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snarkywench's review against another edition
4.0
Reading a Stephanie Kuehnert novel is like seeing the world through a fog of cigarette smoke - it smells a little funky, grit is accumulated on every surface but you are truly inhabiting the experience. Kuehnert's books also have a lot in common with nicotine addiction - you'll get choked up a lot and they are hard to quit. I could also make some snarky allusion to the high death toll but in the author's case it is solely her characters (unless she is a serial killer on the side.)
I grew up in the era depicted in this story. Nirvana were huge, guys had badly dyed, shaggy hair and ambivalence was wide spread. There were characters in Ballads that are almost exact replicas of kids that I grew up with which made it difficult to read in some ways. Issues of disillusionment, cutting, the fragments of family, sibling dysfunction, death, suicide, drug use and addiction are all interwoven in an effortless manner that allow the reader to focus on Kara's journey (rather than the evolution of the "issues"). Journal entries of a personal nature by many of the supporting character help flesh out the story and add a distanced perspective of our protagonist. The writing is unique with sharpened prose - it cuts, making you suffer along with Kara until you are as raw as she is. It's not a book that will thwack you over the head but instead, one that slowly envelops you unsuspectingly.
Ballads comes across much more personal to the author that her debut effort, the fantastic I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone. Perhaps this was due to my awareness of her own teen struggles that undoubtedly influences the novel but I think not. The exploration of cutting and controlling relationships were vividly (if not disturbingly) portrayed. The sibling relationship is one that worked exceedingly well - Kara and Liam transition from distant, sober individuals to close but inordinately messed up junkies is frightening but understandable.
An original voice and a gritty, soul crushing story worth reading.
I grew up in the era depicted in this story. Nirvana were huge, guys had badly dyed, shaggy hair and ambivalence was wide spread. There were characters in Ballads that are almost exact replicas of kids that I grew up with which made it difficult to read in some ways. Issues of disillusionment, cutting, the fragments of family, sibling dysfunction, death, suicide, drug use and addiction are all interwoven in an effortless manner that allow the reader to focus on Kara's journey (rather than the evolution of the "issues"). Journal entries of a personal nature by many of the supporting character help flesh out the story and add a distanced perspective of our protagonist. The writing is unique with sharpened prose - it cuts, making you suffer along with Kara until you are as raw as she is. It's not a book that will thwack you over the head but instead, one that slowly envelops you unsuspectingly.
Ballads comes across much more personal to the author that her debut effort, the fantastic I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone. Perhaps this was due to my awareness of her own teen struggles that undoubtedly influences the novel but I think not. The exploration of cutting and controlling relationships were vividly (if not disturbingly) portrayed. The sibling relationship is one that worked exceedingly well - Kara and Liam transition from distant, sober individuals to close but inordinately messed up junkies is frightening but understandable.
An original voice and a gritty, soul crushing story worth reading.
florencia's review
Quería terminarlo porque realmente está bien escrito y tiene partes lindas e interesantes (y además odio dejar libros sin terminar). Pero no veía el momento de terminarlo, así que me rindo.
Es la historia de personajes con historias duras, ya sea abandono, familias complicadas, consumo de drogas desde chicos, etc.
Y de modo de escape se drogan, toman, blabla. No es que no haya leído historias similares. Al contrario, es bastante común en los "contemporaries" de ahora. Mi problema con este libro es que se describen más las escenas de este tipo que los momentos que hacen la historia avanzar.
Esto igual no significa que no sea bueno (lo compré porque tenía 5 estrellas de bloggers con gustos similares), pero no es para mí.
Es la historia de personajes con historias duras, ya sea abandono, familias complicadas, consumo de drogas desde chicos, etc.
Y de modo de escape se drogan, toman, blabla. No es que no haya leído historias similares. Al contrario, es bastante común en los "contemporaries" de ahora. Mi problema con este libro es que se describen más las escenas de este tipo que los momentos que hacen la historia avanzar.
Esto igual no significa que no sea bueno (lo compré porque tenía 5 estrellas de bloggers con gustos similares), pero no es para mí.
banrions's review
3.0
This book was okay. It wasn't amazing, it wasn't bad by any means, but it was a little to angsty for my taste I suppose. I guess I just get annoyed with books about teens and drugs sometimes. I want to just say get the fuck over it, you are fine, your life is not that dramatic. Maybe I just got really lucky with my childhood/teenage years, but I never did drugs, I was never exposed to them, and (as far as I know) most of my friends didn't either. Sure, there was drinking, but no one I know OD on heroin in a park. I really liked the ballads, each kid had a sort of story of there own. A lyric, and then a couple of pages kinda in their head explaining who they were. Those were really interesting. The main character Kara, I didn't dislike her, and while the stuff she was going through was angsty and dramatic, she didn't narrate that way. She simply told it like it was, it could have very easily become melodramatic, but it didn't. I never really connected with her though. I remained mostly indifferent. I'm not sure what it was. I liked the book. I'm glad I read it, but its one of those that I'll probably forget about.
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