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dilchh's review
2.0
I wanted to like this book, I really do. I mean, the whole concept is something that I liked and intrigues me, the choices of songs that were mentioned in this book was also very nice, but I just couldn’t make myself liked this book the way I had hoped to like this book the first time I saw this book.
I also can’t help thinking that this whole story was a rip-off from Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower; from the main character, the feeling of being a castaway in a new school, the newly-met friends, the being friends with a senior, the hooking up with someone not from his/her freshman year, the dark past of being molested, and the part of experiencing drinking and the whatnots (but then, I figured that Stephen himself had helped the author in writing this book, so maybe it was a mere coincidence?)
The difference though, I can like and sympathize with Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but I seem to be irked a lot by how Laurel was acting throughout this book. There was some part that I begin to like this book and thought that maybe this was a good book afterall, but by the time I finished it, all I can feel was the feeling of being so exhausted from reading this book; I was drained out of my energy.
Later on the day after I made up my mind that I don’t like this book, I began to come to a thought that maybe this book as whole might not be my favourite, but the subtle things that made up the characters might be something that I like and that I applaud the author for. When you look back to all the characters, you can see how selfish humans are; how fucking selfish every single one of the characters in this book were. Laurel with her ‘please pitied me because I have some dark past and I lost a sister but I’m going to be a fucking dick by being mysterious and whatever’, Hannah with her ‘I’m gay but I’m scared of how people would perceive it so I’m going to keep my gay crush at bay but I’ll be screwing different guys without no fucking care to my gay crush’s feelings’, Natalie with ‘I’m gay and I like my best friend, so I don’t fucking care whether or not she’s afraid of coming out but I will pressure her nonetheless’, Tristan with his ‘I don’t want to go to fucking college and I don’t give a shit if my girlfriend thinks otherwise’, Kristen with her ‘I’m going to fucking NYC and I will make my boyfriend go to college regardless of what he wants’, Sky with his ‘I love my ex-girlfriend but it’s hard to move on so I’m going to screw around with random girl in front of her, May with her “Oh my parents are divorcing, let’s just go and date some random older guys and leave my baby sister in the hands of a random stranger while I go and fool around with my older boyfriend, and many many many many more proofs of how people are bottomline selfish and that no one is better than anyone else.
Whatever people might say about this book, I stand by my review, I don’t like it and I can’t help but comparing this book to The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and the latter is obviously better than the former.
I also can’t help thinking that this whole story was a rip-off from Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower; from the main character, the feeling of being a castaway in a new school, the newly-met friends, the being friends with a senior, the hooking up with someone not from his/her freshman year, the dark past of being molested, and the part of experiencing drinking and the whatnots (but then, I figured that Stephen himself had helped the author in writing this book, so maybe it was a mere coincidence?)
The difference though, I can like and sympathize with Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but I seem to be irked a lot by how Laurel was acting throughout this book. There was some part that I begin to like this book and thought that maybe this was a good book afterall, but by the time I finished it, all I can feel was the feeling of being so exhausted from reading this book; I was drained out of my energy.
Later on the day after I made up my mind that I don’t like this book, I began to come to a thought that maybe this book as whole might not be my favourite, but the subtle things that made up the characters might be something that I like and that I applaud the author for. When you look back to all the characters, you can see how selfish humans are; how fucking selfish every single one of the characters in this book were. Laurel with her ‘please pitied me because I have some dark past and I lost a sister but I’m going to be a fucking dick by being mysterious and whatever’, Hannah with her ‘I’m gay but I’m scared of how people would perceive it so I’m going to keep my gay crush at bay but I’ll be screwing different guys without no fucking care to my gay crush’s feelings’, Natalie with ‘I’m gay and I like my best friend, so I don’t fucking care whether or not she’s afraid of coming out but I will pressure her nonetheless’, Tristan with his ‘I don’t want to go to fucking college and I don’t give a shit if my girlfriend thinks otherwise’, Kristen with her ‘I’m going to fucking NYC and I will make my boyfriend go to college regardless of what he wants’, Sky with his ‘I love my ex-girlfriend but it’s hard to move on so I’m going to screw around with random girl in front of her, May with her “Oh my parents are divorcing, let’s just go and date some random older guys and leave my baby sister in the hands of a random stranger while I go and fool around with my older boyfriend, and many many many many more proofs of how people are bottomline selfish and that no one is better than anyone else.
Whatever people might say about this book, I stand by my review, I don’t like it and I can’t help but comparing this book to The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and the latter is obviously better than the former.
222cieloreads's review
3.0
I’m going to sum up my review using the positives and negatives I’ve found after reading the book.
+ The love story between Sky and Laurel was cute. It gave off puppy love vibes. Although it wasn’t perfect, and they weren’t perfect, some parts made me feel the wholesome vibe around them.
+ The story was inclusive to the LGBTQIA+ community. It shows the struggles of people who are part of the community; how they feel like they’re supposed to act a certain way, even if it means hiding from who they really are. It was clear that Hannah had a more difficult time accepting her feelings for Natalie, but she came around eventually. And their relationship seemed to turn out really great.
+ It tackles a lot of childhood trauma that the main character experienced in her life and how these experiences affected her relationship with herself, other people, and the world. She experienced grief, dealt with divorced parents, and went through almost everything by herself (and her sister who died recently). Her mom abandoned her, and she thought it was because she blamed her for her sister’s death. She was full of regret and blamed herself for what happened to her sister, but she wasn’t able to talk about it to anyone (not in the first parts of the story, at least). Her dad and her aunt were there for her, but she didn’t confide in them. Aunt Amy was strict and overprotective, always telling them how they need to be saved from all the sins in the world and all that religious stuff, so she didn’t really feel comfortable talking to her about her feelings. Her dad was present, but she was emotionally unavailable because of the circumstances, which was understandable knowing that he just lost a daughter and he and his wife got divorced.
+ Laurel has evolved into a better person with a better mindset. It’s cliché, but it’s a lot better because I’ve started to like her a little bit more than I did before.
- There were times where it felt like the author was trying to be deep by using a lot of literary devices, like metaphors. I didn’t find “being deep” beautiful, at least not with this book. For me, it was unnecessary and felt awkward to read, especially considering that Laurel is just in high school.
- There were minor typographical errors. Every time I saw one, it bothered me a lot.
- The book was a set of letters addressed to dead people, but they were just like journal entries. Sometimes, she talked to them (in an informal manner) about their lives when they were alive, but most times she just “told them” about her experiences. But I guess it was also nice, because the dead people she wrote to sort of became her bestfriends. They were the only people. thugh dead, who she could talk to without feeling the need to filter who she really was.
- Some parts (e.g., Sky was from Sandia, the guy he beat up was Paul because he liked May) were predictable with the foreshadowing in the beginning.
- This is a personal preference, but I didn’t like Laurel at first. I understand that her actions and how she thought were influenced by her trauma, not to mention the fact that she was still young. However, some of her characteristics (e.g., people pleasing) annoyed me.
+ The love story between Sky and Laurel was cute. It gave off puppy love vibes. Although it wasn’t perfect, and they weren’t perfect, some parts made me feel the wholesome vibe around them.
+ The story was inclusive to the LGBTQIA+ community. It shows the struggles of people who are part of the community; how they feel like they’re supposed to act a certain way, even if it means hiding from who they really are. It was clear that Hannah had a more difficult time accepting her feelings for Natalie, but she came around eventually. And their relationship seemed to turn out really great.
+ It tackles a lot of childhood trauma that the main character experienced in her life and how these experiences affected her relationship with herself, other people, and the world. She experienced grief, dealt with divorced parents, and went through almost everything by herself (and her sister who died recently). Her mom abandoned her, and she thought it was because she blamed her for her sister’s death. She was full of regret and blamed herself for what happened to her sister, but she wasn’t able to talk about it to anyone (not in the first parts of the story, at least). Her dad and her aunt were there for her, but she didn’t confide in them. Aunt Amy was strict and overprotective, always telling them how they need to be saved from all the sins in the world and all that religious stuff, so she didn’t really feel comfortable talking to her about her feelings. Her dad was present, but she was emotionally unavailable because of the circumstances, which was understandable knowing that he just lost a daughter and he and his wife got divorced.
+ Laurel has evolved into a better person with a better mindset. It’s cliché, but it’s a lot better because I’ve started to like her a little bit more than I did before.
- There were times where it felt like the author was trying to be deep by using a lot of literary devices, like metaphors. I didn’t find “being deep” beautiful, at least not with this book. For me, it was unnecessary and felt awkward to read, especially considering that Laurel is just in high school.
- There were minor typographical errors. Every time I saw one, it bothered me a lot.
- The book was a set of letters addressed to dead people, but they were just like journal entries. Sometimes, she talked to them (in an informal manner) about their lives when they were alive, but most times she just “told them” about her experiences. But I guess it was also nice, because the dead people she wrote to sort of became her bestfriends. They were the only people. thugh dead, who she could talk to without feeling the need to filter who she really was.
- Some parts (e.g., Sky was from Sandia, the guy he beat up was Paul because he liked May) were predictable with the foreshadowing in the beginning.
- This is a personal preference, but I didn’t like Laurel at first. I understand that her actions and how she thought were influenced by her trauma, not to mention the fact that she was still young. However, some of her characteristics (e.g., people pleasing) annoyed me.
stargirllxo's review
5.0
this book was actually really good. I first picked up the book at the library and I judged it by its cover and title. Since it seemed like a good book, I read the back and I liked it. I never opened it. At home, when I opened it, I saw that the format of writing was kind of like a diary but a little bit different. I'm not into that stuff but I decided to start it and once I did, I wanted to continue till I was done. This book is really good. it shows how there are ways to move on when something big happens and your whole world gets changed. It shows heartbreak, tragedy, love, friendship, hope and more and it is put in the best story.
The book was well-written and I like books with school life and romance. There was a lot of detail put into some parts which bored me, but in the end, all of it was worth it and it was just to explain why she would write to that person. The format of letters was a nice idea since it was a school assignment and even after she continued to write it. I think that in the end, Laurel got the closure for her sister in the best way and after that, she can finally move on with her life and try and be the best person she can be while still holding a piece of her sister inside of her.
The book was well-written and I like books with school life and romance. There was a lot of detail put into some parts which bored me, but in the end, all of it was worth it and it was just to explain why she would write to that person. The format of letters was a nice idea since it was a school assignment and even after she continued to write it. I think that in the end, Laurel got the closure for her sister in the best way and after that, she can finally move on with her life and try and be the best person she can be while still holding a piece of her sister inside of her.
rellimreads's review
DNF ~ It basically read like the diary of an average 10 year old. There was nothing intriguing or interesting to make me want to keep reading.
giorsinwonderland's review against another edition
5.0
Non sono il tipo di persona che solitamente piange per i libri, si possono contare sulle dita di una mano quelli che mi hanno fatta emozionare a tal punto, e questo romanzo è fra questi. Consiglio vivamente di leggerlo.
readwithkiekie's review
1.0
“I think a lot of people want to be someone, but we are scared that if we try, we won't be as good as everyone imagines we could be.”
Oh, Mother Mary of Christ! This book was absolutely dreadful. The writing was too slow paced for a Contemporary, the characters were flat and dry and the blurb by Stephen Chbosky was completely biased.
Would I recommend this book to anyone? Fuck, no. You'd be better off reading something else because it literally felt like the author had no idea who her characters were until after 80 pages. She also wrote about a very stereotypical lesbian relationship/friendship, which offended me so much.
But the sad thing about my review is that I so badly wanted to love it. I can be critical about any book, but this book for me had so much potential and I was so disappointed when it became the Titanic, hit the iceberg, split in half and sank to the bottom of the ocean.
“I know I wrote letters to people with no address on this earth, I know that you are dead. But I hear you. I hear all of you. We were here. Our lives matter.”
Oh, Mother Mary of Christ! This book was absolutely dreadful. The writing was too slow paced for a Contemporary, the characters were flat and dry and the blurb by Stephen Chbosky was completely biased.
Would I recommend this book to anyone? Fuck, no. You'd be better off reading something else because it literally felt like the author had no idea who her characters were until after 80 pages. She also wrote about a very stereotypical lesbian relationship/friendship, which offended me so much.
But the sad thing about my review is that I so badly wanted to love it. I can be critical about any book, but this book for me had so much potential and I was so disappointed when it became the Titanic, hit the iceberg, split in half and sank to the bottom of the ocean.
“I know I wrote letters to people with no address on this earth, I know that you are dead. But I hear you. I hear all of you. We were here. Our lives matter.”
katireads321's review
4.0
this was pretty much Perks of Being a Wallflower, but narrated by a girl who is writing letters to various famous people. not the best thing I've ever read but it held my attention and was entertaining enough
hibashakes's review
3.0
Rating: 3.5
"'But no one else can save you, not really. Not from yourself.'"
I loved this book, yet I also hated it.
Before picking this book up to read, I read a few reviews and I didn't think I would like the story. Turns out I was wrong.
This is the type of a book that you just have to pick up and read and decide for yourself whether it was good or not.
This is the story of a very weak girl who is coping with the dead of her sister. This isn't a fairytale ending. This book deals with serious issues.
I didn't like the main character Laurel, and I believe that the author purposely made her unlikeable, because the Laurel in the story is not the real Laurel. She's a weak, asily influenced girl who just wants to find someone who can save her from herself.
I didnt like the whole writing letters to the dead idea. I wished at the end of the book the book that it was just a long letter to May. But I realize now that each of the dead people she sent letters to helped her cope and move on. They were important to her in a spiritual way.
This really wasn't a happy story. This is a story about a girl named Laurel, overshadowed by her sister's memory, is learning to cope and find herself.
One of the most importan things to take away from this book is that you cannot rely on finding someone to save yourself, you must rely on yourself.
"'But no one else can save you, not really. Not from yourself.'"
I loved this book, yet I also hated it.
Before picking this book up to read, I read a few reviews and I didn't think I would like the story. Turns out I was wrong.
This is the type of a book that you just have to pick up and read and decide for yourself whether it was good or not.
This is the story of a very weak girl who is coping with the dead of her sister. This isn't a fairytale ending. This book deals with serious issues.
I didn't like the main character Laurel, and I believe that the author purposely made her unlikeable, because the Laurel in the story is not the real Laurel. She's a weak, asily influenced girl who just wants to find someone who can save her from herself.
I didnt like the whole writing letters to the dead idea. I wished at the end of the book the book that it was just a long letter to May. But I realize now that each of the dead people she sent letters to helped her cope and move on. They were important to her in a spiritual way.
This really wasn't a happy story. This is a story about a girl named Laurel, overshadowed by her sister's memory, is learning to cope and find herself.
One of the most importan things to take away from this book is that you cannot rely on finding someone to save yourself, you must rely on yourself.
goodem9199's review
5.0
Fantastic writing. Some of the most authentically raw human insight that I've seen in a book in a long time. Warning... this book is sad. I am not typically a cryer... this book made me cry.
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
3.0
Ik vind het lastig mijn review van dit boek te beginnen. Ik vind het lastig om überhaupt woorden te vinden voor mijn leeservaring in dit geval. En dat klinkt wellicht negatiever dan ik het bedoel en vooral negatiever dan het boek verdient.
Laten we bij het positieve beginnen. Het boek gaat over een aantal hele actuele, zware thema's. Het gaat vooral over dingen waar de tieners van nu erg mee bezig zijn en het is opgeschreven op een manier die deze thema's toegankelijk en begrijpelijk maakt. Ik kan me daardoor voorstellen dat veel tieners die dit boek lezen het boek geweldig vinden, diep geraakt worden en er echt wat mee kunnen.
Voor mij persoonlijk was het boek dan weer minder interessant. De problemen waarmee de diverse karakters in het boek worstelen worden slechts heel oppervlakkig aangestipt. Dit komt mede door de gekozen vertelvorm. Het hele boek is geschreven in de vorm van brieven aan diverse sterren die dit leven te vroeg verlaten hebben.
Het is een originele manier van vertellen, maar ik had wel het idee dat er daardoor veel minder uit het verhaal werd gehaald dan er eigenlijk in zit. De laatste 100 pagina's waren op zich wel interessant, maar ook daar ontbrak de echte diepgang, de doorvoeldheid. Het bleef afstandelijk en daardoor kwam het bij mij geen moment echt binnen.
Maar het is denk ik vooral een geval van: Lees en oordeel zelf! Ik zie vaak mensen klagen over hoe saai een boek wordt als er te veel aandacht aan de emotionele ontwikkeling van karakters wordt besteed. Voor die mensen is dit wellicht een schot in de roos.
Laten we bij het positieve beginnen. Het boek gaat over een aantal hele actuele, zware thema's. Het gaat vooral over dingen waar de tieners van nu erg mee bezig zijn en het is opgeschreven op een manier die deze thema's toegankelijk en begrijpelijk maakt. Ik kan me daardoor voorstellen dat veel tieners die dit boek lezen het boek geweldig vinden, diep geraakt worden en er echt wat mee kunnen.
Voor mij persoonlijk was het boek dan weer minder interessant. De problemen waarmee de diverse karakters in het boek worstelen worden slechts heel oppervlakkig aangestipt. Dit komt mede door de gekozen vertelvorm. Het hele boek is geschreven in de vorm van brieven aan diverse sterren die dit leven te vroeg verlaten hebben.
Het is een originele manier van vertellen, maar ik had wel het idee dat er daardoor veel minder uit het verhaal werd gehaald dan er eigenlijk in zit. De laatste 100 pagina's waren op zich wel interessant, maar ook daar ontbrak de echte diepgang, de doorvoeldheid. Het bleef afstandelijk en daardoor kwam het bij mij geen moment echt binnen.
Maar het is denk ik vooral een geval van: Lees en oordeel zelf! Ik zie vaak mensen klagen over hoe saai een boek wordt als er te veel aandacht aan de emotionele ontwikkeling van karakters wordt besteed. Voor die mensen is dit wellicht een schot in de roos.