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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
This was tough. Just going to go for bullet points:
- I hate seeing red flags I've missed in my own life in a book. It hurts. Doesn't mean anything about the quality of a book, it just sucks for me. I'll get over it.
- I enjoyed the plethora of invented films and accompanying lore.
- I did NOT enjoy the really strange racism. Not the antisemitism, not the off-color note about the "japanese-looking girl."
- The homophobia either. It's written like it's supposed to make Ed and his friends flawed, real, or quirky somehow. It isn't. It was an outdated writing choice for 2011 and the lack of critical thought about it in the text is frustrating.
- Min's writing style is often frustrating. It would be naturalistic dialogue. The dialogue is actually pretty good. But it doesn't make sense for everyone to talk like that AND for Min to write like that, even if she is our narrator.
- Maira Kalman's art is lovely and actually adds to the story (as opposed to just decorating it).
Look. This book had huge potential. I loved parts of it. It feels unfortunately real at times, and I wish a younger me had read it and subsequently avoided some similar heartbreak. But the overall experience is seriously damaged by what felt like a lack of a good editor and some common sense. I want to read more non-Snickett Hander and I desperately hope it does not repeat these mistakes. I don't need to repeat how torn and icky I feel mixed with how much I wanted to love the book.
- I hate seeing red flags I've missed in my own life in a book. It hurts. Doesn't mean anything about the quality of a book, it just sucks for me. I'll get over it.
- I enjoyed the plethora of invented films and accompanying lore.
- I did NOT enjoy the really strange racism. Not the antisemitism, not the off-color note about the "japanese-looking girl."
- The homophobia either. It's written like it's supposed to make Ed and his friends flawed, real, or quirky somehow. It isn't. It was an outdated writing choice for 2011 and the lack of critical thought about it in the text is frustrating.
- Min's writing style is often frustrating. It would be naturalistic dialogue. The dialogue is actually pretty good. But it doesn't make sense for everyone to talk like that AND for Min to write like that, even if she is our narrator.
- Maira Kalman's art is lovely and actually adds to the story (as opposed to just decorating it).
Look. This book had huge potential. I loved parts of it. It feels unfortunately real at times, and I wish a younger me had read it and subsequently avoided some similar heartbreak. But the overall experience is seriously damaged by what felt like a lack of a good editor and some common sense. I want to read more non-Snickett Hander and I desperately hope it does not repeat these mistakes. I don't need to repeat how torn and icky I feel mixed with how much I wanted to love the book.
I loved this book. It reminded me of my teenage experiences.
Sigh.
Is this well written? Yeah, absolutely. There are sections that are so beautiful and capture the range of emotions in a breakup perfectly. Is the art inside gorgeous? Yes, I loved the illustrations and the way the book was set up so that each chapter began with a picture. So cool.
Did I like or care about any of the characters? No. And that's where the story falls apart for me. The story from Min's point of view (the reader is reading the longggg letter Min writes to her ex) so we probably don't get the full story. But, ultimately, they're both assholes and this seems like a lot of drama for a month long relationship (and this is coming from me, the girl who always falls in love first and is overly emotional about everything). Min is pretentious and looks down on people for enjoying "popular" things like sports. Ed uses "gay" as an insult and cheats on gals. They're both terrible but for different reasons.
I've had my fair share of heartbreak and breakups. They suck. No doubt. But this was over the top and I never found myself really enjoying the read, it felt like a chore. I'm bummed I didn't like this more.
Is this well written? Yeah, absolutely. There are sections that are so beautiful and capture the range of emotions in a breakup perfectly. Is the art inside gorgeous? Yes, I loved the illustrations and the way the book was set up so that each chapter began with a picture. So cool.
Did I like or care about any of the characters? No. And that's where the story falls apart for me. The story from Min's point of view (the reader is reading the longggg letter Min writes to her ex) so we probably don't get the full story. But, ultimately, they're both assholes and this seems like a lot of drama for a month long relationship (and this is coming from me, the girl who always falls in love first and is overly emotional about everything). Min is pretentious and looks down on people for enjoying "popular" things like sports. Ed uses "gay" as an insult and cheats on gals. They're both terrible but for different reasons.
I've had my fair share of heartbreak and breakups. They suck. No doubt. But this was over the top and I never found myself really enjoying the read, it felt like a chore. I'm bummed I didn't like this more.
Asdfghjkl this book is amazing and it made me reminisce all those fun and sad times with my ex. (We got together at October 5 too!!)
Didn't finish this book. I just couldn't. Maybe another time, but there were so many info dumps about old movies and plays that I just couldn't get into because these details were so vivid, but the story/characters/relationship was so vague. I felt no connection to either of the main characters whatsoever. I was basically forcing myself to read this book and I couldn't. I just couldn't. I'll probably finish this book another time. :/
I tried reading this and didn't get into it. A few months later, I tried it on cd & STILL couldn't get into it. This one's just not for me.
I loved the juxtaposition of Maira Kalman's illustrations of the objects with each object's place in the narrative of the story. I was interested in the story of the main character, but wished that the slow reveal had led to something more in the end.
I remember picking up this book in the school library a couple years ago just because I thought it had a pretty spine. And a pretty cover and pretty pictures inside. I started reading it and never finished because I was weird like that.
Anyway, a couple days ago I decided to read it properly (which meant starting again even though I remembered most of what I read previously).
I can say that I definitely don't regret my decision. I like how the book is literally just a very long post-break-up letter about the things in the box being returned. Normally, I would think that writing that long of a letter is an exaggeration but considering what happened to her I think it's kind of appropriate.
One of the things I like is how Min, the main character, keeps referring to a large variety of films to compare with the current situation. I sort of wish those movies were real.
When I finally got to the end of the book and found out the main reason why they broke up - took me long enough - it was somewhat heart-breaking for me too because I was secretly rooting for Min and Ed to stay together, y'know? Too bad they broke up anyway.
The last thing I'd like to say is that Ed Slaterton is a fucking dick.
Anyway, a couple days ago I decided to read it properly (which meant starting again even though I remembered most of what I read previously).
I can say that I definitely don't regret my decision. I like how the book is literally just a very long post-break-up letter about the things in the box being returned. Normally, I would think that writing that long of a letter is an exaggeration but considering what happened to her I think it's kind of appropriate.
One of the things I like is how Min, the main character, keeps referring to a large variety of films to compare with the current situation. I sort of wish those movies were real.
When I finally got to the end of the book and found out the main reason why they broke up - took me long enough - it was somewhat heart-breaking for me too because I was secretly rooting for Min and Ed to stay together, y'know? Too bad they broke up anyway.
The last thing I'd like to say is that Ed Slaterton is a fucking dick.
Everyone who has ever gone through a relationship in which you fell head-over-heels into a whirlwind romance, and then fallen just as crazily out, needs to read this book.
Hmm...this was another weird one. I finished it last night (right before it won a Printz Honor) and once again, I'm on the fence. I really like the story and how it was told. However, I kind of hated it at the same time. I didn't really like the way Min, the narrator, spoke and everything was "you said this" "you did this"...I don't know. For me, it made it harder to concentrate on what was happening. I like the way Min told the story of her relationship with Ed through a box full of objects acquired while they dated.
Overall the story was good and got better as it went along. I almost think my favorite thing about the book was that the pages were shiny and kind of smelled like a yearbook.
Overall the story was good and got better as it went along. I almost think my favorite thing about the book was that the pages were shiny and kind of smelled like a yearbook.