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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Laughed. Cried. Thought the world was beautiful and life is short but love is long. It was all I needed in a YA novel!
My main issue with this book was that I didn't feel that the characters were realistic. Maddie is the biggest issue-- I don't get this popular girl who doesn't drink or do drugs and is still a virgin. (Perhaps she's exaggerating her own popularity, but she like, makes it a point to tell us she's popular.) I don't get how she has such a good relationship with her neighbor Rachel who she supposedly ditched as a friend years ago when forming her clique. It seemed like they were still pretty tight to me.
Astrid was fun, but the family dynamics also seemed really unrealistic to me. This family candidly talks about Maddie's sex life, her status as a virgin, etc. It was funny, but a little far fetched for me.
And can someone please tell me the point of cousin Brit?! I thought they'd get back to Brit and Mary, but basically they were just introduced never to be heard from again.
For all my complaints, it wasn't a bad read. It was touching at points. It just didn't add up to too much for me.
Astrid was fun, but the family dynamics also seemed really unrealistic to me. This family candidly talks about Maddie's sex life, her status as a virgin, etc. It was funny, but a little far fetched for me.
And can someone please tell me the point of cousin Brit?! I thought they'd get back to Brit and Mary, but basically they were just introduced never to be heard from again.
For all my complaints, it wasn't a bad read. It was touching at points. It just didn't add up to too much for me.
I came SO CLOSE to DNFing this book it wasn't even funny.
I hated the main character. She's so freaking selfish and only cares about boys. Honestly, who goes on a cruise with their DYING grandmother and wants to immediately hook up with guys (when she just dumped her ex). Ugh. And don't even get me started on the "insta-love." Because having non-stop sex with your new bf to keep yourself from properly saying good bye and/or grieve over your grandmother is totally healthy. Just no.
AND this family is WAY too comfortable talking about stuff family shouldn't feel comfortable talking about. Some scenes are just absolutely cringe-worthy. I'm sorry, but under no circumstance am I discussing penis sizes or the state of my virginity with my immediate family and definitely not letting my grandmother grab my boob just because. WTF.... No. No. No.
I hated the main character. She's so freaking selfish and only cares about boys. Honestly, who goes on a cruise with their DYING grandmother and wants to immediately hook up with guys (when she just dumped her ex). Ugh. And don't even get me started on the "insta-love." Because having non-stop sex with your new bf to keep yourself from properly saying good bye and/or grieve over your grandmother is totally healthy. Just no.
AND this family is WAY too comfortable talking about stuff family shouldn't feel comfortable talking about. Some scenes are just absolutely cringe-worthy. I'm sorry, but under no circumstance am I discussing penis sizes or the state of my virginity with my immediate family and definitely not letting my grandmother grab my boob just because. WTF.... No. No. No.
Oh boy. This book might be the reason they say not to judge a book by its cover? I wanted so hard to enjoy it, but it fell flat on so many levels. The story line explores what has the potential to be a very interesting concept — a death with dignity cruise of sorts — but the story itself is rather shallow. Maddie is a high school senior gearing up for her freshman year at NYU when her grandmother announces that she has pancreatic cancer. As a last hurrah she has booked the family on an all inclusive, all expense paid cruise to tie up her loose ends around the world and encourage everyone to step out of their comfort zones. Like I said, potential? But then between the cringe-y quotes, the middle school drama, the sex (lots of sex??), penis/boobs/butt jokes and ~instalove~ the potential was squandered. I can’t figure out what audience this would be geared towards because it was just all over the place and none of them well enough. I don’t know what high school is like these days, but I found Maddie insufferable and her family was WAY too overshare-y, IMO. It could have been cute, and some of the second string characters were enjoyable, but the main family was just exhausting. This was not on my list of books I want to read, I got it for free from a blind date with a book event. I am *almost* mad to have lost time with it but it did provide a relief from schoolwork and was an incredibly easy, mindless, read.
When I first started this book it was questionable as to whether I would like it or not. I’m not sure if it is YA but reads like it is. I was pleasantly surprised that not too far in I started to meet very enduring characters. This book turned out to be emotional and uplifting at the same time.
1.5 stars. This book was just silly. Silly plot; silly, stereotypical characters. The protagonist was just awful. Nothing interesting.
#30secondreview surprising favourite of 2016! who would expect a palliative family cruise to be so much fun. it's a mature plot starring a quirky family that's loveable flawed and ridiculous. it makes you swoon laugh and cry. quirk without cringe achieved!
full review up here!
holy crap... i need a moment
i feel like this book took me into a family of people that made me feel safe and amazing. i laughed, i cried, i feel like i traveled the world with them. this book has a crazy premise, full of crazy amazing characters, and I didn't want it to end. Everything was just so great, I can't really put it into words. This book is about life and death and how they get tangled up, and love and loss and coping with things that seem to be too much.
thanks to netgalley and little, brown for providing me a copy of this book, which will stick in my heart for a long time <3
holy crap... i need a moment
i feel like this book took me into a family of people that made me feel safe and amazing. i laughed, i cried, i feel like i traveled the world with them. this book has a crazy premise, full of crazy amazing characters, and I didn't want it to end. Everything was just so great, I can't really put it into words. This book is about life and death and how they get tangled up, and love and loss and coping with things that seem to be too much.
thanks to netgalley and little, brown for providing me a copy of this book, which will stick in my heart for a long time <3