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enne's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars
I honestly do not even know where to begin with this book because there are so many things that I loved about it.
This follows four friends who decide to write each other's new year's resolutions over the course of the year as they struggle to complete them. I thought each of the characters was really well-developed and stood aside on their own perfectly, but my favorite part of this book was the friendship dynamic between the four of them. This is closely followed by the fact that there is no major falling out between the friends at all over the course of the story!! The book doesn't rely on drama between the four friends to carry the story and I really appreciated that. Throughout the course of the novel, their care and love for each other is constantly emphasized and it just,,, made me so happy.
I also really loved all of the individual storylines within this book and I think they were all given ample time to develop and grow which I really appreciated. I felt all of the characters' worries and insecurities so deeply and I adore the way Mia Garcia wrote their emotions.
I loved reading about Nora and her worries with going to culinary school and leaving her family cafe behind. I also just loved reading about Nora baking because I am a very big fan of baking books and this one definitely didn't disappoint on that front!! Nora is also in the cutest (sapphic) relationship for the entirety of this book and this brought me so much joy.
I loved reading about Lee and her struggles and insecurities and I also really liked the direction that her particular story took. I have to say I am also a very big fan of how this one concluded, even though it wasn't in the way I was expecting.
I loved reading about Ryan's struggle with rediscovering who he is outside of his relationship with his ex-boyfriend and coming back to art. The last few chapters from Ryan's POV made me incredibly emotional because they hit really close to home for me. I love Ryan with all of my heart that's all, thanks.
I especially loved reading about Jess and the amount of pressure she puts on herself to perform and to not let anyone down and to constantly take on more responsibilities. Everything that was said in Jess' chapters hit so close to home for me, especially with the way she feels like she's never enough and too much for other people at the same time. This book was very validating in that regard. I cried a lot.
I also really appreciate how family is a really big part of this book as well. The families of our four main characters differ significantly from each other, but they're all present and they're a significant part of the story in every character's case. I loved seeing them interact with their families and I loved the way they contributed to the main arcs of the book. Also?? Ryan's grandmother literally deserves the world I will not be taking any criticisms on this.
There isn't really a central plot to the story besides the resolutions, which kind of sprout off into the four different storylines that I discussed above, so I guess the last thing to talk about is the friendship, since I started with that as well. Throughout the story, the friendships between different characters grow and change as they rely more on each other and are more open and honest with each other and I honestly loved every second of it. I love reading about messy teens supporting messy teens and that's exactly what this book gave me and I love it with all of my heart.
I honestly do not even know where to begin with this book because there are so many things that I loved about it.
This follows four friends who decide to write each other's new year's resolutions over the course of the year as they struggle to complete them. I thought each of the characters was really well-developed and stood aside on their own perfectly, but my favorite part of this book was the friendship dynamic between the four of them. This is closely followed by the fact that there is no major falling out between the friends at all over the course of the story!! The book doesn't rely on drama between the four friends to carry the story and I really appreciated that. Throughout the course of the novel, their care and love for each other is constantly emphasized and it just,,, made me so happy.
I also really loved all of the individual storylines within this book and I think they were all given ample time to develop and grow which I really appreciated. I felt all of the characters' worries and insecurities so deeply and I adore the way Mia Garcia wrote their emotions.
I loved reading about Nora and her worries with going to culinary school and leaving her family cafe behind. I also just loved reading about Nora baking because I am a very big fan of baking books and this one definitely didn't disappoint on that front!! Nora is also in the cutest (sapphic) relationship for the entirety of this book and this brought me so much joy.
I loved reading about Lee and her struggles and insecurities and I also really liked the direction that her particular story took. I have to say I am also a very big fan of how this one concluded, even though it wasn't in the way I was expecting.
I loved reading about Ryan's struggle with rediscovering who he is outside of his relationship with his ex-boyfriend and coming back to art. The last few chapters from Ryan's POV made me incredibly emotional because they hit really close to home for me. I love Ryan with all of my heart that's all, thanks.
I especially loved reading about Jess and the amount of pressure she puts on herself to perform and to not let anyone down and to constantly take on more responsibilities. Everything that was said in Jess' chapters hit so close to home for me, especially with the way she feels like she's never enough and too much for other people at the same time. This book was very validating in that regard. I cried a lot.
I also really appreciate how family is a really big part of this book as well. The families of our four main characters differ significantly from each other, but they're all present and they're a significant part of the story in every character's case. I loved seeing them interact with their families and I loved the way they contributed to the main arcs of the book. Also?? Ryan's grandmother literally deserves the world I will not be taking any criticisms on this.
There isn't really a central plot to the story besides the resolutions, which kind of sprout off into the four different storylines that I discussed above, so I guess the last thing to talk about is the friendship, since I started with that as well. Throughout the story, the friendships between different characters grow and change as they rely more on each other and are more open and honest with each other and I honestly loved every second of it. I love reading about messy teens supporting messy teens and that's exactly what this book gave me and I love it with all of my heart.
shefali_m's review against another edition
1.0
I personally could not get into this book. I found none of the characters interesting and just found it for the most part really dry. I might try to give this book another chance someday but it just was not my kind of book. I do not think I will be reviewing it that much in depth on my blog because I did not connect with it enough.
The Good:
-The concept was really good about four friends trying to make new year's resolutions to change themselves.
The Bad:
-The characters did not create any interesting resolutions and I just got bored between their dialogues.
-I also did not like the shifts between perspectives of the characters.
-I also just personally did not connect with this book. I honestly might retry this book some other day and I can hopefully give it a higher review (if I do like it.)
The Good:
-The concept was really good about four friends trying to make new year's resolutions to change themselves.
The Bad:
-The characters did not create any interesting resolutions and I just got bored between their dialogues.
-I also did not like the shifts between perspectives of the characters.
-I also just personally did not connect with this book. I honestly might retry this book some other day and I can hopefully give it a higher review (if I do like it.)
nataliesboooks's review against another edition
3.0
Since this book is centered around New Year’s resolutions, it’s the perfect book to read at the end of the year, despite the fact that only the beginning and ending take place on New Year’s Eve.
The story follows four friends who make resolutions for each other. Each character is dealing with different issues. I really liked the friendship dynamic and how they were always there for each other.
Jess - dealing with unbelievable pressure to take on “everything” - student council president, AP classes, early decision for college, scholarship essays, etc. She was a textbook example of burning the candle at both ends. She also suffers from panic attacks that she hides from her friends and family. I really felt for Jess as that is a common issue that many kids face. I couldn’t believe her friends gave her the resolution that she had to say “yes” to everything. That put incredible pressure on her. I was glad she got help in the end.
Ryan - dealing with a breakup with his boyfriend that has left him devastated and wanting closure. I couldn’t relate to him very well; he came off as somewhat clingy and I wanted him to write off Jason a lot earlier than he did (though I was glad he was able to in the end).
Nora - dealing with the pressure of helping in her mother’s restaurant when what she really wants to do is go to culinary school and become a baker. I couldn’t stand Nora’s mother. She was so selfish and didn’t seem to mind that her daughter put school on the back burner to help her out all the time.
Lee - dealing with a possible diagnosis of Huntington’s Disease (the genetic disease that caused her mother’s death). I really felt for her and I liked her story, even though it was sad. I wish the book mentioned the results of her test!
Overall I liked the story and the characters, but the random phrases in other languages were a bit difficult to follow. I do speak Spanish so that was ok, but Ryan’s grandmother was from Taiwan and it didn’t have a translation handy so I had to guess what was being said based on context clues. The book is also a bit on the long side at over 400 pages and I’m not sure it needed to be that long.
Nonetheless a good book to read as 2019 draws to a close.
The story follows four friends who make resolutions for each other. Each character is dealing with different issues. I really liked the friendship dynamic and how they were always there for each other.
Jess - dealing with unbelievable pressure to take on “everything” - student council president, AP classes, early decision for college, scholarship essays, etc. She was a textbook example of burning the candle at both ends. She also suffers from panic attacks that she hides from her friends and family. I really felt for Jess as that is a common issue that many kids face. I couldn’t believe her friends gave her the resolution that she had to say “yes” to everything. That put incredible pressure on her. I was glad she got help in the end.
Ryan - dealing with a breakup with his boyfriend that has left him devastated and wanting closure. I couldn’t relate to him very well; he came off as somewhat clingy and I wanted him to write off Jason a lot earlier than he did (though I was glad he was able to in the end).
Nora - dealing with the pressure of helping in her mother’s restaurant when what she really wants to do is go to culinary school and become a baker. I couldn’t stand Nora’s mother. She was so selfish and didn’t seem to mind that her daughter put school on the back burner to help her out all the time.
Lee - dealing with a possible diagnosis of Huntington’s Disease (the genetic disease that caused her mother’s death). I really felt for her and I liked her story, even though it was sad. I wish the book mentioned the results of her test!
Overall I liked the story and the characters, but the random phrases in other languages were a bit difficult to follow. I do speak Spanish so that was ok, but Ryan’s grandmother was from Taiwan and it didn’t have a translation handy so I had to guess what was being said based on context clues. The book is also a bit on the long side at over 400 pages and I’m not sure it needed to be that long.
Nonetheless a good book to read as 2019 draws to a close.
esquetee's review against another edition
4.0
Took me a bit to warm up to it at first, but once I did I was totally hooked on these characters. Is it a good choice for teenagers to read? Probably. Should it be required reading for parents who might have forgotten how stressful being teenagers can be? Definitely. Major bonus points for characters representing diverse walks of life.
romancelibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked the diversity in this. I was initially incredibly invested. Then I put it down for two days and I had a super hard time getting back into the story. I think that although this is told in alternating view-point third person narration ... I think teens will be drawn to this style of self-discovery story.
tpwkmaryn's review
emotional
funny
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? N/A
lifeofaliterarynerd's review against another edition
1.0
1.5 Stars
What’s kind of ridiculous is that I don’t remember finishing this book, but my notes tell me otherwise so I guess I did? My draw to The Resoultions story was no surprise, the strong friendship at its heart, and that was probably the only thing I liked. I liked how they made resolutions for each other, but I didn’t actually care for the characters themselves, except Blake and Ryan, they were the cutes. So much of this story was me not caring about what happened and that was disappointing. I also had some trouble keeping Jess and Lee straight in my head until about the halfway point, so that didn’t help. This story was so forgettable to me and I only finished the entire thing because it was so easy to read.
I received a copy of the book from Katherine Tegen Books via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
"Give yourself room to breathe. To make mistakes. Eventually you will see that you were always there, you just couldn't recognize yourself yet."
What’s kind of ridiculous is that I don’t remember finishing this book, but my notes tell me otherwise so I guess I did? My draw to The Resoultions story was no surprise, the strong friendship at its heart, and that was probably the only thing I liked. I liked how they made resolutions for each other, but I didn’t actually care for the characters themselves, except Blake and Ryan, they were the cutes. So much of this story was me not caring about what happened and that was disappointing. I also had some trouble keeping Jess and Lee straight in my head until about the halfway point, so that didn’t help. This story was so forgettable to me and I only finished the entire thing because it was so easy to read.
I received a copy of the book from Katherine Tegen Books via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
mfortunak's review against another edition
3.0
6/10 3/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really really wanted to like this book. It sounded so good and made me think that the resolutions were a bunch of dares and lead them on exciting adventures.
I’m sorry to tell you but they are not.
The resolutions given to each person are kind of meant to push them out of their comfort zone and pursuance them to do things they’ve been procrastinating (such as getting over an ex or relearning Spanish).
I still had lots of hope for the characters but I was honestly kind of disappointed in them too. I loved the representation in it (they are all latinx and vary in sexuality- so be ready for some Spanish and Spanglish). However, I feel like some of their stories fell a little flat.
I know that in every story there has to be that story arc, with the problem and ending solution of some kind, but to me the characters just had way too many big problems and didn’t try to solve them. Jess and Nora in particular had chapters mostly filled with worrying about their mental and family issues without doing anything to solve them.
All in all I wasn’t a big fan of this book and took almost a week to get myself to finish it (this is a very long time in my world lol).
Happy reading!
Mollie ❣️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really really wanted to like this book. It sounded so good and made me think that the resolutions were a bunch of dares and lead them on exciting adventures.
I’m sorry to tell you but they are not.
The resolutions given to each person are kind of meant to push them out of their comfort zone and pursuance them to do things they’ve been procrastinating (such as getting over an ex or relearning Spanish).
I still had lots of hope for the characters but I was honestly kind of disappointed in them too. I loved the representation in it (they are all latinx and vary in sexuality- so be ready for some Spanish and Spanglish). However, I feel like some of their stories fell a little flat.
I know that in every story there has to be that story arc, with the problem and ending solution of some kind, but to me the characters just had way too many big problems and didn’t try to solve them. Jess and Nora in particular had chapters mostly filled with worrying about their mental and family issues without doing anything to solve them.
All in all I wasn’t a big fan of this book and took almost a week to get myself to finish it (this is a very long time in my world lol).
Happy reading!
Mollie ❣️