've ever read. The quick, snappy dialogue between friends, being tongue-tied around crushes and enemies and not wanting to really have a cause for fear of being mocked. It really did seem like the author had been eavesdropping on the conversations of teens across the UK and around the world, after all the dizzying, exciting, confusing thing called love is a universal theme.
At times I did feel like the thoughts and dialogues of the characters war a little forced-especially when Rich was particularly deep. I know there are some sensitive, lost-soul guys out there but Rich was really deep into his head, at times he seemed inauthentic. Domestic abuse has never puzzled me, I've read enough in books and news articles to understand the family history that leads guy to be abusive and the paralyzing fear that keeps a girl there or worse-thinking she deserves it but I'd never heard one girl say it "aroused" them both. That perspective was new to me and its one I find equally troubling but also enlightening. Also if a guy asks you to keep your budding romance a "secret" shouldn't that send up red flags? If anything, unless its due to cultural (i.e. parents are strict about dating outside the race/culture) reasons, you should just end the relationship!
Another quote I liked "Of course she needed a boyfriend. But it wasn't that simple. [...] The difficulty was the boys she had grown up with, the boys in her year at school were simply not up to he job. Undersized, badly dressed, noisy, and stupid, there wasn't a single one about whom she could summon up the smallest tremor of excitement. And falling in love, if nothing else, had to be exciting." pg.11
PS I will never understand white parents. In books (such as this one), on TV and in the movies teenagers can always just abruptly leave the house. In my house and most other minority homes I know (at least for gigs) you get the third degree. Where are you going? Who with? When will you be back? I wish a book would depict that....
Isn't that ^ the sign of a real best friend? When you can throw out whatever comes to your mind, just to see if your friends think it sounds crazy too, or if by-george it just might make sense. One of the most realistic depictions of teenage relationships I've ever read. The quick, snappy dialogue between friends, being tongue-tied around crushes and enemies and not wanting to really have a cause for fear of being mocked. It really did seem like the author had been eavesdropping on the conversations of teens across the UK and around the world, after all the dizzying, exciting, confusing thing called love is a universal theme.
At times I did feel like the thoughts and dialogues of the characters war a little forced-especially when Rich was particularly deep. I know there are some sensitive, lost-soul guys out there but Rich was really deep into his head, at times he seemed inauthentic. Domestic abuse has never puzzled me, I've read enough in books and news articles to understand the family history that leads guy to be abusive and the paralyzing fear that keeps a girl there or worse-thinking she deserves it but I'd never heard one girl say it "aroused" them both. That perspective was new to me and its one I find equally troubling but also enlightening. Also if a guy asks you to keep your budding romance a "secret" shouldn't that send up red flags? If anything, unless its due to cultural (i.e. parents are strict about dating outside the race/culture) reasons, you should just end the relationship!
Another quote I liked "Of course she needed a boyfriend. But it wasn't that simple. [...] The difficulty was the boys she had grown up with, the boys in her year at school were simply not up to he job. Undersized, badly dressed, noisy, and stupid, there wasn't a single one about whom she could summon up the smallest tremor of excitement. And falling in love, if nothing else, had to be exciting." pg.11
PS I will never understand white parents. In books (such as this one), on TV and in the movies teenagers can always just abruptly leave the house. In my house and most other minority homes I know (at least for gigs) you get the third degree. Where are you going? Who with? When will you be back? I wish a book would depict that....
sugardustedbooks's review
3.0
It was really hard for me to decide if I wanted to give this book three stars or four stars. I guess I'm in between liking it and really liking it.
When I first started reading Rich and Mad I wasn't quite sure if I was going to end up liking it or not. Some parts were kind of slow and other things just really made me want to roll my eyes. The way Maddy acted and the things that happen in the beginning just made me embarrassed for the characters involved. It's like when you see someone making a fool of themselves. It is just too hard to watch or in this case read. Hoping I wasn't judging the book to early I decided to keep reading and things got more exciting. There were secrets and drama. I had to know what the truth was and what would happen to the characters involved.
I liked the Nicholson wasn't shy at all when writing this book. He didn't leave really anything to the imagination and he explained feelings and what the characters were thinking every step of the way. I did think a lot of things happened really fast but at the same time I understood that sometimes that happens.
I know my review is pretty vague but I am not the best person at this. It is better I give too little away than tell you the whole story. In my opinion it should be somewhere in your to be read list (well depending on what kind of books you like to read in the first place). I wouldn't say it has to be at the top of your list but I would consider reading it at least.
Warning!
This didn't really bother me but I know for some it might take them by surprise so I thought I would add a warning. This book is not for the prudish and definitely not for the immature. If reading about sex offends you just forget about this book. Like I said Nicholson is not shy in his writing. I am pretty sure this book is YA but I wouldn't recommend it for very young or immature teens.
When I first started reading Rich and Mad I wasn't quite sure if I was going to end up liking it or not. Some parts were kind of slow and other things just really made me want to roll my eyes. The way Maddy acted and the things that happen in the beginning just made me embarrassed for the characters involved. It's like when you see someone making a fool of themselves. It is just too hard to watch or in this case read. Hoping I wasn't judging the book to early I decided to keep reading and things got more exciting. There were secrets and drama. I had to know what the truth was and what would happen to the characters involved.
I liked the Nicholson wasn't shy at all when writing this book. He didn't leave really anything to the imagination and he explained feelings and what the characters were thinking every step of the way. I did think a lot of things happened really fast but at the same time I understood that sometimes that happens.
I know my review is pretty vague but I am not the best person at this. It is better I give too little away than tell you the whole story. In my opinion it should be somewhere in your to be read list (well depending on what kind of books you like to read in the first place). I wouldn't say it has to be at the top of your list but I would consider reading it at least.
Warning!
This didn't really bother me but I know for some it might take them by surprise so I thought I would add a warning. This book is not for the prudish and definitely not for the immature. If reading about sex offends you just forget about this book. Like I said Nicholson is not shy in his writing. I am pretty sure this book is YA but I wouldn't recommend it for very young or immature teens.
christiana's review
2.0
Not bad, but this seems to me to be more of a book written for adults with teen main characters than for teens. It kind of has "Save the Last Dance" syndrome too. It's trying to tackle way too many themes (abusive relationships, parents having trouble, first love and first sex, pornography, figuring out your identity, etc). I mean, I get that they're all tied together through the theme of love (a la Love Actually), but STILL. There's a lot happening.
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