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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
Didn't like this one as much as some of his others. Didn't think the romance/suddenly not romance worked. Certain lines of the writing were great though. And the whole author obsession just reminded me too much of Fault in Our Stars.
Not MY favorite from Matthew Quick, but it was a "5 star" YA book. Do you have a high-schooler? He or she would dig this as a summer read!
This starts off deep, but maybe faux deep. Then it gets heavier and heavier. In the best possible way. It gets authentic. As Nanette digs deeper and deeper to find her authentic self.
I gather from what I've learned and read that everyone was insecure in high school, felt they didn't fit in and relate, that any popularity was based on falsity and pretense. Yet I can't shake the belief that I didn't fit in and relate more than my peers, that my views and values and aspirations were somehow different despite that insecurity. I really do believe I was different in a way that only a small percentage of us were different.
That's Nanette. She's a star athlete, popular, and everything everyone else expects. Then she realizes she has no idea who Nanette really is, aside from what everyone else expects. This is the story of her quest to figure that out. A most painful, isolating quest. Nanette has to figure out who she is without everyone else's expectations.
Painful, authentic, and true.
I gather from what I've learned and read that everyone was insecure in high school, felt they didn't fit in and relate, that any popularity was based on falsity and pretense. Yet I can't shake the belief that I didn't fit in and relate more than my peers, that my views and values and aspirations were somehow different despite that insecurity. I really do believe I was different in a way that only a small percentage of us were different.
That's Nanette. She's a star athlete, popular, and everything everyone else expects. Then she realizes she has no idea who Nanette really is, aside from what everyone else expects. This is the story of her quest to figure that out. A most painful, isolating quest. Nanette has to figure out who she is without everyone else's expectations.
Painful, authentic, and true.
Matthew Quick is now 7-for-7! What does it say about me that I so identify with the characters in his YA novels? Arrested development? Immaturity? Identity crisis? I am confident he & I would have been new wave high school buddies.
The only negative about his books: There are never enough! I read them so fast that I sit on pins and needles waiting for the next one (come on, "The Reason You're Alive"!).
The only negative about his books: There are never enough! I read them so fast that I sit on pins and needles waiting for the next one (come on, "The Reason You're Alive"!).
This was a good book, but some of the content got a little tired after awhile.
2.5
Some of the plot twists really felt like short cuts to avoid making the characters deal with things.
Some of the plot twists really felt like short cuts to avoid making the characters deal with things.
I've said it before, and I'll say it it again, I probably never should have become a librarian because books are a deeply personal, quiet thing to me, and I usually keep my deep love of certain books close to my chest. Or maybe that's what makes me a librarian. I don't know. Anyway, this is one of those books that I don't want to talk about because it's amazing. I loved it, it spoke to me deeply, don't talk to me about it because you might cause me to question my entire life. Five stars all around, now leave me alone and let me stew in this book. #definitelyalibrarian
While I thought the premise was clever and I was entertained, especially as it went on, I didn't get it.
A book about the power of a book--makes sense to me! Nanette is given a copy of The Bubble Gum Reaper and is no longer interested in making everyone else happy. She quits the soccer team, much to the disappointment of her team and co-captain and parents. She is a senior in HS and wants to break free of the mold that others have made for her. It just so happens that the author of this eye opening book lives close by, and she meets him. He becomes a friend that she frequently visits, as long as they do not talk about the book. The author introduces her to another fan of the book, and they fall in love. Don't think this is a sickly sweet romance, however. This new boyfriend is only part of the story, just as he is only a part of her learning what she wants to do in order to be happy. I recommend this book for grades 9 & up.