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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
I've grown to keenly anticipate any new book by Patrick Ness since reading the Chaos Walking trilogy (which was fascinating but flawed) and the brilliant A Monster Calls and The Rest of Us Just Live Here. This is an interesting beast and perhaps falls short though is not without merit.
It feels tonally similar to TROUJLH though maybe I've been influenced by the size and jacket design (almost as nice but not quite, missing that fabric cover). The big issue I had was the twinning of the two stories. They really just feel like separate tales, two novellas merged somewhat unsuccessfully.
The ?main story involving Adam is easily the strongest. Full of wonderful nuance, emotion, compassion, empathy and wicked humour, summing up a day in the life of an ordinary teenager, dealing with ordinary teenage things, through a series of escalating set pieces while feeling like the world is ending. It's simultaneously immense in scope and claustrophobically insular. Credit for portraying (and happily normalising) everyday diversity, which stills feels isolated in the written form (well, at least to me, but that's probably more a reflection of the books I usually read. I'm sure there is more representation of diversity out there; at least I hope there is).
The second story involving a spirit Queen, her faun and a dead girl felt like an attempt to emulate Neil Gaiman. It didn't do anything for me and had next to nothing to do with the other story even as a mirror. Also, while Ness can pen some lovely prose, I found myself tripping over an inordinate number of sentences in these sections.
So, an odd mix. I would recommend it as the Adam side of things was well worth the time, while the mystical side is at least, brief.
It feels tonally similar to TROUJLH though maybe I've been influenced by the size and jacket design (almost as nice but not quite, missing that fabric cover). The big issue I had was the twinning of the two stories. They really just feel like separate tales, two novellas merged somewhat unsuccessfully.
The ?main story involving Adam is easily the strongest. Full of wonderful nuance, emotion, compassion, empathy and wicked humour, summing up a day in the life of an ordinary teenager, dealing with ordinary teenage things, through a series of escalating set pieces while feeling like the world is ending. It's simultaneously immense in scope and claustrophobically insular. Credit for portraying (and happily normalising) everyday diversity, which stills feels isolated in the written form (well, at least to me, but that's probably more a reflection of the books I usually read. I'm sure there is more representation of diversity out there; at least I hope there is).
The second story involving a spirit Queen, her faun and a dead girl felt like an attempt to emulate Neil Gaiman. It didn't do anything for me and had next to nothing to do with the other story even as a mirror. Also, while Ness can pen some lovely prose, I found myself tripping over an inordinate number of sentences in these sections.
So, an odd mix. I would recommend it as the Adam side of things was well worth the time, while the mystical side is at least, brief.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
a quick, emotional read - i really enjoyed it! [didn’t like the supernatural side-story, tho. it felt kind of pointless..]
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
I don't understand how both stories came together. I think I do, but I wish it was better. I loved More than this, so I was hopeful. It wasn't great but also it wasn't bad.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-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
50%of the book was okay. I have no idea what was going on with the other 50%
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This book was really well-written, and had a lot of very sweet moments, but it also seemed to not have a plot in the main chapters. The italic chapters did have a plot, but I didn't really understand it. For a vibes book, I did enjoy it, but I wish it had had a bit /more/.
The writing style reminds me of John Green, except with a spectral twist lol
It included a lot of diversity, which is obviously great, but didn’t shove it down your throat or use weird descriptions about skin colours...
Easy to read and the hinted parallels between the main plot and the side plot are cool too
It included a lot of diversity, which is obviously great, but didn’t shove it down your throat or use weird descriptions about skin colours...
Easy to read and the hinted parallels between the main plot and the side plot are cool too