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robinks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I found CJ a bit annoying, and I thought the book could have ended a little sooner. Despite all that, this novel tackled nuanced racial issues and family dynamics in a powerful way. I also liked learning about the meanings of flowers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Racism, and Outing
Moderate: Abortion, Alcohol, Drug use, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Vomit
space_bandit's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Racism
Moderate: Pregnancy, Abortion, and Homophobia
deenice2819's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Pregnancy and Abortion
Minor: Confinement, Drug use, Genocide, Outing, Homophobia, and Bullying
carolynlovesbooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion and Racism
Minor: Homophobia
readerette's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A decent coming of age story with the perspective of one whose family suffered as a result of racist acts in prior generations. It's worth reading. Expect to be challenged amongst the lightheartedness.
I don't ever expect (or even like) perfect characters, but I found CJ's mom hate-able the whole book and the aunt eventually got there for me too, sadly. CJ spends a lot of time beating herself up, which is exhausting when placed alongside the examination of racism, the familial squabbles, the coming of age, the poor choices in how she treats her friends, and the strange inclusion ofher teenage pregnancy and abortion, about which she registered exceedingly little emotion except as it played with her doubts about her mother's choice to have her--she had those doubts regardless so it just felt like excess drama .
I don't ever expect (or even like) perfect characters, but I found CJ's mom hate-able the whole book and the aunt eventually got there for me too, sadly. CJ spends a lot of time beating herself up, which is exhausting when placed alongside the examination of racism, the familial squabbles, the coming of age, the poor choices in how she treats her friends, and the strange inclusion of
Content Warnings
Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, and Xenophobia
le3713's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Homophobia
Minor: Abortion
carareadsthebooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Abortion, Homophobia, and Pregnancy
lena_and_her_books's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Took me a while to get into but after a 100 pages or so I was hooked.
Was not as LGBTQ* as I expected. The main character (a straight cis girl) is friends with LGB-people, and through her lens we follow their storylines: lesbian (several characters, incl. a teen romance), gay (gay couple in one scene) and bisexual (main charachters (asian, male) love interest) side characters
Was not as LGBTQ* as I expected. The main character (a straight cis girl) is friends with LGB-people, and through her lens we follow their storylines:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Drug use
Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Abortion and Vomit
aqtbenz's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Abortion, and Homophobia
wenwanzhao's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Asian-American protagonist. Flower Shop. Fighting against racist history. There was too much to love going into this book. While I tend to dislike books written in first-person, I thought that the voice of the main character was realistic and relatable. The dialogue was crazily real to me. Teenagers do in fact talk like that. I tend to be a fan of books with a more contemporary of low-stake plot line, and This Time Will Be Different drew a good balance between interesting enough to read and low-key enough not to be too dramatic.
CJ was such an interesting character to get into the perspective of. It's rare that YA main characters get written cynically in a readable way. She did have a blunt and harsh personality, but she was clearly affected by more romantic and whimsical views. She admitted her mistakes and grew throughout the novel. It was captivating to see her inner growth and the change in her opinions.
My favourite thing about this book was definitely the relationships between CJ and her mother and aunt. Seeing strong female relationships that were so different and affected her in such different ways was important to me. There were many themes in her relationship with her mother that i felt kinship towards. When she thought her mother was disappointed in her, regretted having her, or had never been proud of her, I felt as though I was looking into a mirror. It honestly made me tear up a bit.
I am a lover of romance, and the slow-burn between CJ and Owen was sweet. It was nice to see them bond and get to know each other over time rather contrasted against her superficial and fast-moving crush on the popular guy. It never overshadowed the overarching plot, and had a nice resolution.
Overall. Five stars. 10/10. I teared up multiple times. History lessons. Good stuff.
CJ was such an interesting character to get into the perspective of. It's rare that YA main characters get written cynically in a readable way. She did have a blunt and harsh personality, but she was clearly affected by more romantic and whimsical views. She admitted her mistakes and grew throughout the novel. It was captivating to see her inner growth and the change in her opinions.
My favourite thing about this book was definitely the relationships between CJ and her mother and aunt. Seeing strong female relationships that were so different and affected her in such different ways was important to me. There were many themes in her relationship with her mother that i felt kinship towards. When she thought her mother was disappointed in her, regretted having her, or had never been proud of her, I felt as though I was looking into a mirror. It honestly made me tear up a bit.
I am a lover of romance, and the slow-burn between CJ and Owen was sweet. It was nice to see them bond and get to know each other over time rather contrasted against her superficial and fast-moving crush on the popular guy. It never overshadowed the overarching plot, and had a nice resolution.
Overall. Five stars. 10/10. I teared up multiple times. History lessons. Good stuff.
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia
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