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aoifemarie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
rachelditty's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
As far as the portrayal of mental illness goes, Aza's OCD was written in such a well-framed way that it was hard to read at times. As someone with an anxiety disorder, I could relate to Aza's trains of thought as she began to spiral, and watching as she continued to get worse as the story went on was hard. Watching her consistently having to assert her boundaries with herself, and then toward the end with her friends and family, was heartbreaking but also very hopeful. Green did a great job with the portrayal of OCD in this book.
I think my biggest gripe was that at times the narration style would change. I think the purpose of getting rid of the noun in many of the sentences (such as getting rid of I in a sentence like Needed to get somewhere, for example) was to make the narration feel rushed and bled together. While I acknowledge that, it personally felt a bit clunky for my reading experience. The narration change toward the end from I to you was unexpected and well done and a great way to show how disconnected Aza was with herself at that point.
Overall a good read, though probably not the best for my personal mental health so soon after reading I'm Glad My Mom Died. Definitely need something a bit more fun next. Turtles All the Way Down was good. John Green isn't my favorite but he obviously has his audience. It's just not me.
Also I think Davis deserves the world, I hope he has a good time in Colorado.
Quotes I liked:
"Anybody can look at you. It's quite rare to find someone who sees the same world you see." (p. 9)
"...back then all emotions felt like play, like I was experimenting with feeling rather than stuck with it." (p. 22)
"I was so good at being a kid, and so terrible at being whatever I was now." (p. 25)
"...Saying more wrong things while trying to apologize." (p. 42).
"...you tell yourself, I am not my thoughts, even though deep down you're not sure what exactly that makes you." (p. 46).
"The way he talked about thoughts was the way I experienced them--not as a choice but as a destiny." (p. 59).
"No one ever says good-bye unless they want to see you again." (p. 59).
"I was thinking about how part of your self can be in a place while at the same time the most important parts are in a different place, a place that can't be accessed via your senses. Like, how I'd driven all the way to school without really being inside the car. I was trying to look at Mychal, trying to hear the clamor of the hallway, but I wasn't there, not really, not deep down." (p. 71).
"One of the challenges with pain--physical or psychic--is that we can really only approach it through metaphor. It can't be represented the way a table or a body can. In some ways, pain is the opposite of language." (p. 89).
"I tried to smile and shake my head at the right times, but I was always a moment behind the rest of them. They laughed because something was funny; I laughed because they had." (p. 98).
"Most adults are just hollowed out. You watch them try to fill themselves up with booze or money or God or fame or whatever they worship, and it all rots them from the inside until nothing is left but the money or booze or God they thought would save them... Adults think they're wielding power, but really power is wielding them." (p. 145).
"The worst part of being truly alone is you think about all the times you wished that everyone would just leave you be. Then they do, and you are left being, and you turn out to be terrible company." (p. 186).
"She noted, more than once, that the meteor shower was happening, beyond the overcast sky, even if we could not see it. Who cares if she can kiss? She can see through the clouds." (p. 189).
"Our hearts were broken in the same places. That's something like love, but maybe not quite the thing itself." (p. 206).
"My voice felt squeaky, but I was finding it." (p. 214).
"I'm doing my best, but I can't stay sane for you, okay?" (p. 247).
"You're the narrator, the protagonist, and the sidekick. You're the storyteller and the story told. You are somebody's something, but you are also your you." (p. 257).
"You get to pick the frame, you know? Maybe you don't choose what's in the picture, but you decide on the frame." (p. 277).
"Stole this from a lizard for you.--D." (p. 285). (I thought this was funny as hell).
"But you don't know any of that yet. We squeeze his hand. He squeezes back. You stare up at the same sky together, and after a while he says, I have to go, and you say, Good-bye, and he says, Good-bye, Aza, and no one ever says good-bye unless they want to see you again." (p. 286).
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Self harm, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Vomit
Very graphic and well written depictions of OCD--proceed with caution if reading about thought spirals send you into your own thought spirals.justsmileandnod's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Mental illness and Self harm
Minor: Vomit
rb5373's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Car accident
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
Minor: Self harm, Vomit, and Medical content
pawprintedpages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Blood and Car accident
Minor: Vomit
alinantali's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Mental illness and Vomit
Minor: Car accident
real_vivi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit and Car accident
kmturpie1025's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Vomit
yush's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Vomit and Medical content
rosenau's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail