Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Quinze dias

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Quinze dias by Vitor Martins

67 reviews

drbex's review against another edition

inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

I loved this story about Felipe and Caio. I thought the development of their relationship was well paced and made a lot of sense for who they are. I was sad about Caio's mom, but I appreciated how the author demonstrated that she really does love him and care about him even if she doesn't always have the best way of showing it. I love the way he tackled Felipe's lack of confidence due to his weight. The way weight was treated in this book was sensitive but realistic.

My one confusion was when in the middle of the book, Felipe, as the narrator, changed from calling Caio's friend "Becky" to calling her "Rebeca" - obviously one is a nickname for the other, but there was no precedent as to the change. She hadn't introduced herself as such, Caio had always called her Becky, so why did Felipe call her Becky in his narration and then two sentences later switch to Rebeca. It took me out of the story a bit. Idk if something was lost in translation or what, but it was confusing.

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itshardizzy's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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menomica's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

Eu ADOREI esse livro. Foi muito light-hearted carinhoso e amei os personagens. Gostei de como foi um livro para os adolescentes, então tudo foi bem low-stakes. A mãe de Felipe era incrível (provavelmente ela era minha favorita). E o desenvolvimento da relação entre Felipe e Caio? Fofo demais! Também, acho que esse foi o único livro que eu li que teve um bom psicólogo.

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ladylaurenexplorer's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

This was a very emotional book for me. I’ve actually dealt with body image problems so hearing Felipe talk about it, just bring it all back up. This is a very good coming of age book. I loved how real the affection and romance was. I love how it dealt with it the body image aspect and even now we don’t have a happy ever after that was years down the line. We have free happy ever after of the present and I like that!

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lizardbet's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

This book is absolutely such an adorable read, following a charming cast of characters over about two weeks during school break. Felipe is a fat teenaged boy who is bullied for his weight and his appearance at school, resulting in his general isolation and anxiety. He has a crush on his neighbor and former childhood friend, Caio, and is suddenly forced to spend 15 days in close quarters with him when Caio's parents go away on vacation and don't want him to stay home alone.

The relationship between Felipe and Caio, and his mother, his schoolmates, and his opinion of himself are the focus of the story, with the chapters following one day at a time over this school break. There isn't a lot of plot, it's mostly the characters wandering around town or hanging out in the house and getting to know each other. This isn't my usual cup of tea, as I tend to prefer plot-driven stories but enough does happen that it doesn't seem to drag and I was able to stay invested.

I absolutely loved the representation in this book, and it becomes really evident that this is an important sticking point for the author. First off, and most importantly in the story, Felipe is fat. He doesn't shy away from this idea, nor from the word itself. Felipe has a pretty poor opinion of himself and is generally treated really poorly by his peers as well, and much of the story is him struggling to accept himself and stand up for himself, and also learn to believe that someone else may also love him, not just his mother.

Felipe is also gay. This is neither a surprise to those around nor to himself and his coming out and self acceptance of his sexuality is not a major part of the story. While this is touched upon with Caio's storyline, it's really refreshing to see an LGBTQIA YA story that isn't focused on coming out.

The rest of the characters are also extremely diverse and charming, and they're honestly a joy to learn about. Felipe and his mom have a beautiful and healthy relationship as they love and support each other through the whole book. Caio's best friend Becky and her girlfriend seem to be introduced to push and inspire Felipe and Caio's relationship and provide more friends for Felipe to have by the end of the story, but they're just as lovable and independent as you might hope as well.

The development of the romance between Felipe and Caio is really awkward and clumsy but so lovely and real, especially for a fumbling teenaged sort-of strangers to friends to lovers story set over a couple weeks. The emotional rollercoaster Felipe feels, the complications and interactions and stumbling blocks, all feel very real and relatable and I really love every bit of it.

The part where this book falls a bit flat for me is the writing itself. First person books aren't my favorite style, but more of my issues come with the smaller scale stuff. I feel like it's probably a result of the fact that this is a translated work, and sometimes that can create difficulties in the interpretation. I really loved the story and the style, but sometimes it felt like the translator's interpretation took me out of it a bit.

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