Reviews

Barely Missing Everything by Matt Mendez

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aryelee's review

emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book got my out of my reading slump. I read this in order to read his newest book, a sequel to Barely Missing Everything, and I just flew through the pages. It's very much a story for and about teenage boys; there's a very distinctive voice for the novel taking readers through the senior year of two high school boys, with some chapters focusing on the mother of the main character to give some more background on their lives and who they are.

There's this feeling permeating the story, a need to go go go until the last few chapters of the novel. It feels like a very authentic view of El Paso (where this author is from) and is full of bad decisions, young boys doing their best to figure out the life they want to live, and the difficulties Mexican Americans face in a country that is centered on a predominantly white culture.

The writing itself isn't very impressive. The story is told, it goes quickly, but there is no specific section I would quote, no lines that resonated with me or stuck in my head. It's a fairly simplistic writing style, so people who enjoy that kind of style will like this novel.

Content Warnings

dlberglund's review

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4.0

Told from 3 perspectives- friends JD and Juan, and Juan's mother- this book breaks your heart in all the ways the characters barely miss everything. Every single thing. Nobody can catch a break, and even if they might have, they likely screw it up for themselves. It's told in a very realistic style, set firmly in modern El Paso with teens who talk like teens and make stupid decisions like teens. This is an excellent book, though I wouldn’t call it a particularly optimistic one.

asn22's review

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4.0

I think the premise of the books was super relevant and the story telling felt authentic, as well as the plot but I just didn’t see and true character arcs or growth which left it falling flat for me at times but I love the letters from mando thought the creative narrative styles like using Juan’s math test all added to the character of this book. But the actual characters were lacking depth for me.

biblioemily's review against another edition

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4.0

Ugh, this book is so tragically sad it hurts. But it is also important and beautiful. I found myself regularly wanting to yell at Juan & JD for the choices they are making, but I also completely understood why they felt that was the thing to do at the time. I love YA books with male protagonists, and I know I will be able to hand this to reluctant readers who deal with similar situations in their own lives.

tiredcath's review against another edition

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emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I feel entirely too conflicted about this book and the ending to give a review, I will say, this surprised me at very turn— both for good and bad.

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

charireads's review against another edition

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4.0

Juan is in his senior year of high school and trying to earn a basketball scholarship. Through a series of a couple of impulsive decisions, Juan ends up spraining his ankle and possibly losing any chance of escaping his poverty torn neighborhood. Through alternating points of view, we learn how his mother (who Juan's embarrassed by), has sacrificed for years trying to bring him up after she was left as a single parent at a very young age. The story involves family secrets, gang violence, racism, and a side story of a death row inmate. Surprising and impactful ending.

alexapaige's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

Content Warnings

hufflepuff_rob25's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

2.5

ramreads's review against another edition

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3.0

Sometimes a book can really surprise you. It took me a long time to get into this book to the point that I wanted to DNF it, but I kept going and I'm glad I did. What put me off at first was all the basketball talk (I know nothing about basketball), the nonexistent plot, and the characters I had no strong feelings for. The switch became flipped halfway through though. I became invested in these characters and I wanted everything to work out for them. I strongly related to how all of them felt like everything was going wrong and they had no control over their lives. The author had my feelings all over the place, especially with the ending. The messages in it are powerful and remind people of the reality of life for Mexicans in America. This book wasn't what I expected it to be and I'm glad I kept reading to figure that out.

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