Reviews

A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti

thepetitepunk's review

Deeply painful and real.

I’m not sure what to rate this book because I don’t like rating books that I’ve read over a longer span of time, but it would anywhere in the 4 or 4.5 or 5 star range.

I highly highly highly recommend the audiobook (if you want a good cry). This is such a great example of how an author can take huge social and political issues and make them so personal and close, rather than highlighting them in a too-big-to-be-touched manner.

✧ ✧ ✧

≪reading 31 books for 31 days of july≫
╰┈➤ 1. the ones we're meant to find by joan he
╰┈➤ 2. rise to the sun by leah johnson
╰┈➤ 3. some girls do by jennifer dugan
╰┈➤ 4. a heart in a body in the world by deb caletti

hgmcghee19's review against another edition

4.0

Beautiful. Just. Wow.

morgob's review against another edition

4.0

This was a really great story. It is super emotional, relatable, and creative, and at times the prose is poetic and has moments of greatness. Right off the bat, I will go over what I didn't like. One point is maybe not fair. The writing was kind of underwhelming at times. The reason I think it's unfair to point that out is because this is a young adult novel, so it's not necessarily meant for me as an audience, but that's just something that bothers me sometimes. The subject matters in the book are not at all juvenile, but the writing seemed like it for most of the book. Like I said, there were moments of greatness. The other thing that bothered me is you don't get to the "big secret" of the tragedy until the end, though it's hinted at several hundred times throughout. Maybe I'm being too critical of this, but it just seemed like it was hinted at and teased too much. I think if I found out sooner what actually happened, the book would have felt a bit more mature, rather than the cliché of keeping the audience waiting until the last minute and then telling us. It just seems more like a gimmick to keep the reader interested rather than a plot point (though I totally do understand what the author was trying to do, with the main character repressing the memories entirely, but it just didn't work or feel entirely convincing to me).
Otherwise, I thought it was a great story. I liked the characters, and, like I said, it was relatable.

Spoiler

(I, too, have had a very creepy boy send me horrible letters when I rejected him because I didn't want to be more than friends. It gave me goosebumps at times because of the similarities.)

I really loved how the whole story really fit together. It wasn't just a book about running, it wasn't just a book about the tragedy of what happened, and it wasn't just a book about a girl feeling helpless and powerless in the world. It was all of it combined, and it really worked. I do wish there was a bit more about the running in it, but that's just because of who I am. Okay, one last thing to nitpick about. You can kind of tell that the author is not a runner. There are just some things that happen to the main character or some of the things she does that made me say, "Ok, that's not how that would have worked," or "She definitely should not wear that to run." Yeah, some of it was a bit obvious. Also, how not too much time was spent on the running, though that could have been just to make room for the rest of the story. Sorry, that just bugged me. Anyway, I really loved the story and the characters, especially Grandpa Ed. He was great. Shoutout to my bestie, Maya, for recommending this book to me our freshman year of college!

izzys_internet_bookshelf's review

2.0

2.5/5

I found this book to be alright. There was a lot of commotion towards the end of the book. But leading up to that was the way the main character was trying to live with PTSD

kasylia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

gabrielle_erin's review against another edition

3.0

This was such an interesting and unique story. I really enjoyed the non-linear style of the narrative, it kept me engaged in the story and felt like I was in the moment alongside Anabelle. Caletti touches on some really important topics in this book but I would have liked to have seen more commentary abusive relationships and gun violence as this is only implied throughout the book before being finally revealed in the last three chapters. The character development was believable and I really liked how the romantic relationships in the book were portrayed in light of the commentary on toxic relationships. Overall, a great read.

yumnas's review against another edition

4.0

This is an awesome story of recovery and perseverance and staying true to who you are and what you stand for. *side note: it was slightly confusing at times because we don’t know what actually happened at the end so you’re not even sure why the main character is so upset. Maybe the whole point was to keep the reader guessing, but I was confused.

agoo_bago's review against another edition

4.0

It’s actually a 3.5 stars. I feel like you enjoy the book twice more when you already know what’s the tragedy. And around the middle of the book I spoiled myself so maybe that’s why I enjoyed more the rest of it. Anyway I loved the ending and overall it’s a good book. I definitely recommend it but with a spoiler on the tragedy first.

roseleaf24's review against another edition

4.0

This story was beautiful and gripping. Annabelle is running. Without much planning, but with brother and friends behind her, she sets out to run across the country. She just needs to be doing something... Something to address the tragedy that has befallen her. It took a little too long for me to unwind the whole story, but I appreciated that she didn't try to give easy answers to the horrible, complicated mess she had to deal with. I really liked Annabelle, and I loved those she had supporting her.

kvreadsandrecs's review against another edition

5.0

Whoa. This book was intense. I liked how the plot moved and made me feel frustrated in the same way as the main character. This will be one of those books I think about for a long time.