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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
Fun YA read with an interesting plot. Loved the anthropomorphism of Jared's brain tumor. I had never thought of what tumors are actually doing when cancer is growing. It gave the book a weird, but scientific feel. Fun!
Not my usual cup of tea, but I'm incredibly glad I read this book. It's a black-humor satire about the evils of reality TV, the pros and cons of the death with dignity movement, and the saving grace of online communities/fandoms told through ten different perspectives, including that of a brain tumor. It's funny. It's sad. It's ridiculous. And it will open up conversations about our final wishes. This book ruined me for a long time. This review was originally posted on Tales Between the Pages
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My father had to be operated on last October to remove a tumor from his pituitary gland. During that operation, he had a deep brain stroke and over three months later he has a long road toward recovery ahead of him. With that in mind, I think it's safe to say that books about fathers, daughters and medical trauma are on my mind right now. Life In A Fishbowl further grabbed me with the idea of combining this with reality tv. I hate reality tv with a burning, fiery passion, so I figured no good could come of this.
But do you want to know what sold me on reading this book hook, line, and sinker? Glio. That's what--or who?--made this have to be the first book I read in 2017. The idea of a brain tumor actually getting its own POV was such a crazy concept that I simply couldn't resist?
Was Life In A Fishbowl as good as the sum of its parts? Read on and find out!
My Thoughts
This book was every bit as unique as I thought it would be. Unfortunately, I mean that in both the best and worst ways possible. Let's start with what I liked:
Glio -- The extremely weird, why-the-heck-is-this-a-thing POV 100% did not disappoint. Despite any flaws this book has, it's not one that I'm going to forget thanks to this 'guy'. Why did he work? Well, the connection between his POV and Jared's allowed the author to continue to express Jared's emotion even as his disease consumed him and essentially stripped away who he was. I don't think this 'character' will be for everyone and it might even set some people off, but I feel his inclusion was for far more than mere shock value.
The way characters were introduced. This book had a ton of narrators and one of the things the author did to help the reader know we were getting another brand new one was to theme the first two lines of each new POV's opening. For example:
But do you want to know what sold me on reading this book hook, line, and sinker? Glio. That's what--or who?--made this have to be the first book I read in 2017. The idea of a brain tumor actually getting its own POV was such a crazy concept that I simply couldn't resist?
Was Life In A Fishbowl as good as the sum of its parts? Read on and find out!
My Thoughts
This book was every bit as unique as I thought it would be. Unfortunately, I mean that in both the best and worst ways possible. Let's start with what I liked:
Glio -- The extremely weird, why-the-heck-is-this-a-thing POV 100% did not disappoint. Despite any flaws this book has, it's not one that I'm going to forget thanks to this 'guy'. Why did he work? Well, the connection between his POV and Jared's allowed the author to continue to express Jared's emotion even as his disease consumed him and essentially stripped away who he was. I don't think this 'character' will be for everyone and it might even set some people off, but I feel his inclusion was for far more than mere shock value.
The way characters were introduced. This book had a ton of narrators and one of the things the author did to help the reader know we were getting another brand new one was to theme the first two lines of each new POV's opening. For example:
The high-grade glioblastoma multiforme tumor liked Jared Stone's brain. It liked it a lot. In fact, it found it delicious.
An intro like this happens for every major and minor character POV throughout the novel, tailored to what is important to that individual. I feel that this helped to solidify a massive cast of POV that could have gotten really confusing or fallen apart otherwise.
The overall flow of the plot kept things moving and was written interestingly enough that I was never bored with the story. The style had a breezy feel to it that kept me tapping to turn the page of my Kindle with no hesitation at all.
Okay, then. What went wrong?
First and foremost, I don't feel that this book is really YA. I think that it features a few teen characters and that they do get to do some important things in the narrative, but this is the most adult-focused YA novel that I have ever reviewed on this blog. The villain is a TV producer that our heroine has little hope of really taking down. And far more disturbingly, when we get glimpses into his POV some of the things we find out are that he likes to use his secretary as a prostitute and that secret cameras were installed in the Stone family's bathrooms and that the TV crew liked watching the mother and her 13 and 15 year old daughters shower.
If either of the two examples I just gave had actually really factored into the story in any direct and tangible way, we wouldn't be having this conversation. But no. They are here for shock value, and unlike Glio they do not work.
Another thing that drove me crazy was that this book, which initially felt like it was written in third person past tense, would occasionally decide that it wanted to switch to omniscient POV without warning. I found this very jarring and it was generally to tell the reader things they would probably have been better off not knowing, like the part about the villain's secretary that I listed above.
My next issue comes with the fact that at about half way the book gets a split narrative between the teenaged heroine finding a way to stop the TV people filming her family, and her mother finding a way to perform euthenasia on her husband. We end up seeing the final results of both of these situations in full detail. To be clear: my issue has nothing to do with being for or against assisted suicide. My issue is that such a core part of the book, which will undoubtedly make a lot of readers uncomfortable--should have been addressed somewhere in its marketing. That it was not is irresponsible of both the author and the publisher.
Lastly, there was a violent and unnecessary dog death about half way through the book. Unlike my other complaints, this is a personal pet peeve. If I felt it had served an actual purpose I wouldn't be as annoyed, but as it stands I'll stick to my reaction when I read it: "Really? You're gonna kill the dog?". *eyeroll*
Purchase or Pass?
So, should you buy Life In A Fishbowl? My feelings on this are very mixed. There is a good book among all of the flaws that I have listed, but this is definitely not a read to go into blindly. If books were roads, this one would be full of pot holes. Watch your step.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did, I didn't expect the tumor to be a character in the book, absolutely with the read. Fast paced and clever. It was interesting reading a book featuring a character with cancer, but exploring more themes than the cancer itself. Impressive.
Trigger warnings: parent dying of cancer, bullying, mentions of grown ass men having sex with teenage girls, mentions of grown ass men watching 13 and 15 year old girls shower, .
1.5 stars.
Okay, let's start with the most important thing about this book. There's a dog in the story. If you want to know what happens to the dog, click here:
Right. Now that that's over, let's talk about this fucking trashfire of a book, shall we? I picked this up because it's one of our most popular titles and I feel like I should read all of our popular titles to have some kind of idea of what The Youth like to read. And with this one, I just..........yeah, I just don't get it.
So here's the deal. This book is about a father who finds out he's dying of a brain tumour, and he realises he doesn't have decent savings or life insurance. So he decides he's going to auction his life off on eBay. And as a result, his whole family are forced into a reality TV show about his last few months/weeks/days of life.
Which is, I suppose, kind of an interesting concept. But this book is told from the perspective of the father, of the teenage daughter, of the reality show producer, of a nun, of a teenage girl half way across the country who has serious thoughts about the eBay thing, of a billionaire, of the teenage daughter's Russian penpal, and OF THE TUMOUR.
Yup. The tumour has been anthropomorphised and we have to read about its "life" as it destroys this guy's brain.
And it's meant to be farcically funny.
It *was* a farce. It was not funny.
Bonus half star for including a teenage girl who fights back against reality TV bullshit that she's been forced into by filming her own version on her phone, and for the community that springs up to support her. But mostly? This was a trashfire from start to finish.
(It kind of reminded me at times of Going Bovine by Libba Bray, which I also hated. So. Maybe I just hate farcical books about characters with terminal illnesses?)
Spoiler
death of a pet, death of a parent1.5 stars.
Okay, let's start with the most important thing about this book. There's a dog in the story. If you want to know what happens to the dog, click here:
Spoiler
Y'all. The dog gets fucking stabbed to death by a billionaire who broke into their house trying to kill the father who's dying of cancer because he thought it would be a fun new experience??? And then he misses the father, who's asleep on the floor, and stabs the dog instead. It's broadcast on TV. I nearly threw this piece of shit book across the room because HOW DARE YOU. Also, the whole dog-stabbed-to-death thing is clearly meant to be funny. IT AIN'T.Right. Now that that's over, let's talk about this fucking trashfire of a book, shall we? I picked this up because it's one of our most popular titles and I feel like I should read all of our popular titles to have some kind of idea of what The Youth like to read. And with this one, I just..........yeah, I just don't get it.
So here's the deal. This book is about a father who finds out he's dying of a brain tumour, and he realises he doesn't have decent savings or life insurance. So he decides he's going to auction his life off on eBay. And as a result, his whole family are forced into a reality TV show about his last few months/weeks/days of life.
Which is, I suppose, kind of an interesting concept. But this book is told from the perspective of the father, of the teenage daughter, of the reality show producer, of a nun, of a teenage girl half way across the country who has serious thoughts about the eBay thing, of a billionaire, of the teenage daughter's Russian penpal, and OF THE TUMOUR.
Yup. The tumour has been anthropomorphised and we have to read about its "life" as it destroys this guy's brain.
And it's meant to be farcically funny.
It *was* a farce. It was not funny.
Bonus half star for including a teenage girl who fights back against reality TV bullshit that she's been forced into by filming her own version on her phone, and for the community that springs up to support her. But mostly? This was a trashfire from start to finish.
(It kind of reminded me at times of Going Bovine by Libba Bray, which I also hated. So. Maybe I just hate farcical books about characters with terminal illnesses?)
Life in A Fishbowl by Len Vlahos is one of those books that stays with you long after you’ve read the final page.
Fifteen-year-old Jackie Stone is a prisoner in her own house. Everything she says and does 24/7 is being taped and broadcast to every television in America. Why? Because her dad is dying of a brain tumour and he has auctioned his life on eBay to the highest bidder: a ruthless TV reality show executive at ATN.
Her sister's trust is gone, ever since she's been dazzled by the cameras and her new-found infamy. Her privacy is gone. The whole family's dignity is gone, as ATN twists their words and makes a public mockery of their lives on Life and Death. But most of all, Jackie fears that one day very soon her father will just be . . . gone.
Armed only with her ingenuity and the power of the internet, Jackie is determined to end the show and reclaim all of their lives, even in death.
I loved this book. I’m going to be honest though, you will need some tissues while you’re reading it as there are a few highly-emotional moments.
Vlahos deals with issues in such a sensitive, poignant and searingly honest way to create this intensely realistic book that you just can’t put down. It certainly doesn’t pull any punches, with harrowing opening pages and a twist that will leave you reeling.
There is a highly-entertaining cast of characters that range from an unhinged billionaire playboy to a fame-obsessed nun. Each character is developed over the course of the book and their stories intertwine, weaving an intricate tapestry of what fame really costs. Above all of those, is a unique and thought-provoking perspective that changed the entire plot and for me, was what really made this book stand out. However, I can’t mention any details without giving away parts of the plot, so trust me when I say it’s just a brilliant idea.
Life in A Fishbowl is a bittersweet fusion of emotions that won’t let you go.
Fifteen-year-old Jackie Stone is a prisoner in her own house. Everything she says and does 24/7 is being taped and broadcast to every television in America. Why? Because her dad is dying of a brain tumour and he has auctioned his life on eBay to the highest bidder: a ruthless TV reality show executive at ATN.
Her sister's trust is gone, ever since she's been dazzled by the cameras and her new-found infamy. Her privacy is gone. The whole family's dignity is gone, as ATN twists their words and makes a public mockery of their lives on Life and Death. But most of all, Jackie fears that one day very soon her father will just be . . . gone.
Armed only with her ingenuity and the power of the internet, Jackie is determined to end the show and reclaim all of their lives, even in death.
I loved this book. I’m going to be honest though, you will need some tissues while you’re reading it as there are a few highly-emotional moments.
Vlahos deals with issues in such a sensitive, poignant and searingly honest way to create this intensely realistic book that you just can’t put down. It certainly doesn’t pull any punches, with harrowing opening pages and a twist that will leave you reeling.
There is a highly-entertaining cast of characters that range from an unhinged billionaire playboy to a fame-obsessed nun. Each character is developed over the course of the book and their stories intertwine, weaving an intricate tapestry of what fame really costs. Above all of those, is a unique and thought-provoking perspective that changed the entire plot and for me, was what really made this book stand out. However, I can’t mention any details without giving away parts of the plot, so trust me when I say it’s just a brilliant idea.
Life in A Fishbowl is a bittersweet fusion of emotions that won’t let you go.
I actually loved this book so much. It's a bit of a crazy concept. It might seem silly at first. A dying man tries to sell his life on e-bay? Yeah, right... But let me just tell you this book is so much more than some silly concept to make you laugh. It deals with a lot of issues that can be found in today's society such as montoring that is sort of like Big Brother in 1984. It deals with superficiality and a sick need for entertainment no matter what - sick need we can all feel. And all of these very relevant questions are wrapped up in a lovely mix of humour. This book was hilarious yet so tragic. Tragicomedy at its best.
3.75 stars.
It has an interesting plotline. A man tried to sell his life on eBay after he found out he has brain tumor? Sign me in.
From the beginning, it’s already so engaging and fast-paced. It’s really easy to read so perfect for beginner. It shows how sad is TV shows production portray the life of this family. They are trapped in this industry and being forced to be the content for TV shows. Not mentioning the evil editing by them to increase the audience.
How could they escape from this situation? After they have signed contract and forcedfully have to do this when there are so many lies on them.
It has an interesting plotline. A man tried to sell his life on eBay after he found out he has brain tumor? Sign me in.
From the beginning, it’s already so engaging and fast-paced. It’s really easy to read so perfect for beginner. It shows how sad is TV shows production portray the life of this family. They are trapped in this industry and being forced to be the content for TV shows. Not mentioning the evil editing by them to increase the audience.
How could they escape from this situation? After they have signed contract and forcedfully have to do this when there are so many lies on them.
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A