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storytimed's review against another edition
3.0
Romance was cute, protagonist's relationship with her mom well done, but not much else in this book really spoke to me. Didn't like how slut-shamey the protag was to her supposed best friend. Seriously, if you don't even like your friend, why not... not hang out with her? What a novel idea!
sixphanel's review against another edition
4.0
Short but very interesting and well written. I loved how everything was connected, how they weren't 37 things with no link whatsoever.
ashlylynne's review against another edition
4.0
4/5 Stars
Ellis’ father has been in a coma for years now after a construction accident in hopes that he still might wake up one day. There are only 4 days left of her sophomore year before summer vacation starts and Ellis is ready for it. Our main character goes to visit her father frequently after school, which adds more strain to her already troubled relationship with her mother. Ellis is also fighting with her best friend, or at least on her end she is. Often passive aggressive, Ellis has a hard time dealing with all the stresses in her life. On top of everything, she recently started talking to a friend she hasn’t spoken to since middle school. Follow her journey as she comes of age and comes to terms with love, loss, and relationships.
Okay, confession time: I picked up this book for no other reason than hot dayum look at that cover! I was browsing the young adult section of the Library and couldn’t pass this one by.
I’m so glad that I picked it up, because I ended up loving this book way more than I thought I would based on the description.
I don’t even know where to start, since there’s so much I want to say.
I guess I’ll start with the plot/story/atmosphere. This felt very The Perks of Being a Wallflower to me, but not in a bad way. I’ve read quite a few books trying to emulate the passive-aggressive tone of that rapidly-becoming-a-classic book. Most I’ve been disappointed with. This one I wasn’t.
I really enjoyed this plot. I thought it was strong, believable, and mostly-realistic. Most young adults don’t have to come of age while their father is confined to a hospital bed in a coma, but I found the storyline to be relatable regardless. I was interested to find out how everything was going to play out and watch Ellis come into her own.
Speaking of Ellis, I really did like her character. She can be kind of whiney and woe-is-me-all-alone, but it comes across in a very un-idealistic way. I felt myself really relating to her and where she was coming. My father was never in a coma, but I understand the way in which she displayed her emotions and tried to deal with stress and grief.
I also didn’t mind the fact that she had a strained relationship with her mother because they still loved each other and fought over practical issues. Their relationship isn’t strong, but it’s written strong. I found this to be, like everything else, believable and appropriate to the story.
The other characters held their own, too. They all had depth and unique, highly-believable personalities and character traits. The development of them was highly satisfactory, especially Ellis and her close friends as well as Ellis’ relationship with her mother.
The set up of this story is also something to note: It’s creative and fresh. I loved the fact that each chapter was Ellis talking about something she loved and how it affects her life and then how it also actually tells the narrative and moves the story along. I thought the execution of it all was near perfect.
The writing increased this book’s strength. It’s not exceptionally special, but instead is quick to read with short chapters. This works in the book’s favor, though, as it makes it compulsively readable and easy to finish in a few sittings (or only one sitting if you’re feeling particularly determined).
Now, it says in the title that these 37 things are in no particular order, but we, as readers, know better, don’t we? As I said, the 37 things are not just random but are actually telling the story as new events unfold. And, of course, it all comes together in the end, which I really liked.
I’m going to warn you, though; this is a tear-jerker. I found myself shedding a few as I finished the last couple chapters.
The last thing I want to talk about is the way sexuality is tackled. When I picked this book up, I had no idea this fell into the LGBTQ+ category, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that creep up in the story. My favorite part about it is that Magoon does not feel the need to justify and explain the queer aspects of this book. She writes it like any other contemporary story with a love interest, and I gave much silent applause to that fact.
We don’t need books about being queer; we need books with people that are queer.
(Or any other type of identity that respectively falls into the LGBTQ+ category.)
So, all in all, if you like contemporaries or are looking for something similar to The Perks of Being a Wallflower (except female driven), definitely pick up a copy of this book. It didn’t quite make it to the 5-star rating for me, but 4 stars is still an unbelievably good book!
Review originally published on my Wordpress blog Dreaming Through Literature.
Ellis’ father has been in a coma for years now after a construction accident in hopes that he still might wake up one day. There are only 4 days left of her sophomore year before summer vacation starts and Ellis is ready for it. Our main character goes to visit her father frequently after school, which adds more strain to her already troubled relationship with her mother. Ellis is also fighting with her best friend, or at least on her end she is. Often passive aggressive, Ellis has a hard time dealing with all the stresses in her life. On top of everything, she recently started talking to a friend she hasn’t spoken to since middle school. Follow her journey as she comes of age and comes to terms with love, loss, and relationships.
Okay, confession time: I picked up this book for no other reason than hot dayum look at that cover! I was browsing the young adult section of the Library and couldn’t pass this one by.
I’m so glad that I picked it up, because I ended up loving this book way more than I thought I would based on the description.
I don’t even know where to start, since there’s so much I want to say.
I guess I’ll start with the plot/story/atmosphere. This felt very The Perks of Being a Wallflower to me, but not in a bad way. I’ve read quite a few books trying to emulate the passive-aggressive tone of that rapidly-becoming-a-classic book. Most I’ve been disappointed with. This one I wasn’t.
I really enjoyed this plot. I thought it was strong, believable, and mostly-realistic. Most young adults don’t have to come of age while their father is confined to a hospital bed in a coma, but I found the storyline to be relatable regardless. I was interested to find out how everything was going to play out and watch Ellis come into her own.
Speaking of Ellis, I really did like her character. She can be kind of whiney and woe-is-me-all-alone, but it comes across in a very un-idealistic way. I felt myself really relating to her and where she was coming. My father was never in a coma, but I understand the way in which she displayed her emotions and tried to deal with stress and grief.
I also didn’t mind the fact that she had a strained relationship with her mother because they still loved each other and fought over practical issues. Their relationship isn’t strong, but it’s written strong. I found this to be, like everything else, believable and appropriate to the story.
The other characters held their own, too. They all had depth and unique, highly-believable personalities and character traits. The development of them was highly satisfactory, especially Ellis and her close friends as well as Ellis’ relationship with her mother.
The set up of this story is also something to note: It’s creative and fresh. I loved the fact that each chapter was Ellis talking about something she loved and how it affects her life and then how it also actually tells the narrative and moves the story along. I thought the execution of it all was near perfect.
The writing increased this book’s strength. It’s not exceptionally special, but instead is quick to read with short chapters. This works in the book’s favor, though, as it makes it compulsively readable and easy to finish in a few sittings (or only one sitting if you’re feeling particularly determined).
Now, it says in the title that these 37 things are in no particular order, but we, as readers, know better, don’t we? As I said, the 37 things are not just random but are actually telling the story as new events unfold. And, of course, it all comes together in the end, which I really liked.
I’m going to warn you, though; this is a tear-jerker. I found myself shedding a few as I finished the last couple chapters.
The last thing I want to talk about is the way sexuality is tackled. When I picked this book up, I had no idea this fell into the LGBTQ+ category, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that creep up in the story. My favorite part about it is that Magoon does not feel the need to justify and explain the queer aspects of this book. She writes it like any other contemporary story with a love interest, and I gave much silent applause to that fact.
We don’t need books about being queer; we need books with people that are queer.
(Or any other type of identity that respectively falls into the LGBTQ+ category.)
So, all in all, if you like contemporaries or are looking for something similar to The Perks of Being a Wallflower (except female driven), definitely pick up a copy of this book. It didn’t quite make it to the 5-star rating for me, but 4 stars is still an unbelievably good book!
Review originally published on my Wordpress blog Dreaming Through Literature.
marryallthepeople's review against another edition
2.0
Mish-mash of ideas in a short book that didn't mesh well as an outcome.
bookdealer1415's review against another edition
1.0
I hate to say this but the only good part of the book for me was at the very end when she said her dads eulogy and it tied into the title and the chapter titles. I really did not like this book it was all over the place and it never got really really good, like I said I really didn't like it, the rest of the book was just a bunch of drama and just mess, for me I always look for a good theme of the book, this one had none because she never solved any of her problems, she just pushed them to the side.
herlifewithbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Oh my, I really did like this book! Magoon weaves high school drama with intense emotional traumas freaking effortlessly.
emtees's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
3.75
Ellis is a teenage girl, trying to handle with all the typical teenage things - friends, dating, body image - while also dealing with the fact that her father, who has been on life support for two years after an accident, isn’t recovering. Her mother wants to let him go, but Ellis considers her father the one person she can really talk to and the thought of losing that is devastating. The story takes place over the last week of the school year as Ellis deals with difficult friends, a couple potential love interests and her strained relationship with her mother, as well as a tragedy that has been happening in slow motion.
I enjoyed this book, but the best parts of it didn’t happen until close to the end, so I’d encourage readers who aren’t sure about it to stick it out. Once the story reaches its emotional climax, the writing and the thought behind it really soars. Otherwise, the book is a pretty quick read that often feels light, even if the subject matter is heavy. The chapters are very short - sometimes too short. The gimmick of the book is that each chapter is titled after something Ellis “loves” that appears in that chapter. I say “loves” because the degree to which that’s true varies a lot; in some places, it feels like the author strained to find something in the chapter to add to the list. For most of the book, I wasn’t sure the gimmick was working, but the meaning of the list is revealed in the end in an emotional way that made it worth it.
The character work in this is really good. Ellis, the main character, isn’t always likeable, but she’s extremely realistic - she’s angry and scared and she lashes out at everyone except the people in her life who deserve it most. The other characters, from Ellis’s mom to her friends, are all equally flawed and complex. I liked that a lot of the flaws and interpersonal issues weren’t really resolved in the end; that felt realistic and appropriate.
About the comment on diversity: there is no mention of the ethnicity or race of the characters in this book, so its a little difficult to tell how diverse its meant to be along those lines. There are a few lines that suggest that Ellis might be POC, but nothing definitive. There is definitely room to imagine most of the characters being of any race the reader prefers, which I actually liked a lot. There is queer rep in this book and its nicely handled. Some readers though might find certain issues related to the queer content like Abby’s apparent homophobia or Ellis developing a crush on a girl without thinking about what that means for her sexuality didn’t really get addressed enough. I personally liked the unresolved feeling at the end but I can see where that might be frustrating.
I enjoyed this book, but the best parts of it didn’t happen until close to the end, so I’d encourage readers who aren’t sure about it to stick it out. Once the story reaches its emotional climax, the writing and the thought behind it really soars. Otherwise, the book is a pretty quick read that often feels light, even if the subject matter is heavy. The chapters are very short - sometimes too short. The gimmick of the book is that each chapter is titled after something Ellis “loves” that appears in that chapter. I say “loves” because the degree to which that’s true varies a lot; in some places, it feels like the author strained to find something in the chapter to add to the list. For most of the book, I wasn’t sure the gimmick was working, but the meaning of the list is revealed in the end in an emotional way that made it worth it.
The character work in this is really good. Ellis, the main character, isn’t always likeable, but she’s extremely realistic - she’s angry and scared and she lashes out at everyone except the people in her life who deserve it most. The other characters, from Ellis’s mom to her friends, are all equally flawed and complex. I liked that a lot of the flaws and interpersonal issues weren’t really resolved in the end; that felt realistic and appropriate.
About the comment on diversity: there is no mention of the ethnicity or race of the characters in this book, so its a little difficult to tell how diverse its meant to be along those lines. There are a few lines that suggest that Ellis might be POC, but nothing definitive. There is definitely room to imagine most of the characters being of any race the reader prefers, which I actually liked a lot. There is queer rep in this book and its nicely handled. Some readers though might find certain issues related to the queer content
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Fatphobia
The main plot revolves around a character dealing with a parent’s terminal illness and vegetative state. A secondary character is revealed to have behaved in homophobic ways, though this is not dealt with in any detail. There is some mild internalized fatphobia typical of teenage insecurities.maiareads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
falconerreader's review against another edition
4.0
Having read "How It Went Down" first, this book was something of a surprise.
Magoon is biracial. "HIWD" has characters of various races, but focuses on an urban African American community. "37 Things" is set in a very different community. Like "Charm & Strange," it was a book that felt really, really white despite the author being a person of color. This is not a complaint or a criticism--Magoon has every bit as much insight into white culture as into black culture since, hello, she is equally from both. Actually, since her dad is actually from Africa, she probably has MORE insight into white American culture than into African American culture. I am just going on and on about this because in reading and thinking about the #ownvoices movement, there is a sense that anyone outside the white-straight-cisgendered-able bodied-culturally Christian-middle class-educated "norm" has both the exclusive right and the responsibility to write about their experience outside of that realm, and to not give in to what has traditionally been the default. So I keep getting hung up on the fact that Magoon, who in addition to How It Went Down wrote her debut novel about the tension between non-violent protest and violent revolution during the 1960s Civil Rights movement, was the author of a book that was so white teen cliche--kegs at bonfires, padded bras and getting grounded. She nails it, by the way--like I said, I'm sure not questioning her right or ability to portray that world. But I wonder if she got any pushback from people who think that world gets enough press already.
On to the actual book. I love the structure. LOVE. It makes me want to start writing little story-essays about things I love. It's like a sonnet in that there's both a puzzle-like challenge in adhering to form, and a certain freedom within that form to express what you want to say. Having made end-of-life decisions for both of my parents (but when I was an adult, and with three sisters part of the conversation), I really feel for Ellis. I think it also makes it more believable that she is so clueless about her friendships; because it all started changing right when her life went horribly wrong, and in her fervent denial and numbing of her feelings about that, she numbed herself to a lot of other things as well.
The cover made me wonder if
This book hits the sweet spot for me between fun and serious. Very enjoyable.
Magoon is biracial. "HIWD" has characters of various races, but focuses on an urban African American community. "37 Things" is set in a very different community. Like "Charm & Strange," it was a book that felt really, really white despite the author being a person of color. This is not a complaint or a criticism--Magoon has every bit as much insight into white culture as into black culture since, hello, she is equally from both. Actually, since her dad is actually from Africa, she probably has MORE insight into white American culture than into African American culture. I am just going on and on about this because in reading and thinking about the #ownvoices movement, there is a sense that anyone outside the white-straight-cisgendered-able bodied-culturally Christian-middle class-educated "norm" has both the exclusive right and the responsibility to write about their experience outside of that realm, and to not give in to what has traditionally been the default. So I keep getting hung up on the fact that Magoon, who in addition to How It Went Down wrote her debut novel about the tension between non-violent protest and violent revolution during the 1960s Civil Rights movement, was the author of a book that was so white teen cliche--kegs at bonfires, padded bras and getting grounded. She nails it, by the way--like I said, I'm sure not questioning her right or ability to portray that world. But I wonder if she got any pushback from people who think that world gets enough press already.
On to the actual book. I love the structure. LOVE. It makes me want to start writing little story-essays about things I love. It's like a sonnet in that there's both a puzzle-like challenge in adhering to form, and a certain freedom within that form to express what you want to say. Having made end-of-life decisions for both of my parents (but when I was an adult, and with three sisters part of the conversation), I really feel for Ellis. I think it also makes it more believable that she is so clueless about her friendships; because it all started changing right when her life went horribly wrong, and in her fervent denial and numbing of her feelings about that, she numbed herself to a lot of other things as well.
The cover made me wonder if
Spoiler
there was going to be a lesbian relationship. As I started reading, I decided no, it was just girls being friends. Then we got to the pool scene itself, and what came after, and I thought it was a really lovely portrayal of Ellis's initial cluelessness and dawning realization that she actually is attracted to Cara too. I also really liked how this wasn't a super-huge deal to her. Like, "Oh. Hmm. I guess I like girls. Cool." Abby has enough homophobia to keep the book grounded in reality, but I think Ellis's lack of serious struggle with the idea is also true to our times, at least in the kind of world she lives in.This book hits the sweet spot for me between fun and serious. Very enjoyable.
brittanyallyn's review against another edition
4.0
Very good, it covers a lot without feeling too busy, and it also felt very real. The things at the end were all a bit rushed, and I wish we could’ve seen at least a little of how things were going to play out from there, but the ending did feel like a beginning in the best way.