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booshort's review against another edition
5.0
This book was surprisingly great.
The reason I say surprisingly is because I hadn't heard one thing about it before I saw it at the book store. To be honest I only got it for the cover, and the integration of art and comics throughout the story.
But wow. This story really stuck with me.
It's about these five, recently graduated, teenagers that are basically figuring out what to do with the rest of their lives. All have their own individual backgrounds and issues to overcome. Whether that be a recently broken heart, surviving longer than an older sibling, overcoming anxiety, coming to terms with changes in the future, or figuring out who you truly are.
I connected to this book more than I ever have with a book before.
I relate to Zach; because I'm not ready for my friends and I to move away from one another.
I relate to Mik; because I myself have social anxiety.
I relate to Natalie; because I think I want to change who I am when I move.
Graduation is coming up for me this year, and I still don't think I'm ready, but this book helped me significantly.
I'd recommend this to absolutely anybody, because this book deals with it all.
The reason I say surprisingly is because I hadn't heard one thing about it before I saw it at the book store. To be honest I only got it for the cover, and the integration of art and comics throughout the story.
But wow. This story really stuck with me.
It's about these five, recently graduated, teenagers that are basically figuring out what to do with the rest of their lives. All have their own individual backgrounds and issues to overcome. Whether that be a recently broken heart, surviving longer than an older sibling, overcoming anxiety, coming to terms with changes in the future, or figuring out who you truly are.
I connected to this book more than I ever have with a book before.
I relate to Zach; because I'm not ready for my friends and I to move away from one another.
I relate to Mik; because I myself have social anxiety.
I relate to Natalie; because I think I want to change who I am when I move.
Graduation is coming up for me this year, and I still don't think I'm ready, but this book helped me significantly.
I'd recommend this to absolutely anybody, because this book deals with it all.
rj_novotny's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kristy_k's review against another edition
3.0
Having not heard much about this book, I was unsure if I'd enjoy it. But, McCarthy took 5 mainly unlikable characters and created a poignant and realistic story about dealing with grief and discovering oneself. You Were Here takes place over the course of a summer, but that is plenty of time to see the characters develop, change, and grow.
Perhaps one of my favorite things about the novel (although at first I was unsure if I'd like it) was the different way each character's POV was portrayed. There was 1st person, 3rd person, art, and graphics. Each one yielded well to the character it was for and I ended up thinking it added to the overall storytelling.
Perhaps one of my favorite things about the novel (although at first I was unsure if I'd like it) was the different way each character's POV was portrayed. There was 1st person, 3rd person, art, and graphics. Each one yielded well to the character it was for and I ended up thinking it added to the overall storytelling.
epilieaspiechick's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
While this story is about grief, I did not enjoy it. There are five characters who trade off narrating and I can't say I liked any of them.
In addition to that, there are one off comments made using diagnoses like Tourettes and ADHD that I really didn't appreciate. If you want to use certain conditions in your book, at least have the decency to do it well and not just as an off the cuff remark.
In addition to that, there are one off comments made using diagnoses like Tourettes and ADHD that I really didn't appreciate. If you want to use certain conditions in your book, at least have the decency to do it well and not just as an off the cuff remark.
merlin_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Grief. It means something different to everyone. It's also something everyone handles differently. Because honestly, who's to say what's right and what's wrong? When Jaycee witnesses her older brother, Jake's, horrific death it inevitably changes her and everyone around her. Her best friend stops talking to her. Her mother ends up in a mental ward of sorts and her father acts like he's going to lose her every time she walks out the door. Then there's Mik, Jake's best friend. He's the only one Jaycee can find comfort each year on the anniversary of Jake's death. But something is different about Mik lately. Something is different about everyone.
This story follows 5 people: Jaycee, Mik, Natalie, Bishop, and Zach. Each one is struggling with something internally, whether it's grief or change or fear. They are 5 very different people who end up finding solace in each other - somewhat rather unwillingly.
This book was interesting to me. Mostly because I didn't really like any of the characters. Almost all of them were horrible people who did horrible things to each other. The one who surprised me the most was Zach. He first comes across as the boy who doesn't want to grow up, he just wants to party all the time and make out with his girlfriend. But as the story progresses, he becomes the most interesting character of all and one with the most depth.
Even though the story focused on Jaycee and how she was coping, or not, with her brothers death, I just didn't care for her. But I understood her, if that makes sense. Grief makes people do and act in ways people don't care for. And that's why this story was so different. It's about change and acceptance. In a way, it's a road map of the five stages of grief. And the way it's told - Jaycee, Natalie, & Zach with words, Mik like a graphic novel, and Bishop with just one piece of art (his own paintings) was a brilliant decision by the author.
This is definitely one to judge for yourself because I think everyone will get something different out of it. The writing style was done really well and I am interested in checking out more from this author.
This story follows 5 people: Jaycee, Mik, Natalie, Bishop, and Zach. Each one is struggling with something internally, whether it's grief or change or fear. They are 5 very different people who end up finding solace in each other - somewhat rather unwillingly.
This book was interesting to me. Mostly because I didn't really like any of the characters. Almost all of them were horrible people who did horrible things to each other. The one who surprised me the most was Zach. He first comes across as the boy who doesn't want to grow up, he just wants to party all the time and make out with his girlfriend. But as the story progresses, he becomes the most interesting character of all and one with the most depth.
Even though the story focused on Jaycee and how she was coping, or not, with her brothers death, I just didn't care for her. But I understood her, if that makes sense. Grief makes people do and act in ways people don't care for. And that's why this story was so different. It's about change and acceptance. In a way, it's a road map of the five stages of grief. And the way it's told - Jaycee, Natalie, & Zach with words, Mik like a graphic novel, and Bishop with just one piece of art (his own paintings) was a brilliant decision by the author.
This is definitely one to judge for yourself because I think everyone will get something different out of it. The writing style was done really well and I am interested in checking out more from this author.
zaheerah's review against another edition
5.0
~ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review~
You Were Here is a surprisingly enjoyable novel and authentic. Told in alternating chapters from each of the five main character in a variety of ways. The main protagonist Jaycee’s are told in first person, while Zach and Natalie’s are in third. Bishop’s chapters are graffiti art, while Mik’s are graphic novel panels. The result is five clear and differentiated voices and a really refreshing way of reading a book.
Jaycee’s brother died five years ago when he snapped his neck doing a backflip off the top of a playground swing in front of Jaycee and others. Five years later, time hasn’t changed the Jake-sized hole she has in her life. Every year, on the anniversary of Jake’s death, Jaycee breaks into the ruins of a insane asylum, and meets up with Mik, Jake’s friend. But this year, Jaycee is joined by her ex-best friend Natalie, Natalie’s boyfriend Zach, and their friend Bishop. This was the beginning of a series of adventures when Jaycee finds Jake’s map of old buildings and hidden dares.
You Were Here had such a great authenticity to its storyline, dealing with mature themes of death, family, and growing up. It’s a fairly long novel, but there’s so much going on, you don’t even realise. Each character had such a unique voice, and there was no problem separating them because each and everyone had such a distinct voice, and it’s brilliantly executed.
Jake’s death left a hole in Jaycee, but she wasn’t the only one affected. All five characters’ lives were changed that day, whether they were present or not. And how it all connected was really well done, and as their adventure slowly exposed the truth, it becomes a really gripping tale.
I really liked how brutally honest Jaycee was, and as she holds onto to the memory of Jake, she throwing everyone else out.She’s a very different but fun narrator, and is key piece to putting the group back together, even when she doesn’t want to.
Nat’s determined to slowly cast away all her attachments before leaving their town, and starting anew at college, and using her last summer as a chance to make some things right. I really related to Nat, she’s a goody-two-shoes and if it was me, I would definitely be yelling at everyone about how dangerous that roof looks.
Despite how closely I related with Nat, I absolutely loved Mik. He has selective mutism, so we don’t hear a lot from Mik personally but his scenes are shown through graphic novel panels and I LOVED IT. It was such a creative way of showing another character’s POV, and he was great character!
Zach is a joker on the edge of being an almost alcoholic and how his storyline was developed and revealed was really good. But I won’t say more because it’s best left as a surprise. Bishop seems like a lesser character, and his chapters are similar to Mik, showing the graffiti work rather than writing but his presence was vital to the working of this book.
Together, You Were Here brings a mix of humour, heartbreak and honestly creating a uplifting and interesting novel that I can’t wait for it to be released to the world.
You Were Here is a surprisingly enjoyable novel and authentic. Told in alternating chapters from each of the five main character in a variety of ways. The main protagonist Jaycee’s are told in first person, while Zach and Natalie’s are in third. Bishop’s chapters are graffiti art, while Mik’s are graphic novel panels. The result is five clear and differentiated voices and a really refreshing way of reading a book.
Jaycee’s brother died five years ago when he snapped his neck doing a backflip off the top of a playground swing in front of Jaycee and others. Five years later, time hasn’t changed the Jake-sized hole she has in her life. Every year, on the anniversary of Jake’s death, Jaycee breaks into the ruins of a insane asylum, and meets up with Mik, Jake’s friend. But this year, Jaycee is joined by her ex-best friend Natalie, Natalie’s boyfriend Zach, and their friend Bishop. This was the beginning of a series of adventures when Jaycee finds Jake’s map of old buildings and hidden dares.
You Were Here had such a great authenticity to its storyline, dealing with mature themes of death, family, and growing up. It’s a fairly long novel, but there’s so much going on, you don’t even realise. Each character had such a unique voice, and there was no problem separating them because each and everyone had such a distinct voice, and it’s brilliantly executed.
Jake’s death left a hole in Jaycee, but she wasn’t the only one affected. All five characters’ lives were changed that day, whether they were present or not. And how it all connected was really well done, and as their adventure slowly exposed the truth, it becomes a really gripping tale.
I really liked how brutally honest Jaycee was, and as she holds onto to the memory of Jake, she throwing everyone else out.She’s a very different but fun narrator, and is key piece to putting the group back together, even when she doesn’t want to.
Nat’s determined to slowly cast away all her attachments before leaving their town, and starting anew at college, and using her last summer as a chance to make some things right. I really related to Nat, she’s a goody-two-shoes and if it was me, I would definitely be yelling at everyone about how dangerous that roof looks.
Despite how closely I related with Nat, I absolutely loved Mik. He has selective mutism, so we don’t hear a lot from Mik personally but his scenes are shown through graphic novel panels and I LOVED IT. It was such a creative way of showing another character’s POV, and he was great character!
Zach is a joker on the edge of being an almost alcoholic and how his storyline was developed and revealed was really good. But I won’t say more because it’s best left as a surprise. Bishop seems like a lesser character, and his chapters are similar to Mik, showing the graffiti work rather than writing but his presence was vital to the working of this book.
Together, You Were Here brings a mix of humour, heartbreak and honestly creating a uplifting and interesting novel that I can’t wait for it to be released to the world.
alexblackreads's review against another edition
3.0
I wound up feeling rather frustrated by this book. Going in, it seemed like it ticked all the boxes of a fun, issue driven contemporary. But then it seemed overwhelmed by problems. The word art sections of the book felt gimmicky (although the comic style sections were well done). There were too many POVs to keep up with, not all of them feeling necessary for the story. The switch between first and third POV always felt wrong to my brain and reading the story never felt natural. The focus seemed to be more on the romance than dealing with her brother's death.
It wasn't terrible, but it was so plagued by problems that I didn't find myself enjoying most of it. It took me five days to read when ordinarily this is the kind of book I'd easily get through in one or two, and I constantly had to force myself to pay attention to what I was reading.
The only sections I really enjoyed by the end were Mik's comic strips, and I'm not someone who's particularly interested in graphic novels. It just seemed like a let down.
It wasn't terrible, but it was so plagued by problems that I didn't find myself enjoying most of it. It took me five days to read when ordinarily this is the kind of book I'd easily get through in one or two, and I constantly had to force myself to pay attention to what I was reading.
The only sections I really enjoyed by the end were Mik's comic strips, and I'm not someone who's particularly interested in graphic novels. It just seemed like a let down.
juliwi's review against another edition
3.0
I'm very excited to start off this new month with such a different type of book than I usually read. When I first saw You Were Here I was intrigued and also unsure if the mix of different genres and mediums would work. In the end I'm very happy I gave McCarthy's book a try! Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
As the blurb above might betray, there's loads happening in this novel. On the one hand the blurb betrays almost too much, but then McCarthy unfolds the plot with much more intricacy and sensitivity than you may think. Although I have often been hesitant about Young Adult fiction there is one thing about it I could never have denied and that is that the genre's authors are unafraid to tackle a lot of difficult topics. Although many novels unfortunately don't do so entirely successfully, it is a good sign for a genre to not shy away from difficulty. In You Were Here McCarthy deals with one of the hardest things anyone ever has to deal with and that is the loss of a family member and the impact that has on more than just direct family members. Although the focus of the novel doesn't necessarily lie on Jake's death, it is at the centre of everything. As the novel rolls along McCarthy reveals more of the shock waves of this one event and although much of it is pretty straightforward there are some twists and turns along the way which will make the reader feel for her characters.
Something I very much liked about You Were Here was its focus on friendship. There is little which feels as crucial in a teenager's life and is equally supportive and destructive to their sense of self. As everyone deals with the continuous blow-out of Jake's death different tensions arise and make each of the characters assess their role in the lives of others and what they stand to gain. Most of the characters are brought quite close to the reader whereas some stay on the periphery. Although the portrayals of these characters doesn't necessarily go very deep, they are incisive enough that everyone should be able to get something out of it.
I read McCarthy's You Were Here in a single sitting and it opened my eyes to the different ways in which literature can develop in the future. Although not perfect, it's a very enjoyable book. I'd recommend it to fans of YA and Contemporary fiction.
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/review-you-were-here-by-cori-mccarthy.html
As the blurb above might betray, there's loads happening in this novel. On the one hand the blurb betrays almost too much, but then McCarthy unfolds the plot with much more intricacy and sensitivity than you may think. Although I have often been hesitant about Young Adult fiction there is one thing about it I could never have denied and that is that the genre's authors are unafraid to tackle a lot of difficult topics. Although many novels unfortunately don't do so entirely successfully, it is a good sign for a genre to not shy away from difficulty. In You Were Here McCarthy deals with one of the hardest things anyone ever has to deal with and that is the loss of a family member and the impact that has on more than just direct family members. Although the focus of the novel doesn't necessarily lie on Jake's death, it is at the centre of everything. As the novel rolls along McCarthy reveals more of the shock waves of this one event and although much of it is pretty straightforward there are some twists and turns along the way which will make the reader feel for her characters.
Something I very much liked about You Were Here was its focus on friendship. There is little which feels as crucial in a teenager's life and is equally supportive and destructive to their sense of self. As everyone deals with the continuous blow-out of Jake's death different tensions arise and make each of the characters assess their role in the lives of others and what they stand to gain. Most of the characters are brought quite close to the reader whereas some stay on the periphery. Although the portrayals of these characters doesn't necessarily go very deep, they are incisive enough that everyone should be able to get something out of it.
I read McCarthy's You Were Here in a single sitting and it opened my eyes to the different ways in which literature can develop in the future. Although not perfect, it's a very enjoyable book. I'd recommend it to fans of YA and Contemporary fiction.
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/review-you-were-here-by-cori-mccarthy.html
daisey's review against another edition
3.0
Jaycee's life completely changed the day that her older brother died, and she's never really been able to get past that. As she faces her own graduation and the summer following it, she reconnects with old friends for adventures to the same places her brother explored. The story is told from the perspective of each of the group of friends in his/her own way by using text and illustration. I especially liked the addition of the comics panels for Mikivikious since he does not speak through most of the story. Each person deals with grief in their own way, and this story took an interesting look at that process for several different people, as well as reminding the reader that over time it is both acceptable and necessary to move on from the death of a loved one to live your own life.
* I received an electronic copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review.
* I received an electronic copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review.
flavoredfaeman's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Alcohol