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poppingparry's review
4.0
4.5 stars.
Man. This book. It ripped my heart out and I'm still trying to sew it back. I don't think I'll ever be the same.
My good book-friend Pavitra had read this book and reviewed it, and I absolutely loved it. I won this book in a giveaway and I thank her for the recommendation.
Apart from the much required formatting, there was absolutely nothing in the book that I didn't like. I loved Harry's description of Evan, I loved every moment that they got together, I loved all the times Harry was with his friends, I loved Harry's flashback moments, I loved all the characters, I loved how strong harry is, even after all the tragedy in his life.
This book reminded me of [b:Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe|12000020|Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe|Benjamin Alire Sáenz|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1448779570s/12000020.jpg|16964419] and I loved both the books.
Every time Harry and Evan kissed, my heart would sigh because they are perfect together. My heart broke and shattered when Evan's father found out and it has and will never been the same since.
WHY ISN'T EVAN REAL?! He's my new book boyfriend!
Man. This book. It ripped my heart out and I'm still trying to sew it back. I don't think I'll ever be the same.
My good book-friend Pavitra had read this book and reviewed it, and I absolutely loved it. I won this book in a giveaway and I thank her for the recommendation.
Apart from the much required formatting, there was absolutely nothing in the book that I didn't like. I loved Harry's description of Evan, I loved every moment that they got together, I loved all the times Harry was with his friends, I loved Harry's flashback moments, I loved all the characters, I loved how strong harry is, even after all the tragedy in his life.
This book reminded me of [b:Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe|12000020|Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe|Benjamin Alire Sáenz|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1448779570s/12000020.jpg|16964419] and I loved both the books.
Every time Harry and Evan kissed, my heart would sigh because they are perfect together. My heart broke and shattered when Evan's father found out and it has and will never been the same since.
WHY ISN'T EVAN REAL?! He's my new book boyfriend!
dostojevskijs's review
4.0
Harrison is depressed. It isn't very surprising considering his parents are dead, his sister was taken away from him, his best friend killed himself and his foster parents are abusing him. But he is doing okay. He has gotten good at just existing; counting down the days until his high school graduation. Maybe then things will change. No more high school, no more small town Minnesota and no more Holly and Brad.
But that all changes when he runs into Evan at a party. Technically, Evan runs into him and makes him spill his drink all over himself. Not much later, the same Evan manages to throw up all over Harry. But that's okay because Evan is probably the most handsome person he's ever seen before. Not that Harrison's gay. He's not. That doesn't stop him from trying to hang around Evan as possible; but at least Evan seems just as keen on spending time with him...
I didn't know much about this book at all; I bought it because of the nice cover. It's really nice and made me quite interested in the story. And it's hard not to be interested in Harrison – especially interested in him being okay. He's a mess and other than his much younger foster sister, he doesn't really have anyone to talk to about it. It doesn't get all better when Evan comes along. It doesn't work that way. But it surely helps, and for the first time, Harrison really feels more at ease. He feels less angry and judgemental, or with other words, more at ease and secure in himself or at least his surroundings. And I don't blame him. Evan is a gorgeous boy, inside and out. He's definitely a mysterious Prince Charming that has such a good heart and such a bright smile no matter what.
But I didn't like the way the author used some themes; a lot of the trauma felt like just a plot point to get the story further. I don't ever want to feel that way about abuse and rape, and usually I don't. It feels wrong to say it felt rushed and badly written because rape is awful and there's no right way for it to happen; it just happens. There's no reason why. But it was hard to not feel like it could have been dealt with a lot better. The fact that it wasn't made the book lose some of the appreciation I felt for it.
I do still wish some themes would have been better dealt with, and perhaps I would have loved Harrison a bit more if he wasn't such a stereotypical pessimistically bitter main character for in the young adult genre. There weren't much that set him apart from other characters, that made him feel as alive as Evan; despite the fact that I do realise he is also more or less built on a character trope. The thing was that Evan didn't feel like he was, but Harrison did. But either way, I appreciated Harrison and his depression. It's hard not to appreciate a depressed character in the young adult genre when the depression is done just... naturally. I'd love to read another book by the author some time in the future.
And I will give it that no matter how sad the ending made me, it was such a powerful ending. It was something that was very easy to relate to, in one way or another, and one that definitely is able to help other with coping. Especially those getting over their first love, or worrying about a life after that first love.
But that all changes when he runs into Evan at a party. Technically, Evan runs into him and makes him spill his drink all over himself. Not much later, the same Evan manages to throw up all over Harry. But that's okay because Evan is probably the most handsome person he's ever seen before. Not that Harrison's gay. He's not. That doesn't stop him from trying to hang around Evan as possible; but at least Evan seems just as keen on spending time with him...
I didn't know much about this book at all; I bought it because of the nice cover. It's really nice and made me quite interested in the story. And it's hard not to be interested in Harrison – especially interested in him being okay. He's a mess and other than his much younger foster sister, he doesn't really have anyone to talk to about it. It doesn't get all better when Evan comes along. It doesn't work that way. But it surely helps, and for the first time, Harrison really feels more at ease. He feels less angry and judgemental, or with other words, more at ease and secure in himself or at least his surroundings. And I don't blame him. Evan is a gorgeous boy, inside and out. He's definitely a mysterious Prince Charming that has such a good heart and such a bright smile no matter what.
But I didn't like the way the author used some themes; a lot of the trauma felt like just a plot point to get the story further. I don't ever want to feel that way about abuse and rape, and usually I don't. It feels wrong to say it felt rushed and badly written because rape is awful and there's no right way for it to happen; it just happens. There's no reason why. But it was hard to not feel like it could have been dealt with a lot better. The fact that it wasn't made the book lose some of the appreciation I felt for it.
I do still wish some themes would have been better dealt with, and perhaps I would have loved Harrison a bit more if he wasn't such a stereotypical pessimistically bitter main character for in the young adult genre. There weren't much that set him apart from other characters, that made him feel as alive as Evan; despite the fact that I do realise he is also more or less built on a character trope. The thing was that Evan didn't feel like he was, but Harrison did. But either way, I appreciated Harrison and his depression. It's hard not to appreciate a depressed character in the young adult genre when the depression is done just... naturally. I'd love to read another book by the author some time in the future.
And I will give it that no matter how sad the ending made me, it was such a powerful ending. It was something that was very easy to relate to, in one way or another, and one that definitely is able to help other with coping. Especially those getting over their first love, or worrying about a life after that first love.
pavi_fictionalworm's review
5.0
The review was first posted on For The Love of Fictional Worlds :)
I received an eARC of the book Via Pen Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
It's 2 AM in the middle of night. I have just completed this book and I am sobbing my heart out - and not those silent sobs - but great heaving sobs that woke up my entire house. After my folks spent about 10 minutes trying to get me to stop crying (or at least trying to get me to tell them WHY I am sobbing my eyes out!) - let me tell what the RIGHT ANSWER is not - pointing to my iPad and sobbing "this book broke my heart. Please save my heart!" again and again.
Update: It is Sunday and I am being punished for worrying my folks by keeping away from my iPad and my books - NOT COOL!
"I am tired of losing myself in a book. I want to lose myself in a person, in my own life, even. I just want to lose myself and live. Do you ever feel like that? That you just want to find a person and lose yourself with them?"
The reason I was attracted to this book was honestly not the cover (though it is absolutely brilliant!) – but the fact that it was touted as the “The Fault in Our Stars for LGBT”. Now, I haven’t been a fan of John Green’s writing (the man himself is adorably brilliant) and his books are not my favourite. To be very honest, I didn’t even finish Paper Towns and I loved TFIOS: The Movie better than I liked the book – so I honestly went into this book not expecting much! (Yes, I know I shouldn’t judge a book by their cover or description, but even if you think you don’t – you are lying!).
The story starts off slow and is told in Harry’s POV – a POV that is honest to God, so blunt and matter of fact, that for the first few pages, I actually had to read each paragraph twice – because I couldn’t believe that any character could be that emotionless towards his own pain and suffering. It took me a while to get used to the way the story is being told, but boy when I do – it is heartbreaking and I kept berating myself as to how could I even think that Harry is emotionless.
"I still want you. I want all of you, but there's nothing left for me to even have, because you're not mine to want."
As I went further into the story, I realised how absolutely brilliant the author actually is! She took Harry from a boy who kept everything he felt behind a wall of silence to a boy who understood that pain, love, and all those feelings are so critical to actually living a life. She took a boy who had everything taken from him, and gave him a reason to smile – while the laughter may not have lasted for long, but he did understood how beautiful life is for those few moments and how worth the love and laughter is for all the pain it gives us.
The author has done an absolutely brilliant job of characterizations of both Harry and Evan along with the relationship these two shared. While most of you might know that I really do not like single POV – I need at least a dual POV to actually feel the closure a book should give me – but for the first time, it so happened that I was okay with the single POV, in fact I was infinitely grateful that this wasn’t a dual POV – I don’t think my heart could have handled that much heartbreak!
"You gave me so much Harry, the world, the stars, you gave me everything and more and I couldn't have asked for a better person to give all of me too. You showed me how to love, you showed me how to live, and most importantly you showed me how to be me. I was so, so lost before I found you."
Comparing this book to TFIOS is sacrilegious, to me at least (No offense to John Green fans!) - This book is so much more, the emotions literally leap out of the pages (even in an eBook) that it literally became hard to cope with real life - because let's be honest, we will never feel as strongly about anything in our real lives, as much as we feel for these wonderful fictional characters.
While the only thing I would change would be the level of involvement Harry’s friends had in life – despite being his only friends till date – it still didn’t detract from the book. This book honestly was perfect – but what would make the experience of this book all the more beautiful – a signed book [yes, that is a total hint for the author ;)] – but to be very honest, getting a signed copy of this book just became one of my “booknerd goals”.
Maybe one day, the author will revisit Harry and Evan. Maybe one day I'll know that the hope of love, the dream of love was achieved by these wonderful characters. Maybe one day I'll get to sit down with the author, hug her tight and have hours long discussion on what happened, why it happened and what will happen.
Till then, I'll Wait.
"It's okay that I might not be your favorite chapter in your book, but I hope that sometimes, maybe you'll smile when you flip back to the pages I was a part of. I know that I will."
I received an eARC of the book Via Pen Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
It's 2 AM in the middle of night. I have just completed this book and I am sobbing my heart out - and not those silent sobs - but great heaving sobs that woke up my entire house. After my folks spent about 10 minutes trying to get me to stop crying (or at least trying to get me to tell them WHY I am sobbing my eyes out!) - let me tell what the RIGHT ANSWER is not - pointing to my iPad and sobbing "this book broke my heart. Please save my heart!" again and again.
Update: It is Sunday and I am being punished for worrying my folks by keeping away from my iPad and my books - NOT COOL!
"I am tired of losing myself in a book. I want to lose myself in a person, in my own life, even. I just want to lose myself and live. Do you ever feel like that? That you just want to find a person and lose yourself with them?"
The reason I was attracted to this book was honestly not the cover (though it is absolutely brilliant!) – but the fact that it was touted as the “The Fault in Our Stars for LGBT”. Now, I haven’t been a fan of John Green’s writing (the man himself is adorably brilliant) and his books are not my favourite. To be very honest, I didn’t even finish Paper Towns and I loved TFIOS: The Movie better than I liked the book – so I honestly went into this book not expecting much! (Yes, I know I shouldn’t judge a book by their cover or description, but even if you think you don’t – you are lying!).
The story starts off slow and is told in Harry’s POV – a POV that is honest to God, so blunt and matter of fact, that for the first few pages, I actually had to read each paragraph twice – because I couldn’t believe that any character could be that emotionless towards his own pain and suffering. It took me a while to get used to the way the story is being told, but boy when I do – it is heartbreaking and I kept berating myself as to how could I even think that Harry is emotionless.
"I still want you. I want all of you, but there's nothing left for me to even have, because you're not mine to want."
As I went further into the story, I realised how absolutely brilliant the author actually is! She took Harry from a boy who kept everything he felt behind a wall of silence to a boy who understood that pain, love, and all those feelings are so critical to actually living a life. She took a boy who had everything taken from him, and gave him a reason to smile – while the laughter may not have lasted for long, but he did understood how beautiful life is for those few moments and how worth the love and laughter is for all the pain it gives us.
The author has done an absolutely brilliant job of characterizations of both Harry and Evan along with the relationship these two shared. While most of you might know that I really do not like single POV – I need at least a dual POV to actually feel the closure a book should give me – but for the first time, it so happened that I was okay with the single POV, in fact I was infinitely grateful that this wasn’t a dual POV – I don’t think my heart could have handled that much heartbreak!
"You gave me so much Harry, the world, the stars, you gave me everything and more and I couldn't have asked for a better person to give all of me too. You showed me how to love, you showed me how to live, and most importantly you showed me how to be me. I was so, so lost before I found you."
Comparing this book to TFIOS is sacrilegious, to me at least (No offense to John Green fans!) - This book is so much more, the emotions literally leap out of the pages (even in an eBook) that it literally became hard to cope with real life - because let's be honest, we will never feel as strongly about anything in our real lives, as much as we feel for these wonderful fictional characters.
While the only thing I would change would be the level of involvement Harry’s friends had in life – despite being his only friends till date – it still didn’t detract from the book. This book honestly was perfect – but what would make the experience of this book all the more beautiful – a signed book [yes, that is a total hint for the author ;)] – but to be very honest, getting a signed copy of this book just became one of my “booknerd goals”.
Maybe one day, the author will revisit Harry and Evan. Maybe one day I'll know that the hope of love, the dream of love was achieved by these wonderful characters. Maybe one day I'll get to sit down with the author, hug her tight and have hours long discussion on what happened, why it happened and what will happen.
Till then, I'll Wait.
"It's okay that I might not be your favorite chapter in your book, but I hope that sometimes, maybe you'll smile when you flip back to the pages I was a part of. I know that I will."
fortheloveoffictionalworlds's review
5.0
The review was first posted on For The Love of Fictional Worlds :)
I received an eARC of the book Via Pen Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
It's 2 AM in the middle of night. I have just completed this book and I am sobbing my heart out - and not those silent sobs - but great heaving sobs that woke up my entire house. After my folks spent about 10 minutes trying to get me to stop crying (or at least trying to get me to tell them WHY I am sobbing my eyes out!) - let me tell what the RIGHT ANSWER is not - pointing to my iPad and sobbing "this book broke my heart. Please save my heart!" again and again.
Update: It is Sunday and I am being punished for worrying my folks by keeping away from my iPad and my books - NOT COOL!
"I am tired of losing myself in a book. I want to lose myself in a person, in my own life, even. I just want to lose myself and live. Do you ever feel like that? That you just want to find a person and lose yourself with them?"
The reason I was attracted to this book was honestly not the cover (though it is absolutely brilliant!) – but the fact that it was touted as the “The Fault in Our Stars for LGBT”. Now, I haven’t been a fan of John Green’s writing (the man himself is adorably brilliant) and his books are not my favourite. To be very honest, I didn’t even finish Paper Towns and I loved TFIOS: The Movie better than I liked the book – so I honestly went into this book not expecting much! (Yes, I know I shouldn’t judge a book by their cover or description, but even if you think you don’t – you are lying!).
The story starts off slow and is told in Harry’s POV – a POV that is honest to God, so blunt and matter of fact, that for the first few pages, I actually had to read each paragraph twice – because I couldn’t believe that any character could be that emotionless towards his own pain and suffering. It took me a while to get used to the way the story is being told, but boy when I do – it is heartbreaking and I kept berating myself as to how could I even think that Harry is emotionless.
"I still want you. I want all of you, but there's nothing left for me to even have, because you're not mine to want."
As I went further into the story, I realised how absolutely brilliant the author actually is! She took Harry from a boy who kept everything he felt behind a wall of silence to a boy who understood that pain, love, and all those feelings are so critical to actually living a life. She took a boy who had everything taken from him, and gave him a reason to smile – while the laughter may not have lasted for long, but he did understood how beautiful life is for those few moments and how worth the love and laughter is for all the pain it gives us.
The author has done an absolutely brilliant job of characterizations of both Harry and Evan along with the relationship these two shared. While most of you might know that I really do not like single POV – I need at least a dual POV to actually feel the closure a book should give me – but for the first time, it so happened that I was okay with the single POV, in fact I was infinitely grateful that this wasn’t a dual POV – I don’t think my heart could have handled that much heartbreak!
"You gave me so much Harry, the world, the stars, you gave me everything and more and I couldn't have asked for a better person to give all of me too. You showed me how to love, you showed me how to live, and most importantly you showed me how to be me. I was so, so lost before I found you."
Comparing this book to TFIOS is sacrilegious, to me at least (No offense to John Green fans!) - This book is so much more, the emotions literally leap out of the pages (even in an eBook) that it literally became hard to cope with real life - because let's be honest, we will never feel as strongly about anything in our real lives, as much as we feel for these wonderful fictional characters.
While the only thing I would change would be the level of involvement Harry’s friends had in life – despite being his only friends till date – it still didn’t detract from the book. This book honestly was perfect – but what would make the experience of this book all the more beautiful – a signed book [yes, that is a total hint for the author ;)] – but to be very honest, getting a signed copy of this book just became one of my “booknerd goals”.
Maybe one day, the author will revisit Harry and Evan. Maybe one day I'll know that the hope of love, the dream of love was achieved by these wonderful characters. Maybe one day I'll get to sit down with the author, hug her tight and have hours long discussion on what happened, why it happened and what will happen.
Till then, I'll Wait.
"It's okay that I might not be your favorite chapter in your book, but I hope that sometimes, maybe you'll smile when you flip back to the pages I was a part of. I know that I will."
I received an eARC of the book Via Pen Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
It's 2 AM in the middle of night. I have just completed this book and I am sobbing my heart out - and not those silent sobs - but great heaving sobs that woke up my entire house. After my folks spent about 10 minutes trying to get me to stop crying (or at least trying to get me to tell them WHY I am sobbing my eyes out!) - let me tell what the RIGHT ANSWER is not - pointing to my iPad and sobbing "this book broke my heart. Please save my heart!" again and again.
Update: It is Sunday and I am being punished for worrying my folks by keeping away from my iPad and my books - NOT COOL!
"I am tired of losing myself in a book. I want to lose myself in a person, in my own life, even. I just want to lose myself and live. Do you ever feel like that? That you just want to find a person and lose yourself with them?"
The reason I was attracted to this book was honestly not the cover (though it is absolutely brilliant!) – but the fact that it was touted as the “The Fault in Our Stars for LGBT”. Now, I haven’t been a fan of John Green’s writing (the man himself is adorably brilliant) and his books are not my favourite. To be very honest, I didn’t even finish Paper Towns and I loved TFIOS: The Movie better than I liked the book – so I honestly went into this book not expecting much! (Yes, I know I shouldn’t judge a book by their cover or description, but even if you think you don’t – you are lying!).
The story starts off slow and is told in Harry’s POV – a POV that is honest to God, so blunt and matter of fact, that for the first few pages, I actually had to read each paragraph twice – because I couldn’t believe that any character could be that emotionless towards his own pain and suffering. It took me a while to get used to the way the story is being told, but boy when I do – it is heartbreaking and I kept berating myself as to how could I even think that Harry is emotionless.
"I still want you. I want all of you, but there's nothing left for me to even have, because you're not mine to want."
As I went further into the story, I realised how absolutely brilliant the author actually is! She took Harry from a boy who kept everything he felt behind a wall of silence to a boy who understood that pain, love, and all those feelings are so critical to actually living a life. She took a boy who had everything taken from him, and gave him a reason to smile – while the laughter may not have lasted for long, but he did understood how beautiful life is for those few moments and how worth the love and laughter is for all the pain it gives us.
The author has done an absolutely brilliant job of characterizations of both Harry and Evan along with the relationship these two shared. While most of you might know that I really do not like single POV – I need at least a dual POV to actually feel the closure a book should give me – but for the first time, it so happened that I was okay with the single POV, in fact I was infinitely grateful that this wasn’t a dual POV – I don’t think my heart could have handled that much heartbreak!
"You gave me so much Harry, the world, the stars, you gave me everything and more and I couldn't have asked for a better person to give all of me too. You showed me how to love, you showed me how to live, and most importantly you showed me how to be me. I was so, so lost before I found you."
Comparing this book to TFIOS is sacrilegious, to me at least (No offense to John Green fans!) - This book is so much more, the emotions literally leap out of the pages (even in an eBook) that it literally became hard to cope with real life - because let's be honest, we will never feel as strongly about anything in our real lives, as much as we feel for these wonderful fictional characters.
While the only thing I would change would be the level of involvement Harry’s friends had in life – despite being his only friends till date – it still didn’t detract from the book. This book honestly was perfect – but what would make the experience of this book all the more beautiful – a signed book [yes, that is a total hint for the author ;)] – but to be very honest, getting a signed copy of this book just became one of my “booknerd goals”.
Maybe one day, the author will revisit Harry and Evan. Maybe one day I'll know that the hope of love, the dream of love was achieved by these wonderful characters. Maybe one day I'll get to sit down with the author, hug her tight and have hours long discussion on what happened, why it happened and what will happen.
Till then, I'll Wait.
"It's okay that I might not be your favorite chapter in your book, but I hope that sometimes, maybe you'll smile when you flip back to the pages I was a part of. I know that I will."
kiran5cc0f's review
5.0
Amazing doesn't even begin to cover this book.
From the very start, you're intrigued by Harry, his personality, his forwardness and simply him as a character. The more you read, the more attached you become to who Harry is, his life, his memories, his sadness, his happiness. You begin to feel like his experiences are yours and you just understand why he is the way he is.
You meet his friends, get introduced to his life in bits and it only draws you in more. The way the author has combined words into these sentences that just tug at the strings of your heart is beautiful.
Then you meet Evan and he is the definition of the perfect guy. I got so attached to him so quickly it was ridiculous how in love I was.
The story progresses in such a way that you buzz with excitement, predicting what could possibly happen next but then surprised at what really happens.
This book made me feel emotions I never even knew I could feel. I was so happy and so sad and just so curious as to what might happen. My heart hurt so much, and I cried so many tears but this book is so worth all of that pain and I can't wait to go back and share Harry and Evan's journey again. I
I spent so long trying to find words to make this review justifiable of the story but this is the best I could get. I tried to pick out certain parts, certain quotes but there are so many quotes in the book that made me shake with excitement or break down in inexpressible agony. All I can really say is that this book is totally worth the time and effort, and I reallt do hope that you give it a read if possible.
I'm so damn proud of this book and can only hope the author will continue to produce more amazing work like this.
From the very start, you're intrigued by Harry, his personality, his forwardness and simply him as a character. The more you read, the more attached you become to who Harry is, his life, his memories, his sadness, his happiness. You begin to feel like his experiences are yours and you just understand why he is the way he is.
You meet his friends, get introduced to his life in bits and it only draws you in more. The way the author has combined words into these sentences that just tug at the strings of your heart is beautiful.
Then you meet Evan and he is the definition of the perfect guy. I got so attached to him so quickly it was ridiculous how in love I was.
The story progresses in such a way that you buzz with excitement, predicting what could possibly happen next but then surprised at what really happens.
This book made me feel emotions I never even knew I could feel. I was so happy and so sad and just so curious as to what might happen. My heart hurt so much, and I cried so many tears but this book is so worth all of that pain and I can't wait to go back and share Harry and Evan's journey again. I
I spent so long trying to find words to make this review justifiable of the story but this is the best I could get. I tried to pick out certain parts, certain quotes but there are so many quotes in the book that made me shake with excitement or break down in inexpressible agony. All I can really say is that this book is totally worth the time and effort, and I reallt do hope that you give it a read if possible.
I'm so damn proud of this book and can only hope the author will continue to produce more amazing work like this.
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