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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Neil Shusterman is amazing! He writes like no one else. I highly recommend that you check out his books.
I suppose you can read this book in 2 ways:
1. As a *deep* metaphor for empathy , or
2. For what it is on a surface level : a story about a teenager with extraordinary powers which harms him, falling in love for the first time and growing up. Aka, classic YA coming of age story with a twist.
I have to admit I am a sucker for Neal Shusterman's writing. Unwind, but more prominently this book, are written in a way that gives you both a complex look into the characters' emotions as well as being extremely easy to read with touches of humour on every page. I certainly could have finished this entire book in one night if I didn't value sleep so much.
While, sometimes the book came off as cheesy and cliche it did a great job of making you empathise with the characters and was overall a touching story. I found the use of "power words" (as dubbed by Tennyson in the book) for the titles really clever. I have to admit, Brew's chapters, written as poetry, were a little hard to get through at first-and honestly a tiny bit pretentious- but once I got used to them I grew to love them. They gave Brew a very distinct voice in the book. The multiple POVs worked great with each other, Cody's especially gave great insight to Brew's character, maybe even better than Brew's chapters. I was slightly annoyed by the constant cliff hangers in between chapters , "maybe I could have stopped what happened to Brew next", " I didn't mean for what was going to happen", "maybe I could have stopped it" etc, they were just very annoying.
The characters were absolutely lovable. Brew is easily my favourite. Truthfully, while it does not fit his character description at all, I could not stop imagining him being played by Evan Peters. He's just this broody misfit teenager who just takes himself too seriously, maybe for a good reason considering his powers, and he was just so dumb and cute.
There's things that could have been better about this book, but I certainly enjoyed it a lot either way.
1. As a *deep* metaphor for empathy , or
2. For what it is on a surface level : a story about a teenager with extraordinary powers which harms him, falling in love for the first time and growing up. Aka, classic YA coming of age story with a twist.
I have to admit I am a sucker for Neal Shusterman's writing. Unwind, but more prominently this book, are written in a way that gives you both a complex look into the characters' emotions as well as being extremely easy to read with touches of humour on every page. I certainly could have finished this entire book in one night if I didn't value sleep so much.
While, sometimes the book came off as cheesy and cliche it did a great job of making you empathise with the characters and was overall a touching story. I found the use of "power words" (as dubbed by Tennyson in the book) for the titles really clever. I have to admit, Brew's chapters, written as poetry, were a little hard to get through at first-and honestly a tiny bit pretentious- but once I got used to them I grew to love them. They gave Brew a very distinct voice in the book. The multiple POVs worked great with each other, Cody's especially gave great insight to Brew's character, maybe even better than Brew's chapters. I was slightly annoyed by the constant cliff hangers in between chapters , "maybe I could have stopped what happened to Brew next", " I didn't mean for what was going to happen", "maybe I could have stopped it" etc, they were just very annoying.
The characters were absolutely lovable. Brew is easily my favourite. Truthfully, while it does not fit his character description at all, I could not stop imagining him being played by Evan Peters. He's just this broody misfit teenager who just takes himself too seriously, maybe for a good reason considering his powers, and he was just so dumb and cute.
There's things that could have been better about this book, but I certainly enjoyed it a lot either way.
OhMyHeavens. HolyCow. LeapingLizards. This book was fantastic. I love Neal Shusterman so much. This story is such a powerful one that kept me asking myself questions the entire time. If someone could take away my pain, but it would transfer to them, would I want it to? No, I've decided. I wouldn't want to be like Uncle Hoyt and Tennyson. If the pain of everyone I cared about became inflicted upon me, would I want it to if it meant they had no pain? Probably. I love the characters in this book and I was on the edge of my seat through the whole book guessing what would happen. I am SO looking forward to reading more by Shusterman! :)
Recommended by Mark. Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sbruiser%20shusterman__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=pearl
My students are reading this in a book club and I had never read this book. What a powerful story about the ability to take away someone’s pain.
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I haven't read a lot by this author and doubt I will. Maybe I am not the target demographic, but other than an intruiging idea - the book didn't have anything going for me. The characters were awful, thick and so self-centered that I was tempted to shout at them through my e-reader. Everybody used the name-giving character for their own purpose and blatantly so. He was ablt to free himself from one abusive situation only to let himself be exploited even further. The budding romance vanished throughout the second part of the book and sentences such as
" Can I find it in my heart to NOT find it in my heart?"
or
" The spleen line usually works, because it’s one of the more mysterious organs and so any threat involving it is deeply troubling."
did NOT help the book at all. The language (with the exeption of some of Bre's lines) was plain and tried too hard to be YA, while the exploration of the idea remained superficial at best. Brew lost his voice in the second part, he became a mere gimmick to hammer the "message" in.
(I also wanted to throw Cody off a cliff at several occasions.)
" Can I find it in my heart to NOT find it in my heart?"
or
" The spleen line usually works, because it’s one of the more mysterious organs and so any threat involving it is deeply troubling."
did NOT help the book at all. The language (with the exeption of some of Bre's lines) was plain and tried too hard to be YA, while the exploration of the idea remained superficial at best. Brew lost his voice in the second part, he became a mere gimmick to hammer the "message" in.
(I also wanted to throw Cody off a cliff at several occasions.)
The pretentiousness of the names and the pointlessness of all side characters notwithstanding, I enjoyed the poetic way in which Brew expressed himself in the first part. Poor guy had to wake up in the end, though...
I love all of the Neal Shusterman books I've read. This one was intriguing!
http://teentomes.wiki.lovett.org/Authors+N+-+S#bruiser
http://teentomes.wiki.lovett.org/Authors+N+-+S#bruiser
Bronte and Tennyson Sternberger have their lives changed forever when Bronte starts dating Brewster Rawlins, the kid voted "Most likely to receive death penalty". They notice that injuries they receive suddenly disappear when Brewster is around. They also notice that their abrasions start appearing on Brewster. Soon, they never feel sorrow or pain of any kind when he is around. As they investigate the friend they just made, they will discover that everything is not as it seems. Many people spread rumors about "Bruiser" Rawlins. Tennyson and Bronte can't stand it and do as much as they can to protect their new friend.
I would recommend this book who enjoy fantasy, incredible description, and friendship.
I would recommend this book who enjoy fantasy, incredible description, and friendship.
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“What's the point of living if you're going to hate the world? Guard your heart if you have to, but don't shut it away.”
What the F*** did i just read?
I'm trying and trying to understand but its just too strange for my taste.
So there is this guy (Bruiser whose name is actually Brewster) that avoids everyone and and is a real loner - but of course just like every other YA book there is some strange and mysterious reason as to why that is- and they call him bruiser because he's always full of bruises and of course nobody is concerned as to why that is, I mean really people!!! Anyway only one girl- Bronte- takes interest in him and eventually so does her twin brother Tennyson (yes I know right Bronte and Tennyson) ANYWAY... slowly they start to realize that if they might have been hurt before they aren't now and they start to wonder what that is blah blah blah point is they discover that Bruiser can take away the pain of every one he cares about and THAT'S way he's a loner. So instead of leaving him alone to avoid him any more pain these idiot twins use him and then act like they are all friends. OK no, life doesn't work like that, you can't just do that to people! Honestly, some friends you people are!
Personally...not my type of book. It was too weird and trust me that coming from me is not a good thing because I know weird. other than that the writing itself was actually pretty good and I liked that we got to see all the different perspectives from the different characters and how each of them had their own little style and how all of them reacted different to the situation. Even though I didn't like it I've got to give the book some credit because it did have many good qualities and I can see why many people actually like it...just not me.