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holdenkillfield's review against another edition
3.0
This is a book that I will have to re-read in a year or so and see if my feelings about it and my rating have changed. At this time, I am unsure of my rating and emotions because this story was too short of providing the impact I was hoping for in such a tragic book, but that might be the point.
The ending was too abrupt and tidy when the storyline of both main characters was anything but that. This was a very emotional and violent story and to end perfectly wrapped up felt jarring. With heavy themes such as homophobia, bullying, and emotional manipulation (from both friends and parents), these complex themes were presented but rushed due to the short page count.
The structuring of the story doesn't so much focus on the mystery of the murder because it honestly was apparent the whodunit from the beginning. It is character development as each character begins to have new realizations of self and others. It is more about Georgia's growth, and what this new understanding of life and their purpose in it means to them.
It is a weighty book, but the downfall is that it does not profoundly analyze the complex themes, thus making it feel unresolved and rushed.
The ending was too abrupt and tidy when the storyline of both main characters was anything but that. This was a very emotional and violent story and to end perfectly wrapped up felt jarring. With heavy themes such as homophobia, bullying, and emotional manipulation (from both friends and parents), these complex themes were presented but rushed due to the short page count.
The structuring of the story doesn't so much focus on the mystery of the murder because it honestly was apparent the whodunit from the beginning. It is character development as each character begins to have new realizations of self and others. It is more about Georgia's growth, and what this new understanding of life and their purpose in it means to them.
It is a weighty book, but the downfall is that it does not profoundly analyze the complex themes, thus making it feel unresolved and rushed.
neverfruitt's review against another edition
2.0
This is a bit of a strange book and I'm not fully sure how I feel having finished it. It was fairly good and it was easy to read.
Mostly I felt as though so many things could have been expanded on. The ending in particular felt rushed and there was no time to sit with the feelings of it.
On the other hand it tells a story I know. Queer kids like me didn't always have friends or support and so often it came through the love and support of an elder queer. And I kinda wish they went into that more. I think stories about being a young gay teenager never really get the whole support from a elder queer thing.
Overall it was a decent book. But it felt cut short.
Mostly I felt as though so many things could have been expanded on. The ending in particular felt rushed and there was no time to sit with the feelings of it.
On the other hand it tells a story I know. Queer kids like me didn't always have friends or support and so often it came through the love and support of an elder queer. And I kinda wish they went into that more. I think stories about being a young gay teenager never really get the whole support from a elder queer thing.
Overall it was a decent book. But it felt cut short.
jayjoreads's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
hayleybeale's review against another edition
4.0
Mariko Tamaki is best known for her wonderful graphic novel collaborations (This One Summer, Skim, and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me), and this second (I think) YA novel is equally evocative and atmospheric.
The naked body of high school senior, Todd, is found in the snow in the park of a small community. His ghost watches as Detectives Greevy and Daniels investigate his death, filling in the details that they fail to elicit.
In alternating chapters, Georgia, who goes to the same school, watches the investigation from afar while uncomfortably noting the similarities between herself and Todd. They were both ostracized and isolated loners and, possibly connected, they are/were both queer. The connection Georgia feels with Todd deepens when she realizes that she has another connection with him, one that the police don’t seem to know about.
Todd is mostly a passive observer, one who doesn’t bring feelings to what he’s observing - after all, he’s dead. Georgia is the one who feels the need to find out what happened, to explain why Todd was targeted, because she could be him. As with Tamaki’s other novel, Saving Montgomery Sole, small town homophobia and hypocrisy are exposed, in this novel with the gay teacher Mr McVeeter as well as with Todd himself.
The chill of the snow is echoed in the cold that both Todd and Georgia feel at school. Though Mr McVeeter tries to reassure Todd that high school isn’t life, that things will get better, Todd, as many others before and after him, finds that hard to believe, though he does observe the happy home life of Detective Daniels with his chubby red-haired boyfriend.
This is a slight novel which leaves a lot for readers to fill in for themselves, but in a thoughtful rather than sloppy way. The mystery is resolved but Georgia and Todd, and the reader, find no satisfaction from that.
Thanks to Roaring Brook and Netgalley for the digital review copy.
The naked body of high school senior, Todd, is found in the snow in the park of a small community. His ghost watches as Detectives Greevy and Daniels investigate his death, filling in the details that they fail to elicit.
In alternating chapters, Georgia, who goes to the same school, watches the investigation from afar while uncomfortably noting the similarities between herself and Todd. They were both ostracized and isolated loners and, possibly connected, they are/were both queer. The connection Georgia feels with Todd deepens when she realizes that she has another connection with him, one that the police don’t seem to know about.
Todd is mostly a passive observer, one who doesn’t bring feelings to what he’s observing - after all, he’s dead. Georgia is the one who feels the need to find out what happened, to explain why Todd was targeted, because she could be him. As with Tamaki’s other novel, Saving Montgomery Sole, small town homophobia and hypocrisy are exposed, in this novel with the gay teacher Mr McVeeter as well as with Todd himself.
The chill of the snow is echoed in the cold that both Todd and Georgia feel at school. Though Mr McVeeter tries to reassure Todd that high school isn’t life, that things will get better, Todd, as many others before and after him, finds that hard to believe, though he does observe the happy home life of Detective Daniels with his chubby red-haired boyfriend.
This is a slight novel which leaves a lot for readers to fill in for themselves, but in a thoughtful rather than sloppy way. The mystery is resolved but Georgia and Todd, and the reader, find no satisfaction from that.
Thanks to Roaring Brook and Netgalley for the digital review copy.
brianna_gallup's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
xetrics's review against another edition
3.0
i don’t really know how i feel about this book?? on the one hand, i loved how true the relationship between georgia and mark felt. the sort of awkward closeness of siblings is not a relationship i feel like i see unflinchingly portrayed elsewhere. and i think what the book says about inaction etc etc in the way that todd died is super interesting. but also i was kind of bored through lots of the book and there were definitely parts that were unclear or confusing to me. that said, i was listening to the audiobook while on a long drive so maybe things got lost in translation there. but the pacing was weird, sometimes the writing was weird. all in all, i don’t really know how to feel! but i don’t think this book is going to end up being all that memorable which i think is ultimately negative. final conclusion: eh