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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3 stars
TW: death of parent, death of loved one, grief, sexual assault, death, alcohol use, drug use, homophobia, extensive use of d*ke, fat shaming
Rep: latinx lesbian MC with anger issues, mga LI w/asthma
The Writing
The writing style of this book felt very simplistic and juvenile to me, but the upside to that was that it definitely gave the main character a strong voice, even when that voice felt like it didn't really fit the character. I could definitely point out some missed opportunities in the text where I thought the writing style could have been adjusted to better fit the MC and her current state of mind, but I won't because I'm lazy lmao. There were also definitely instances of telling as opposed to showing, which I wasn't a big fan of, as you might have guessed.
The Plot/Pacing
The main arc of this book is the main character, Jessica, coming to terms with her grief and learning to live with it, and I definitely thought that her journey could have been paced out better just because there were really long stretches where nothing really happened and then a lot of things would start happening at once and I thought that could have been spaced out better so that the reader always had something to look forward to. I would go as far as to say that this book felt very slice-of-life to me, and I'm not really sure if that's what it was intending to do. This book feels like it's trying to say something about grief, but it can't really figure out what that something is.
The Characters
Both the main character and her girlfriend read as very bland and one dimensional for the majority of the book and only at the end did they finally start to feel more three-dimensional. As a result, I really did not care about the main character enough to want to know what was going to happen to her and I think for the majority of the book, I was just reading to finish the book, instead of reading to find out what happens.
The side characters were cool, though, I was mostly reading for them, to be honest.
Overall
It feels like this book is not sure about what message it's trying to send and, as a result, I'm not sure what my takeaway from this book should have been.
TW: death of parent, death of loved one, grief, sexual assault, death, alcohol use, drug use, homophobia, extensive use of d*ke, fat shaming
Rep: latinx lesbian MC with anger issues, mga LI w/asthma
The Writing
The writing style of this book felt very simplistic and juvenile to me, but the upside to that was that it definitely gave the main character a strong voice, even when that voice felt like it didn't really fit the character. I could definitely point out some missed opportunities in the text where I thought the writing style could have been adjusted to better fit the MC and her current state of mind, but I won't because I'm lazy lmao. There were also definitely instances of telling as opposed to showing, which I wasn't a big fan of, as you might have guessed.
The Plot/Pacing
The main arc of this book is the main character, Jessica, coming to terms with her grief and learning to live with it, and I definitely thought that her journey could have been paced out better just because there were really long stretches where nothing really happened and then a lot of things would start happening at once and I thought that could have been spaced out better so that the reader always had something to look forward to. I would go as far as to say that this book felt very slice-of-life to me, and I'm not really sure if that's what it was intending to do. This book feels like it's trying to say something about grief, but it can't really figure out what that something is.
The Characters
Both the main character and her girlfriend read as very bland and one dimensional for the majority of the book and only at the end did they finally start to feel more three-dimensional. As a result, I really did not care about the main character enough to want to know what was going to happen to her and I think for the majority of the book, I was just reading to finish the book, instead of reading to find out what happens.
The side characters were cool, though, I was mostly reading for them, to be honest.
Overall
It feels like this book is not sure about what message it's trying to send and, as a result, I'm not sure what my takeaway from this book should have been.
Oh my, what a sad book! This book was full of sorrow and very heavy, proceed with caution. Within the first couple chapters the main characters love interest passes away from asthma complications when she gets the flu and that was just so dang close to current COVID situations I jerked my head back involuntarily.
This is a bit macabre of me but I do enjoy reading YA contemporary that deals with grief. There’s something very raw about the subject and brings a new layer to the story and more complicated characters. The Meaning of Birds really delves into grief on a whole other level. You’ll feel the characters loss and pain on a deep level.
Jess loses her girlfriend and spirals into depression, grief and coping mechanisms. The death of her girlfriend brings back memories of her loss when she was younger, layers of grief are explored in this book. On top of all that Jess is dealing with all the challenges of being a teenager as well. Lots of diverse characters, deep character development, queer rep and mental health topics are explored.
Thank you Indigo Teen for sending me the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is a bit macabre of me but I do enjoy reading YA contemporary that deals with grief. There’s something very raw about the subject and brings a new layer to the story and more complicated characters. The Meaning of Birds really delves into grief on a whole other level. You’ll feel the characters loss and pain on a deep level.
Jess loses her girlfriend and spirals into depression, grief and coping mechanisms. The death of her girlfriend brings back memories of her loss when she was younger, layers of grief are explored in this book. On top of all that Jess is dealing with all the challenges of being a teenager as well. Lots of diverse characters, deep character development, queer rep and mental health topics are explored.
Thank you Indigo Teen for sending me the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book was so hard to read. Not because it was bad, but because it dealt with grief and the aftermath of loss. Jaye Robin Brown writes a really emotional, moving story about dealing with compounded grief - which is, like, really hard to deal with.
I related to Jess so much, honestly; I don't struggle with anger management, and I've never lost a girlfriend or close friend. But I can understand her reactions and lashing out and isolating herself because I've been in such a similar place before. The Meaning of Birds doesn't skimp on how Jess struggles with everything after losing Vivi, and I could sympathize entirely with how hard it is to readjust to normal life and how Jess feels like she shouldn't be happy without Vivi. A lot of the side characters frustrated me, though; it felt like they were pressuring Jess to just "move on" from Vivi's death, Levi especially.
I really adored Jess and Vivi's relationship, though - they were incredibly cute, and I felt Jess's love for Vivi and how painful it was for her to lose Vivi. Usually I'm not fond of books that constantly go between the past and the present, but I think it worked really well for this book. It showed Jess's life with Vivi and how happy they both were, and contrasted it to after Vivi and Jess learning to find her way without Vivi. Here, I feel like the flashbacks added more of an emotional punch to the book than if it had just been divided into two sections.
One thing I liked is that The Meaning of Birds showed compounded grief, which is when a person experiences loss without really recovering from previous loss, and it isn't something that you see in YA too often. Jess's father had passed several years before Vivi, and her feelings about both get tangled up. I definitely think there are teens out there who might find this book helpful in knowing they're not alone. Losing one person can dredge up old feelings, and I don't think that's talked about enough, in YA or anywhere. The book doesn't prescribe some deeper meaning to death. Sometimes people die for no reason at all, seemingly out of the blue, and there's no pretending otherwise in this book.
Another part that I felt was really important was how art was talked about as something that was both painful yet a way to cope. Jess is an artist, but after Vivi's death, art is too painful for her to do, so she turns to blacksmithing instead as another art form, which was really neat. I also loved Greer and Eliza; they were probably my favourite side characters. We love adorable supportive lesbians. But Jess's blooming interest in blacksmithing shows that it's possible to find new, healthy things you enjoy after a loss. I really understood Jess's feelings around art after Vivi died, and it was good to see her accept that it's okay to grow and change.
There were a few things I felt were a tad questionable that took away from my experience of reading it. A couple off-hand comments about asexuality, bi/pansexuality, and trans women that rubbed me the wrong way, for example. These comments are not directly a/bi/trans-phobic, but it struck me as a bit iffy, especially because some of Jess's views were never really addressed or challenged, and they were casual comments that didn't add much to the story altogether.
Yes, this is a tragic book about a young lesbian losing her girlfriend, but it shows her learning to cope with it, even if there's no "getting over" it. I think a lot of teens dealing with loss of all types could use this book. However, anyone who reads this should definitely have some tissues nearby, because--as you'd expect--it is horribly sad.
content warnings: death of a parent, death of a loved one, grief
Thanks to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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I related to Jess so much, honestly; I don't struggle with anger management, and I've never lost a girlfriend or close friend. But I can understand her reactions and lashing out and isolating herself because I've been in such a similar place before. The Meaning of Birds doesn't skimp on how Jess struggles with everything after losing Vivi, and I could sympathize entirely with how hard it is to readjust to normal life and how Jess feels like she shouldn't be happy without Vivi. A lot of the side characters frustrated me, though; it felt like they were pressuring Jess to just "move on" from Vivi's death, Levi especially.
I really adored Jess and Vivi's relationship, though - they were incredibly cute, and I felt Jess's love for Vivi and how painful it was for her to lose Vivi. Usually I'm not fond of books that constantly go between the past and the present, but I think it worked really well for this book. It showed Jess's life with Vivi and how happy they both were, and contrasted it to after Vivi and Jess learning to find her way without Vivi. Here, I feel like the flashbacks added more of an emotional punch to the book than if it had just been divided into two sections.
One thing I liked is that The Meaning of Birds showed compounded grief, which is when a person experiences loss without really recovering from previous loss, and it isn't something that you see in YA too often. Jess's father had passed several years before Vivi, and her feelings about both get tangled up. I definitely think there are teens out there who might find this book helpful in knowing they're not alone. Losing one person can dredge up old feelings, and I don't think that's talked about enough, in YA or anywhere. The book doesn't prescribe some deeper meaning to death. Sometimes people die for no reason at all, seemingly out of the blue, and there's no pretending otherwise in this book.
Another part that I felt was really important was how art was talked about as something that was both painful yet a way to cope. Jess is an artist, but after Vivi's death, art is too painful for her to do, so she turns to blacksmithing instead as another art form, which was really neat. I also loved Greer and Eliza; they were probably my favourite side characters. We love adorable supportive lesbians. But Jess's blooming interest in blacksmithing shows that it's possible to find new, healthy things you enjoy after a loss. I really understood Jess's feelings around art after Vivi died, and it was good to see her accept that it's okay to grow and change.
There were a few things I felt were a tad questionable that took away from my experience of reading it. A couple off-hand comments about asexuality, bi/pansexuality, and trans women that rubbed me the wrong way, for example. These comments are not directly a/bi/trans-phobic, but it struck me as a bit iffy, especially because some of Jess's views were never really addressed or challenged, and they were casual comments that didn't add much to the story altogether.
Yes, this is a tragic book about a young lesbian losing her girlfriend, but it shows her learning to cope with it, even if there's no "getting over" it. I think a lot of teens dealing with loss of all types could use this book. However, anyone who reads this should definitely have some tissues nearby, because--as you'd expect--it is horribly sad.
content warnings: death of a parent, death of a loved one, grief
Thanks to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
BLOG | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM
Dang, got something in my eye there ...
Grief and heartbreak, and a new light maybe at the end.
Grief and heartbreak, and a new light maybe at the end.