Reviews

Boy at the Window by Lauren Melissa Ellzey

Only show reviews with written explanations

trombone_le_phasme's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

kevdooli's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

huntjr's review

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Not really into the book. But also the book revolves around a runner and the book is either not edited well or poorly researched, because some of the times for races are straight up impossible. The way races are set up don’t make sense either, xc races have 1 race per meet, no one runs multiple races a meet. That part may be a regional difference but I haven’t heard of any other places running xc like this, they might be conflating xc and track.

jlfred's review

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4.0

I have not had a book hangover like this in quite a while. This book is going to stay with me for a very long time. I can't believe this is a debut novel. It's got 2 Korean-American MCs; first love; mental health; angst galore; flights to Neverland; and lyrical prose, a unique voice, and depth beyond what is usually found in YA or romance novels, in general. The story itself is about Daniel, who is recovering from a suicide attempt - first in a hospital/inpatient treatment facility, then at a new school. Outwardly, Daniel is a loner, stand-offish, unlikely or unwilling to engage with teachers or classmates. But that's only because the others can't see the immense adventures Daniel has with the rest of the Lost Boys in Neverland going on inside his head. Daniel has depersonalization-derealization disorder, which causes him to detach from his body in times of stress (most of the time). Sometimes he watches from afar as his body responds to the rest of the world, other times he explores the forests with his Lost Boys and sets traps for Captain Hook. As he slowly begins to make friends on the cross-country team, especially Jiwon, he finds himself spending less time in Neverland and making more connections in the real world. But with that comes more pain - from neglectful and abusive parents, from past friends, from the world - and the less time he spends in Neverland, the harder it is to get back there when the pain comes. When the worst happens, all he wants to do is get back to Neverland and stay there forever. Will his connection to Jiwan stop that from happening? And is that a good or bad thing?

damnedmuddle's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

sincerelykiwi's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I think I was expecting more from this but it was okay. There is something I didn’t particularly like that affected how I viewed and read the story. The fact that a Black queer woman wrote from the perspective of a gay Asian teen boy. It’s not the gender that made me second guess but the ethnicity. I feel like when authors write from a community that they may not be fully integrated into it feels inauthentic to me.
I will say that Daniel’s story seems like it could be important for younger queer kids who can maybe relate.