Reviews

Finally Heard by Kelly Yang

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shannonreadss's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a really nice book revolving around important topics such as social media usage and growing up/puberty. In my opinion it was executed really well.

yesthatgirl's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

4.5

Kelly Yang writes so well you forget it's an adult writing a YA book. I think everyone should read this book. It really opens your eyes to the use of social media on us, not only as individuals, but as a society.

bibliomich's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed Finally Heard, Kelly Yang's follow-up novel to Finally Seen. I truly loved Lina's story in the first book, and it was great to see what happened next for her, her family, and her friends (especially Finn and Carla).

What I loved:
- I enjoyed the way Kelly Yang integrated scientific research about social media use, particularly the impact of social media on tweens and teens. I think this book would be an excellent resource for parents and teachers of middle grade students to be able to have important conversations with children about how to safely and thoughtfully engage with social media.
- Kelly Yang writes such lovable protagonists and supporting characters. I was rooting for Lina and her friends and family throughout this book, even when she made some regrettable (but relatable) decisions.
- Finally Heard is an enjoyable read, even for an adult. It was fairly easy to get swept up in the story and to feel invested in the characters' journeys.

What didn't quite work for me:
- There was some ableist language (e.g. "lame") that was frequently used by the tween characters (including the protagonists), and this was never called out by anyone in the book. While I know that Kelly Yang was demonstrating the unkind ways that children sometimes talk to each other, I still think some better language choices could have been made.
- I felt that some of the online comments the students made while talking to each other felt a little young for middle grade students. As someone who teaches the age group, I think that my students might roll their eyes at the examples in the book. For example, the protagonist gets in significant trouble for basically calling her classmates "toxic beetles." (Unkind? Definitely. Realistic for middle schoolers, maybe not.) I'm not sure how Kelly Yang could have handled this differently though, unless she just didn't show the discourse between students, as she obviously would then run the risk of including language that is not appropriate for young readers.

Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a lot, and I will be recommending it to my students!

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced digital copy!

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