Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert

1 review

leelaisliterate's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

4.5

This book started out slow for me (the dramatic prose starts out as kind of overbearing), but it definitely picked up halfway through, and the ending was pretty incredible. Gilbert does a great job toeing the line between pithy and melodramatic with her prose. She also handled all the moving pieces and plots of the story very well, with themes of suicide, immigration, friendship, family, and depression all working off each other well and culminating in a wonderful synthesis. Her drawing on her own experience growing up in Cupertino and going to Monta Vista High School makes the setting fleshed-out and real, and not like a fictional coming-of-age-story-setting town. My main points of criticism would be the slow start,
the resolution to the Ethan plot just being that they chat once,
and how what ultimately happens with Danny's parents leaves a ton of questions. But in essence, it's a very moving story that touches on a variety of  themes gracefully, with a world that feels real because it is real.

Side note: If you're from the high school written about here or from the south bay, I'd highly recommend this. Also, if you're hoping for the story to focus on Danny's relationship with Harry, it doesn't really. It is constantly at Danny's mind throughout the book, but it's subtle and interspersed, and references to the relationship are mostly through Danny's internal monologue.
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