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eesh25's review against another edition
3.0
I finally understand why this novel is getting so many three stars. It's not because this is a bad novel. Just an underwhelming one.
The concept of the novel is great. Even when I didn't know about it (or maybe before it came out), I wondered if someone would write about the people who weren't the chosen ones or in the thick of things. You know, the rest of the people. And then I heard of this novel and was pretty freaking excited. But the lukewarm response gave me pause. Finally read it though.
Like I said, it's about the people who aren't the protagonists. In this case, that's Micky. Bad shit is going on with beams of lights and fissures to another world, but none of it is happening to Micky. He's just living his life, worried about graduation, going to college, his OCD, a girl he's been in love with since forever. It's all normal stuff. He doesn't know much about what's going on with the "indie" kids. "Indie kids", in this novel, are the usual MCs to whom bad shit happens.
At first, I found Micky to be interesting. But then it turns out that it was his disorder that I found interesting, not him. I'm not sure if that's insensitive, but take away his struggle with anxiety, and he's just a guy pining after a girl who seems to be stringing him, and another guy, along. He's also prone to douchiness caused by jealousy.
Safe to say, he's not very likable. His older sister is better, but not that much. His best friend, Jared, is okay. The girl he's pining after, Henna, and the whole arc between her and Micky, is nothing but a source of annoyance. And there's this other guy who's just... there. It's like all the character have a gimmick. Micky's obsessive-compulsive, his sister has history with anorexia, his friend is one-quarter god, Henna's the love interest and the one going away soon, Nathan's the new guy who's part of the love-triangle. These are the gimmicks, and we don't explore the characters much further than these facts. We don't really get to know them and, therefore, don't connect to them.
There were things I liked. The disorders for one, especially Micky's, and how they was portrayed. I thought it was a really good representation. There was a chapter in which mental illness and it's perception was discussed which was my favourite chapter.
Also, at the start of each chapter, we would get a paragraph summarising what was going on with the "indie" kids (I still don't know what, specifically, makes someone an indie kid). Those paragraphs were great. They played with common genre tropes. They were funny and I loved the contrast between the shit going on in them and the normal stuff with Micky.
I wish the rest of the novel had that humorous tone because the overall tone was really off. On one hand, we got the summaries of supernatural stuff going on, the talk about "indie" kids and how some shit like that happened once every decade and yet adults never got involved and basically tried to pretend that they didn't know anything. On the other hand, we has serious stuff like OCD, anorexia, and Henna's parents taking her to a country that's in the middle of a war. There wasn't a proper balance between the two.
Overall, like I said before, this is not a bad novel. Very readable and with some good parts and truly good insight into OCD. But it didn't live up to its potential.
The concept of the novel is great. Even when I didn't know about it (or maybe before it came out), I wondered if someone would write about the people who weren't the chosen ones or in the thick of things. You know, the rest of the people. And then I heard of this novel and was pretty freaking excited. But the lukewarm response gave me pause. Finally read it though.
Like I said, it's about the people who aren't the protagonists. In this case, that's Micky. Bad shit is going on with beams of lights and fissures to another world, but none of it is happening to Micky. He's just living his life, worried about graduation, going to college, his OCD, a girl he's been in love with since forever. It's all normal stuff. He doesn't know much about what's going on with the "indie" kids. "Indie kids", in this novel, are the usual MCs to whom bad shit happens.
At first, I found Micky to be interesting. But then it turns out that it was his disorder that I found interesting, not him. I'm not sure if that's insensitive, but take away his struggle with anxiety, and he's just a guy pining after a girl who seems to be stringing him, and another guy, along. He's also prone to douchiness caused by jealousy.
Safe to say, he's not very likable. His older sister is better, but not that much. His best friend, Jared, is okay. The girl he's pining after, Henna, and the whole arc between her and Micky, is nothing but a source of annoyance. And there's this other guy who's just... there. It's like all the character have a gimmick. Micky's obsessive-compulsive, his sister has history with anorexia, his friend is one-quarter god, Henna's the love interest and the one going away soon, Nathan's the new guy who's part of the love-triangle. These are the gimmicks, and we don't explore the characters much further than these facts. We don't really get to know them and, therefore, don't connect to them.
There were things I liked. The disorders for one, especially Micky's, and how they was portrayed. I thought it was a really good representation. There was a chapter in which mental illness and it's perception was discussed which was my favourite chapter.
Also, at the start of each chapter, we would get a paragraph summarising what was going on with the "indie" kids (I still don't know what, specifically, makes someone an indie kid). Those paragraphs were great. They played with common genre tropes. They were funny and I loved the contrast between the shit going on in them and the normal stuff with Micky.
I wish the rest of the novel had that humorous tone because the overall tone was really off. On one hand, we got the summaries of supernatural stuff going on, the talk about "indie" kids and how some shit like that happened once every decade and yet adults never got involved and basically tried to pretend that they didn't know anything. On the other hand, we has serious stuff like OCD, anorexia, and Henna's parents taking her to a country that's in the middle of a war. There wasn't a proper balance between the two.
Overall, like I said before, this is not a bad novel. Very readable and with some good parts and truly good insight into OCD. But it didn't live up to its potential.
faeriesparks's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped I would. I loved the premise (main reason why I wanted to read it) and I also liked the diverse cast of characters and their everyday problems. Especially the chapter when Mike talks to his therapist about anxiety (tbh it made me cry a bit).
But for some reason this book has left me feeling ... meh. I don't know. Around the middle of the book I kind of lost interest for two days. I liked the ending but it was nothing spectacular (for me).
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped I would. I loved the premise (main reason why I wanted to read it) and I also liked the diverse cast of characters and their everyday problems. Especially the chapter when Mike talks to his therapist about anxiety (tbh it made me cry a bit).
But for some reason this book has left me feeling ... meh. I don't know. Around the middle of the book I kind of lost interest for two days. I liked the ending but it was nothing spectacular (for me).
emselilly's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED THIS BOOK OMG
I wasn't sure in the beginning but after a few chapters I was absolutely hooked, by the last third i could have read it all in one go, I was almost late to work because I wanted to finish reading it. I loved the story and the concept and the vibes (kinda Stranger Things, Buffy and more) and the characters are so diverse and the writing so beautiful and there's really a lot of meaning behind it. So happy I read this book, I picked it up by chance at comic con so glad I Did!!
I wasn't sure in the beginning but after a few chapters I was absolutely hooked, by the last third i could have read it all in one go, I was almost late to work because I wanted to finish reading it. I loved the story and the concept and the vibes (kinda Stranger Things, Buffy and more) and the characters are so diverse and the writing so beautiful and there's really a lot of meaning behind it. So happy I read this book, I picked it up by chance at comic con so glad I Did!!
groovyjenni's review against another edition
2.0
After reading this, I wonder if maybe I’m just getting to old to really like straight up young adult without any dystopia or fantasy attached to it. This was incredibly boring.
karrama's review against another edition
4.0
I like the self-conscious diversity, but more importantly, the honest portrayal of issues that real people struggle with, all in the universe where people with impossible powers run around saving the world. There aren't easy answers, but there are supportive friends.
madifish97's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
I loved this book and the concept of how the rest of the people in a “chosen one” story are affected by what is going on. I laughed and cried and was shocked by many parts. Listening to it as an audiobook was like watching a movie and I kept thinking “Wow, it’s crazy how such ordinary parts of life can create such a wonderful story.”
The only thing keeping me from giving it 5 stars was the whole cat-god thing. It felt kind of out of place.
The only thing keeping me from giving it 5 stars was the whole cat-god thing. It felt kind of out of place.
sleepy_sapling's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thebookishnic's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
britt_99's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Had a rough start with this one. Fell in love along the way. Would have given it a 3.5 but the lesbian teacher never came back into play at any part in the plot so I took away the .5. The reason it’s not any higher stars as well is just simply bc the start was really rough and I thought the world building and introduction could have been done wayyy better. Absolutely adored the character writing tho and how realistic a lot of the relationships were.
bookph1le's review against another edition
3.0
I think this book is very well-written, and since I've read The Knife of Never Letting Go, it shouldn't have surprised me that it's not exactly a light read, but the heaviness of it did surprise me. That's not a complaint about the book, it's a personal thing as I was hoping for something more light-hearted and funny about being the normal kid stuck with having to deal with the aftermath of the havoc the Specials tend to wreck.
More complete review to come.
Full review:
This book was a bizarre reading experience. Having read Patrick Ness's The Knife of Never Letting Go, I was frankly surprised when I first saw this book, as its description made it sound like a light-hearted romp of a book, one in which the reader gets to see what it's like to be one of the not-Special kids who have to deal with the destructive aftermath of the Specials' struggles against the big, bad evil. Some spoilers to follow.
I was really looking forward to reading that book. However, what I found contained in this book's pages is not that light-hearted story. Essentially, this is a contemporary novel with some supernatural elements woven into it, and the blend isn't always smooth. It gives the book an overall uneven feel that prevented me from really getting into it, because the whole time I was reading it I kept switching back and forth from "it's urban fantasy" to "it's a contemporary novel".
The urban fantasy elements mostly comes from the brief descriptions that kick off each chapter, in which Ness provides a summary of what the interestingly-named Special kids (the book refers to these characters as "Indie Kids", a label that doesn't make much sense to me, frankly) are up to. These were some of my favorite sections in the book, as they provide a wry bit of satire that pokes what feels to me like gentle and loving fun at some of the worst tropes of the YA/Middle Grade fantasy/sci-fi genre. Though the summaries are typically only a few sentences, they are packed with plenty of the teenage angst, love triangles, and betrayals that seem inevitable when you're reading genre YA fiction. Yet even as Ness is making fun of genre tropes, I get the impression he has a sincere appreciation for those genres, so I never found the summaries to be too acerbic. A few in particular abounded with wit, and I often laughed at them.
As for the contemporary side, I will say this: Ness can write. His prose has a stark quality to it, though I don't think it's particularly spare. Sometimes when I read books, I feel like the author is overreaching when trying to make the reader feel for the characters, ending up tipping into melodrama. Not so with Ness. He has a plain way of stating the facts of his characters' struggles and laying them out in bald words that made me really feel their pain. This book deals with some gritty stuff: anorexia, Alzheimer's Disease, and obsessive compulsive disorder, just to name a few.
The family dynamic in this book is fraught, with Mike's and Mel's mother being an ambitious politician who tends to use her family to full effect, while their father is an alcoholic who can't deal with his wife's ambition. Their little sister, Meredith, is a prodigy, something their mother encourages with a lot of vigor. At first Meredith felt like a caricature, but then the book does something I was so happy to see a YA book doing: it fleshed her out and portrayed her as a full-fledged character, while also creating a very believable dynamic between her and her older siblings. This was another of my favorite aspects of the story, and I really enjoyed seeing how Mel, Mike, and Meredith learned to forge strong bonds with one another, clinging together even as their parents' blatant neglect of them threatens to tip each of them over the ledge. I was especially touched by later chapters, in which Meredith expresses her distress at the thought of being left behind by Mike and Mel when they go off to college the following year.
There's also a love triangle of sorts in the book: Mike is in love with his longtime friend Henna, who can't stop thinking about the new kid, Nathan. I didn't like this aspect of the book as much. Mike has a pretty unhealthy obsession with Henna, and some of his behavior is downright distasteful. I could never quite put my finger on Henna herself as some of her behavior seems kind of erratic--not as if she's going off the deep end or something, but more as if I never had a clear picture of who she was and what she stood for because those aspects of her personality seemed to keep changing. She puts up with more from Mike than I thought was realistic at times.
Mike's relationship with Jared is better, though there's a plot twist with regard to Jared I think I'd have preferred to have left out of the book entirely. Otherwise, I liked Jared and had a strong picture of him as a character. I liked how Ness explored Mike's jealousy at Jared's highly functional relationship with his father, but slowly peeled back the curtain so that Mike begins to understand that everyone has their own problems and issues, and that it's really not helpful to create an idealized view of others.
The urban fantasy aspect of the novel and the contemporary aspect of it collide on several occasions, and while I suspect Ness had a bit of a message here, that you don't have to be a person with mythic powers to experience a good deal of real life trauma and upheaval, when the worlds collide it feels too much like an interruption. Ultimately, I pretty much wished the urban fantasy elements had been chucked altogether, and that this book had been a straight-up contemporary book. I think it might have been stronger for it in the end.
Though I'm not going to lie: I kind of hope Ness writes that other book, the one about the Indie kids and their destinies.
More complete review to come.
Full review:
This book was a bizarre reading experience. Having read Patrick Ness's The Knife of Never Letting Go, I was frankly surprised when I first saw this book, as its description made it sound like a light-hearted romp of a book, one in which the reader gets to see what it's like to be one of the not-Special kids who have to deal with the destructive aftermath of the Specials' struggles against the big, bad evil. Some spoilers to follow.
I was really looking forward to reading that book. However, what I found contained in this book's pages is not that light-hearted story. Essentially, this is a contemporary novel with some supernatural elements woven into it, and the blend isn't always smooth. It gives the book an overall uneven feel that prevented me from really getting into it, because the whole time I was reading it I kept switching back and forth from "it's urban fantasy" to "it's a contemporary novel".
The urban fantasy elements mostly comes from the brief descriptions that kick off each chapter, in which Ness provides a summary of what the interestingly-named Special kids (the book refers to these characters as "Indie Kids", a label that doesn't make much sense to me, frankly) are up to. These were some of my favorite sections in the book, as they provide a wry bit of satire that pokes what feels to me like gentle and loving fun at some of the worst tropes of the YA/Middle Grade fantasy/sci-fi genre. Though the summaries are typically only a few sentences, they are packed with plenty of the teenage angst, love triangles, and betrayals that seem inevitable when you're reading genre YA fiction. Yet even as Ness is making fun of genre tropes, I get the impression he has a sincere appreciation for those genres, so I never found the summaries to be too acerbic. A few in particular abounded with wit, and I often laughed at them.
As for the contemporary side, I will say this: Ness can write. His prose has a stark quality to it, though I don't think it's particularly spare. Sometimes when I read books, I feel like the author is overreaching when trying to make the reader feel for the characters, ending up tipping into melodrama. Not so with Ness. He has a plain way of stating the facts of his characters' struggles and laying them out in bald words that made me really feel their pain. This book deals with some gritty stuff: anorexia, Alzheimer's Disease, and obsessive compulsive disorder, just to name a few.
The family dynamic in this book is fraught, with Mike's and Mel's mother being an ambitious politician who tends to use her family to full effect, while their father is an alcoholic who can't deal with his wife's ambition. Their little sister, Meredith, is a prodigy, something their mother encourages with a lot of vigor. At first Meredith felt like a caricature, but then the book does something I was so happy to see a YA book doing: it fleshed her out and portrayed her as a full-fledged character, while also creating a very believable dynamic between her and her older siblings. This was another of my favorite aspects of the story, and I really enjoyed seeing how Mel, Mike, and Meredith learned to forge strong bonds with one another, clinging together even as their parents' blatant neglect of them threatens to tip each of them over the ledge. I was especially touched by later chapters, in which Meredith expresses her distress at the thought of being left behind by Mike and Mel when they go off to college the following year.
There's also a love triangle of sorts in the book: Mike is in love with his longtime friend Henna, who can't stop thinking about the new kid, Nathan. I didn't like this aspect of the book as much. Mike has a pretty unhealthy obsession with Henna, and some of his behavior is downright distasteful. I could never quite put my finger on Henna herself as some of her behavior seems kind of erratic--not as if she's going off the deep end or something, but more as if I never had a clear picture of who she was and what she stood for because those aspects of her personality seemed to keep changing. She puts up with more from Mike than I thought was realistic at times.
Mike's relationship with Jared is better, though there's a plot twist with regard to Jared I think I'd have preferred to have left out of the book entirely. Otherwise, I liked Jared and had a strong picture of him as a character. I liked how Ness explored Mike's jealousy at Jared's highly functional relationship with his father, but slowly peeled back the curtain so that Mike begins to understand that everyone has their own problems and issues, and that it's really not helpful to create an idealized view of others.
The urban fantasy aspect of the novel and the contemporary aspect of it collide on several occasions, and while I suspect Ness had a bit of a message here, that you don't have to be a person with mythic powers to experience a good deal of real life trauma and upheaval, when the worlds collide it feels too much like an interruption. Ultimately, I pretty much wished the urban fantasy elements had been chucked altogether, and that this book had been a straight-up contemporary book. I think it might have been stronger for it in the end.
Though I'm not going to lie: I kind of hope Ness writes that other book, the one about the Indie kids and their destinies.