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krikketgirl's review against another edition
4.0
Silly, fluffy, and sweet. This reminded me of my middle school days in all their drama and silliness. I enjoyed this immensely.
lbuck303's review
3.0
A cute story about friendship. Perfect for a middle school read (especially for summertime)
reader_fictions's review
3.0
The Pages Between Us is super cute, but I’m again sitting here and thinking I should probably stop requesting so much middle grade. Since I’ve enjoyed YA contemporaries by both Leavitt and Mellom, I wanted to read their combined middle grade effort. It’s super cute, and I think if I were in elementary or middle school I probably would have had a lot of feels about it.
Man do I feel old reading books like this. I spent most of the book trying to decide if it was reasonable for a sixth grader (Olivia) to have had a crush on the same guy for years. I mean, it must have started in like second or third grade, which tbh is a lot of focus at that age. I think I had my first vague crush-ish thing in second grade but it didn’t exactly take a lot of my thoughts. I got my first lingering crush in fifth grade. And I know the popular kids started “dating” in fourth or so. Idk whatever I AM SO OLD NOW.
As a lover of middle grade ships, I was hoping there would be a cute one, and there’s some potential, but nothing happens really. It’s a lot of friends discussing boys but not any real romance. That’s probably more fitting for the intended audience but a bit disappointing for me.
The friendship dynamics are pretty well done. Piper and Olivia are best friends split apart by the cruelty of fate (aka class schedules) and they communicate in a notebook passed between classes. That conceit is a good one but does sometimes lead to some believability issues, like when they have conversations by writing in the notebook even thought they’re somewhere together and could talk OUT LOUD. But whatever. The conflict that arises when two friends go from being attached at the hip to having other interests and friends is good subject matter for kids (or lbr humans of all ages). I couldn’t really tell Olivia and Piper’s voices apart, but the writing is pleasant and humorous and what kept me going.
One thing did annoy me, though. Olivia’s mother is from Atlanta (Atlaaaaaanta), and the book references multiple times how southern she is and how her accent comes out. As someone who’s actually from Atlanta, that’s not someone from Atlanta. Anywhere else in Georgia, sure, but not Atlanta.
The Pages Between Us wasn’t what I wanted (aka more YA romance from these guys), but it was cute and fun. It’s sort of like the Jessica Darling middle grades but for a younger set.
Man do I feel old reading books like this. I spent most of the book trying to decide if it was reasonable for a sixth grader (Olivia) to have had a crush on the same guy for years. I mean, it must have started in like second or third grade, which tbh is a lot of focus at that age. I think I had my first vague crush-ish thing in second grade but it didn’t exactly take a lot of my thoughts. I got my first lingering crush in fifth grade. And I know the popular kids started “dating” in fourth or so. Idk whatever I AM SO OLD NOW.
As a lover of middle grade ships, I was hoping there would be a cute one, and there’s some potential, but nothing happens really. It’s a lot of friends discussing boys but not any real romance. That’s probably more fitting for the intended audience but a bit disappointing for me.
The friendship dynamics are pretty well done. Piper and Olivia are best friends split apart by the cruelty of fate (aka class schedules) and they communicate in a notebook passed between classes. That conceit is a good one but does sometimes lead to some believability issues, like when they have conversations by writing in the notebook even thought they’re somewhere together and could talk OUT LOUD. But whatever. The conflict that arises when two friends go from being attached at the hip to having other interests and friends is good subject matter for kids (or lbr humans of all ages). I couldn’t really tell Olivia and Piper’s voices apart, but the writing is pleasant and humorous and what kept me going.
One thing did annoy me, though. Olivia’s mother is from Atlanta (Atlaaaaaanta), and the book references multiple times how southern she is and how her accent comes out. As someone who’s actually from Atlanta, that’s not someone from Atlanta. Anywhere else in Georgia, sure, but not Atlanta.
The Pages Between Us wasn’t what I wanted (aka more YA romance from these guys), but it was cute and fun. It’s sort of like the Jessica Darling middle grades but for a younger set.
kellyhager's review
3.0
This book is absolutely adorable and also does a really great job of showing exactly how easy it is for friends---even best ones---to start drifting apart.
Piper and Olivia have been best friends for years and they each definitely rely on the other to get through their days. This is made complicated when one year, they only have one class together. But they have a brilliant idea: they can write notes to each other in a notebook and that will keep them as close as they've always been.
And for a long time it works. Until they have another idea: start joining clubs. And it starts out being really good until all of a sudden, they start being interested in different things. And what odes it mean for their friendship when they have a chance to spend time together but they start opting to do different things instead?
I know it seems like a really minor thing, right? Except you remember how important everything feels in middle school---everything seems like an actual life or death situation.
This would be really good for middle school kids, especially kids in sixth grade (that's when middle school starts now, right?) to kind of reassure them that life is hard for everyone.
Piper and Olivia have been best friends for years and they each definitely rely on the other to get through their days. This is made complicated when one year, they only have one class together. But they have a brilliant idea: they can write notes to each other in a notebook and that will keep them as close as they've always been.
And for a long time it works. Until they have another idea: start joining clubs. And it starts out being really good until all of a sudden, they start being interested in different things. And what odes it mean for their friendship when they have a chance to spend time together but they start opting to do different things instead?
I know it seems like a really minor thing, right? Except you remember how important everything feels in middle school---everything seems like an actual life or death situation.
This would be really good for middle school kids, especially kids in sixth grade (that's when middle school starts now, right?) to kind of reassure them that life is hard for everyone.
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