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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
this book didnt really do to much for me. i mean sure it was a simple and fast read which i always enjoy but i just wasnt that deeply invested in the story. it wasnt bad, i just didnt really connect with it and the romance also felt so rushed, i wasnt really rooting for them at all, i didnt really care honestly. but the letters/notes included in the book were cool, i like that kind of thing, it adds some charm to a book.
in conclusion the book isnt bad, it just wasnt really for me i think.
in conclusion the book isnt bad, it just wasnt really for me i think.
This book was good right away. The morning I read the first couple pages, I was impressed by how smart the writing is, and how funny it is. The author has a really cute voice with quirky situations, but a really compassionate one too. The narration comes through in a bunch of natural language and it all rather works.
The characters are sometimes a little too cute in that harmless way that happens — as if someone had a conversation with the author and said, these guys, they're not doing enough cute things yet? — but it renders the people very sweet, so, all the same. There's also the standard YA impossible-dreamboat boyfriends, which I also tend to just find a little less imaginative than real life. I think it's just a preference, and I happen to like it more when characters have habits or hobbies or lifestyles (or levels of sex appeal) that are awesome but that I can also imagine someone I would meet in the world having; however, I get that people get a kick out of the quirk too. And salivatey descriptions of hot boys. All right.
(But really — are we super comfortable with men writing girls that way? Only crazy-hot girls are allowed to be characters? Say all you want about John Green's pixie dream girls, at least they've got depth beyond looks.)
(Sorry. "Balloon-burster since 1982.")
The sisters' unusual family structure is sweetly written here. Their grandma and uncle are darn good and I really liked them. I did not like the explanation of the girls' missing, itinerant mother. That kind of killed the spell a little, because it is a very very big thing, and they have swallowed a very very thin story all their lives. It does get called out, but I didn't like having to believe that it hadn't happened at all in fifteen years. No questions asked. That doesn't sound like any daughters I've ever met.
But back to the boyfriends: to be very honest with you, I really kind of dig an earnest taboo-bender. As good YA is often able to, sexual attraction is handled here in an exciting but generous way. So I was kind of into it when she and Toby get drawn together, and then flipped to be just as supportive of the kissing of kind, good Joe. I suppose if you're going to have triangle drama, it helps me like it if one of the situations is unavoidably cuckoo. Things could have become much darker, but that's not what this book is here for. Joe in fact makes an excellent boyfriend, and this book has them partake of one of the swooniest romances I've read in YA. In spite of everything else that this book already has on its plate, it also provides a really, really wonderful depiction of falling in love.
Also the bedroom in the woods you guys. The bedroom in the woooooods.
The main subject, though, the book's handling of grief and recovery, also feels strong. I think it's really key for how the book creates the characters that Bailey is dead before it begins. Sometimes I wonder when a book's subject is grief, because it is a very big sea of stuff to portray, and sometimes the most you get is a character who doesn't want to leave bed. But this book forces Lennie to be back out in the world, where first of all she screws stuff up because she isn't entirely ready (and mistakes like these feel very very realistic), and where also she gets the opportunity to change. Additionally, I like that there is a little bit of mystery about Bailey after she's died, in which Lennie has to face their separation with a dose of extra reality — not everything would've been perfect forever if she'd lived. Change would still have occurred, and so Lennie finding strength and becoming a new person (as you sometimes must) during her grief seems very right. And when she notices, it is uncomfortable for her. Of course it is. But it's the right ending, too.
The characters are sometimes a little too cute in that harmless way that happens — as if someone had a conversation with the author and said, these guys, they're not doing enough cute things yet? — but it renders the people very sweet, so, all the same. There's also the standard YA impossible-dreamboat boyfriends, which I also tend to just find a little less imaginative than real life. I think it's just a preference, and I happen to like it more when characters have habits or hobbies or lifestyles (or levels of sex appeal) that are awesome but that I can also imagine someone I would meet in the world having; however, I get that people get a kick out of the quirk too. And salivatey descriptions of hot boys. All right.
(But really — are we super comfortable with men writing girls that way? Only crazy-hot girls are allowed to be characters? Say all you want about John Green's pixie dream girls, at least they've got depth beyond looks.)
(Sorry. "Balloon-burster since 1982.")
The sisters' unusual family structure is sweetly written here. Their grandma and uncle are darn good and I really liked them. I did not like the explanation of the girls' missing, itinerant mother. That kind of killed the spell a little, because it is a very very big thing, and they have swallowed a very very thin story all their lives. It does get called out, but I didn't like having to believe that it hadn't happened at all in fifteen years. No questions asked. That doesn't sound like any daughters I've ever met.
But back to the boyfriends: to be very honest with you, I really kind of dig an earnest taboo-bender. As good YA is often able to, sexual attraction is handled here in an exciting but generous way. So I was kind of into it when she and Toby get drawn together, and then flipped to be just as supportive of the kissing of kind, good Joe. I suppose if you're going to have triangle drama, it helps me like it if one of the situations is unavoidably cuckoo. Things could have become much darker, but that's not what this book is here for. Joe in fact makes an excellent boyfriend, and this book has them partake of one of the swooniest romances I've read in YA. In spite of everything else that this book already has on its plate, it also provides a really, really wonderful depiction of falling in love.
Also the bedroom in the woods you guys. The bedroom in the woooooods.
The main subject, though, the book's handling of grief and recovery, also feels strong. I think it's really key for how the book creates the characters that Bailey is dead before it begins. Sometimes I wonder when a book's subject is grief, because it is a very big sea of stuff to portray, and sometimes the most you get is a character who doesn't want to leave bed. But this book forces Lennie to be back out in the world, where first of all she screws stuff up because she isn't entirely ready (and mistakes like these feel very very realistic), and where also she gets the opportunity to change. Additionally, I like that there is a little bit of mystery about Bailey after she's died, in which Lennie has to face their separation with a dose of extra reality — not everything would've been perfect forever if she'd lived. Change would still have occurred, and so Lennie finding strength and becoming a new person (as you sometimes must) during her grief seems very right. And when she notices, it is uncomfortable for her. Of course it is. But it's the right ending, too.
This was a beautifully written book and how life goes on (the grief, despair, happiness) after a loved one dies. I can't wait to read more from her!
j'ai globalement bien aimé ce roman. Le personnage de Lennie est devenu intéressant au fil de l'œuvre.
j'ai beaucoup aimé la place de la poésie, de l'écriture et de la musique dans cette œuvre :)
j'ai beaucoup aimé la place de la poésie, de l'écriture et de la musique dans cette œuvre :)
Yes it's a classic teenage love story, but it's really a story about grief and love between sisters.
I randomly picked this up while browsing my local library, and I'm so glad I did - I haven't loved a YA book this much since _13 Reasons Why_. It's touching, funny, realistic, and just a great read and story. It's about loss and love and music and, well, the sky being everywhere :) I'm not sure what else to really say - I loved it. Read it!
I didn’t think much of this novel when I picked it up off the shelf from my favourite op shop. I thought perhaps it would be another ‘dildonic’ teen romance novel, but I was somewhat compelled to it. Must I say, I was not disappointed with this novel at all throughout my time of reading it.
The love between Lennie and Joe is so beautiful, I believe that it’s the kind of love everyone should endeavour to find in their life.
Nelson writes in such a poetic and detailed way, it’s truly wonderful. Her descriptions of her characters were so easy to depict, as were the scenery in which it all took place. Nelson also has the ability to connect the themes of death and love so neatly, as she explores the way in which love/the good in life can still be discovered while grieving/after the death of somebody so close to you. It’s a novel you laugh at, cry at, cringe at, and feel so many emotions all at once. It’s a novel that I struggled to put down at any one time, it was crafted so beautifully.
The love between Lennie and Joe is so beautiful, I believe that it’s the kind of love everyone should endeavour to find in their life.
Nelson writes in such a poetic and detailed way, it’s truly wonderful. Her descriptions of her characters were so easy to depict, as were the scenery in which it all took place. Nelson also has the ability to connect the themes of death and love so neatly, as she explores the way in which love/the good in life can still be discovered while grieving/after the death of somebody so close to you. It’s a novel you laugh at, cry at, cringe at, and feel so many emotions all at once. It’s a novel that I struggled to put down at any one time, it was crafted so beautifully.
emotional
inspiring
My sweet friend Susannah recommended this one, and I loved it so much.