Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I loved this book so much!!!!!! I love how each chapter was a different point of view so we weren't wondering what the other characters were thinking and feeling. I almost cured in class reading this. It was so sad I wish he would have woken up so everything would be okay. But he didn't. I wanted him to be with Bronte so badly. It was an amazing story
Another great book by Neal Shusterman. His stories are very unique and new. They aren't the same old story that you find so much of (Love triangles...yeah!). This was a very deep and thought provoking story about friendship and love. Very touching and VERY sad.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fast read!! Awesome book from start to finish. Read this after a reading slump and enjoyed it so much!
I love Neal Shusterman. He had me at Unwind. This book is NOTHING like Unwind or its counterparts. It was thoughtful and sad and very human. I have been recommending this book to students for years out of sheer love for Shusterman. They have almost always come back asking for something else like this. Honestly, there isn't much else like this. This book is unique and endearing in its own way.
Another amazing story by Shusterman. Brewster has a habit of taking on the pain of others- literally. He can't let those he cares about suffer and his body ends up a whelter of bruises, burns and at times broken bones. His biggest fear is widening his circle of friends and having someone he cares for take advantage of what he can do for them.
This is a fantastic look inside the psyche at how people deal with pain, love, and personal responsibility.
This is a fantastic look inside the psyche at how people deal with pain, love, and personal responsibility.
This is a story of a boy unlike any other. He has a photographic memory of magnificent proportions, he is a great big brother, oh, and he can take away the pain of anyone he cares about. His solution to less pain is to just care about less people. But then Bronte and Tennyson enter his life.
This book takes the idea of "I feel your pain" to a whole new level.
Told from 4 different points of view, this book unfold the mystery of Brewster in such a fascinating way. I've read a couple of reviews where the different points of view were described as "confusing" and "hard to get into" but I think the point was to see Brewster from the outside and the inside. If this story had only been told by Bronte or Brewster, the intimacy of the characters would have not been there.
This book takes the idea of "I feel your pain" to a whole new level.
Told from 4 different points of view, this book unfold the mystery of Brewster in such a fascinating way. I've read a couple of reviews where the different points of view were described as "confusing" and "hard to get into" but I think the point was to see Brewster from the outside and the inside. If this story had only been told by Bronte or Brewster, the intimacy of the characters would have not been there.
Review originally posted here.
Bruiser is the story of four individuals, two sets of siblings, and how their lives become permanently intertwined by the knowledge of a strange and mysterious secret. Tennyson and Bronte are twins, children of literature professor parents whose marriage is in crisis. When Bronte decides to date Brewster "Bruiser" Rawlins, Tennyson is not happy about it. He is used to his sister taking in strays but the kid voted "Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty" is more than he can stand for. Bronte refuses to back off. She knows that Brewster is not like everyone says, but her and Tennyson both soon discover there is a reason he is a loner and has no friends. Caring about people is dangerous for Brewster. It is, in fact, painful. Often it is all he can do to endure his love for his reckless younger brother Cody. As all four of their lives become increasingly intertwined they learn some important lessons about love, friendship, family, and sacrifice.
The book is contemporary realistic fiction with a dash of the strange and unknown. Brewster's secret is different and strange. The paranormal label doesn't fit and neither does a straight fantasy label fit it. Sci-Fi doesn't work either. I guess this book is one example of why the label "magical realism" was invented.
The story here is told by the four main characters. The first narrator is Tennyson and I loved his voice. This is what immediately pulled me into the story and did not make me happy about performing my parental duties for the rest of the night. He is the snarky lazy type and we know what a sucker I am for those. I very much enjoyed Tennyson's character arc through the entire story. How he goes from bully and snob to ally to friend and then becomes a victim of his own selfishness and how he overcomes it in the end, this is good reading. Loved every bit of him. Bronte was more difficult for me to enjoy because I felt she was incredibly stupid on a lot of fronts. Also incredibly self absorbed, and not in the painful conflicted way of her brother, but in an oblivious-want -to-smack-her way. Which is a realistic portrayal of a selfish person,but it was hard for me to like her. Cody's narration was surprisingly enjoyable. He sound genuinely eight years old in his sections. This is difficult and many authors fail at authentically voicing so young a narrator. It is easy to love Cody, who adores his brother and becomes quite a little hero by the time all is said and done. Brewster's sections were difficult for me to sink into, partly because they were written in the form of modern poetry, and partly because he is difficult to relate to. I was frustrated with him not just explaining things to Bronte and for being a bit of a door mat. However, I can understand how it could be confusion being him and making the choices he has to make given what he can do.
The four narratives combine to tell a gripping story. I was enthralled from beginning to end, anxious to see how it could all possibly end. I only had a small quibble with the way story resolved. there is one element at the end I found to be cheesy and sentimental. This aside I like that the book ended with some uncertainty as to how things would turn out.
Bruiser is an interesting study in relationships, the motivations behind them, and how easy it sometimes is to unknowingly use people for our own selfish ends.
Bruiser is the story of four individuals, two sets of siblings, and how their lives become permanently intertwined by the knowledge of a strange and mysterious secret. Tennyson and Bronte are twins, children of literature professor parents whose marriage is in crisis. When Bronte decides to date Brewster "Bruiser" Rawlins, Tennyson is not happy about it. He is used to his sister taking in strays but the kid voted "Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty" is more than he can stand for. Bronte refuses to back off. She knows that Brewster is not like everyone says, but her and Tennyson both soon discover there is a reason he is a loner and has no friends. Caring about people is dangerous for Brewster. It is, in fact, painful. Often it is all he can do to endure his love for his reckless younger brother Cody. As all four of their lives become increasingly intertwined they learn some important lessons about love, friendship, family, and sacrifice.
The book is contemporary realistic fiction with a dash of the strange and unknown. Brewster's secret is different and strange. The paranormal label doesn't fit and neither does a straight fantasy label fit it. Sci-Fi doesn't work either. I guess this book is one example of why the label "magical realism" was invented.
The story here is told by the four main characters. The first narrator is Tennyson and I loved his voice. This is what immediately pulled me into the story and did not make me happy about performing my parental duties for the rest of the night. He is the snarky lazy type and we know what a sucker I am for those. I very much enjoyed Tennyson's character arc through the entire story. How he goes from bully and snob to ally to friend and then becomes a victim of his own selfishness and how he overcomes it in the end, this is good reading. Loved every bit of him. Bronte was more difficult for me to enjoy because I felt she was incredibly stupid on a lot of fronts. Also incredibly self absorbed, and not in the painful conflicted way of her brother, but in an oblivious-want -to-smack-her way. Which is a realistic portrayal of a selfish person,but it was hard for me to like her. Cody's narration was surprisingly enjoyable. He sound genuinely eight years old in his sections. This is difficult and many authors fail at authentically voicing so young a narrator. It is easy to love Cody, who adores his brother and becomes quite a little hero by the time all is said and done. Brewster's sections were difficult for me to sink into, partly because they were written in the form of modern poetry, and partly because he is difficult to relate to. I was frustrated with him not just explaining things to Bronte and for being a bit of a door mat. However, I can understand how it could be confusion being him and making the choices he has to make given what he can do.
The four narratives combine to tell a gripping story. I was enthralled from beginning to end, anxious to see how it could all possibly end. I only had a small quibble with the way story resolved. there is one element at the end I found to be cheesy and sentimental. This aside I like that the book ended with some uncertainty as to how things would turn out.
Bruiser is an interesting study in relationships, the motivations behind them, and how easy it sometimes is to unknowingly use people for our own selfish ends.
such a good simple read. a reminded that the purpose of life is to experience human emotions