Reviews

L'amore è per sfigati by Wibke Brueggemann

malinovka's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

simetraviolets's review against another edition

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5.0

Wibke Brueggemann excels in the teenage voice here.
Welcome to a snippet of Phoebe's life, where her days are filled with school drama, un-necessary and gross relationships of friends (god what a flashback!), teenage irritations, designer cats... and the way love doesn't come in a one size fits all ticked box.
This book however, ticks all the boxes! A fresh, lovely little story about a girl who isn't your perfect storybook character, has moments of utter contempt for the way of the world and that god-all honesty that you get from being that age. Coping with GCSEs is a terrifying place... and so is the unknown we call love... Phoebe is human. And my god, I want to throw this book into the face of all the 14/15 year olds I know and I plan to!
Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging but epic LGBTQ+ edition! To be honest... the upgrade of ATPS majorly- I always found ATPS too overattentive when it came to the embarrassment and absolute mortification of being a young, english teen- Cringey 100%- Phoebe is the realistic and not shove your head under the pillowcase until you've died from second hand embarrassment-esque version that just makes your heart soar as you read and you go "yes exactly! exactly that! That's what I feel/ felt too".
I'm a huge reader when it comes to YA, I adore it... But something about recent publications has largely turned me off when it comes to realistic YA set in the modern world... And a large part of that? Has been the authenticity that has been missing... until this book.
Love is for losers is the book I have been missing. We ALL have been missing.
Wibke... I cannot wait to see what rocket of pure gold you send our way next.

the_book_of_nouk's review against another edition

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funny inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

3.5

sienna1508's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This book wasn't really what I expected. It is sapphic, but the romance is drawn out and only happens at the end. That makes the book feel drawn out even though the storyline isn't slow. I found that some of the characters were a bit annoying and some of their personalities/characteristics weren't clear. 
Also, I found the book a bit cringy in some places with the author writing 'LOL' in all caps. 
In my opinion, this book had good potential but it just wasn't great. 

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straciehniezdo's review against another edition

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4.0

4,5/5

V momente ako som si prečítala prvú vetu anotácie - Phoebe zbožňuje čiernu farbu a neznáša ľudí - som tušila, že sa mi toto bude páčiť. A mala som pravdu. Bavila som sa od prvej stránky po poslednú.

Phoebe mala síce len 15, ale bola úžasná a veľmi relatable. Bola úžasná a vtipná, sarkastická a chytrá (ešte sa to aj rýmuje). A veľmi cynická. V skutočnosti to bola veľmi komplexná postava, ktorá pôsobila prirodzene a správala sa ako tínedžerka. Klobúk dolu autorke, pretože toto bol jej debutový román. Jediná chyba Phoebe bola tá, že nemala rada mačky. Alebo to aspoň tvrdila (ale Kate mala tie mačky so splošteným ňufákom, ktoré sa nejako veľmi nepáčia ani mne, takže sa tvárim, že rozprávala len o takých).

Všetky postavy boli skvelé a sympatické - snáď okrem jej matky, ktorej materské povinnosti skončili tým, že Phoebe vytlačila zo svojej maternice. Zamilovala som si hlavne Emmu a Kate - Emma bola úplne zlatíčko a Kate najlepšia náhradná mama, akú si môže človek prijať. Ale nemala by v žiadnom prípade chovať mačky, na to som strašne nadávala, lebo ich mala len na rozmnožovanie, aby na nich mohla zarábať, čo je riadne sprosté. A tiež, sterilizácia kocúrika, ktorý mal necelé 3 mesiace? Chovala autorka niekedy mačku? Rozprávala sa s veterinárom?

Čo sa týka štýlu písania - famózne. Plné sarkazmu a môjho obľúbeného suchého britského humoru, takže som sa niekoľkokrát pri čítaní nahlas smiala. Zároveň tam bolo niekoľko veľmi dôležitých myšlienok a taktiež aj ťažšie témy ako smrť blízkeho, strach o niekoho, odlúčenie a podobne. A dospievanie, to je peklo. Veľmi rýchlo mi bolo jasné, že toto bude jedna z najlepších YA contemporary, ktoré som kedy čítala (a že ich mám za sebou dosť). Myslím, že pred pár rokmi by som ju zaradila k mojim najobľúbenejším knihám vôbec. Veľmi silno odporúčam.

Ale ten preklad, joj. Akože, ja neviem, či sa táto #premotivovanaslovencina v knihách (príde mi že hlavne v YA) z roka na rok zhoršuje, alebo ja som si to predtým nevšimla, ale hrôza fakt. Nejako ma to oberá o chuť siahať po týchto knihách v slovenčine. To bolo ako dýky do chrbta. Slová ako 'Čekla' či 'kúl' - neviem sa rozhodnúť, či viac prznia slovenský alebo anglický jazyk. Zbytočné preklady (názov pesničky - taká pesnička v slovenčine podľa Spotify a Youtube neexistuje, Doktor Who - asi mám byť rada, že z toho nespravili Doktor Kto?), trikrát si dali päťku miesto high-five (toto som nikdy nepočula, že by sa používalo, ale potom mi bolo povedané, že hej, ale iná osoba mi zas povedala, že ju v prvom momente napadlo, že majú group sex - čo, ako všetci vieme, je typický pre každú YA. Tak či onak, znie to hrozne a asi to nebolo úplne šťastne zvolené. Škoda, že nemáme slovenské slovo, ktoré sa dá miesto toho použiť. Ja neviem, tlapnutie.) Kate bola Škótka a keď sa rozrušila, tak chytala prízvuk - raz to bolo v knihe znázornené nejakým divným nárečím, inokedy to tam nebolo znázornené vôbec. Čiže nejako chýbala konzistencia. V neposlednom rade tam raz bol napísaný štvrtok miesto utorka, ale tam chápem, že to je v angličtine podobné a kľudne sa takáto chybička môže stať, to som neriešila.

Takže tak. Knihe nebudem znižovať hodnotenie kvôli týmto veciam, keďže autorka nemôže za to, že ma rozčuľoval premotivovaný preklad, keď ona odviedla fantastickú robotu. Ale kniha je skutočne výborná, žiaľ veľmi prehliadaná. Odporúčam prečítať.

room4thought's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bhunter0601's review against another edition

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2.0

I don't DNF books very often because I really believe you can't make judgements about books without reading all of it. However, there are some books where it really just isn't worth it for me, and this is one of them. Now, I do wanna make some clarifications- I recognize that it is a lot harder to judge YA books as an adult because they are obviously going to seem immature to me, as they are supposed to, but Phoebe was so immature and self-centered that I couldn't get past it. She's going through a typical angsty teen period, but she is so incredibly dramatic. It's understandable that she is upset that her bff has a boyfriend, but-as far as I got at least- she doesn't even give her friend a chance to fix it. She doesn't talk to her about being upset, she just starts avoiding her. The same thing goes with her mom, who is a travel doctor. When her mom tells her she is going to Syria for 6 months, which is understandably upsetting, she doesn't even talk to her about how she is feeling and just shuts her out completely. Then, she is also rude to her mom's friend whom she is staying with. Basically, I only got about 30 pages in before I had to put it down and decide to DNF.

But- I don't want to say that this book isn't good for teenagers, which is why I'm still giving it 2 stars! They might totally relate and love it. Which is great, since they are the target audience! It also kind of reminds me of Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging so this would be good for fans of that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

emmaguthrie's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

willowxrose's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

jennyzxc's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes

3.5