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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Damn that was beautiful.
Stay gold.
Also queuing up the musical soundtrack for the next week.
Stay gold.
Also queuing up the musical soundtrack for the next week.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse
book #65 of 2025!
such a timeless book! this is the kind of book that will resonate with everyone because we have all been teenagers, we have all wanted to belong, we have all dealt with some kind of social class issue.
i read this book for the first time in high school as part as my summer reading (almost 10 years ago, for reference), and i remember loving it. and re-reading it has solidified my love for it. 5 stars, easily.
the main character, ponyboy, is incredibly relatable. though he is a 14 year old gang member, i could see myself in him. he is honest, likeable, friendly, and loyal. his circle of friend/gang, called the greasers, were all well-written as well. se hinton (who i literally just found out was a woman) did an amazing job of humanizing the greasers. in a social world that looks down on the "hoodlums," hinton humanized them, showing (through ponyboy) that these gang members are only kids. they've been dealt a bad hand in life.
there are a lot of themes that hinton explores realistically--what it means to belong, empathy regardless of one's social standing (ponyboy and cherry exemplified this), loyalty, preserving childhood innocence (darry with ponyboy, and johnny), rich vs. poor. what i also loved (as a woman) is how positive male friendships and relationships were shows in this book. i loved how affectionate ponyboy, sodapop and darry were to one another.
another point. classics and literary fiction are my main genres. i've been reading classics since i was young so i'm comfortable with them. but i can acknowledge that most of the "classic books for beginners" lists are not realistic. they have books like "anna karenina" on it (which i read in high school for fun and loved) but it's their length and writing styles that are often intimidating to new readers.
in my opinion, "the outsiders" is the BEST classic to start with. it's a short book (my copy was 180 pages) and the writing style is extremely accessible. books like "anna karenina" and "dracula" are amazing but if someone is coming from the Land of Doom Scrolling with quick boosts of dopamine or hasn't touched a single book in over a decade, idk...they're probably not the best to start with. slow and easy wins the race.
anyway. that was enough yapping. "the outsiders"--memorable characters, incredible writing, impactful themes, fantastic plot that keeps you on your toes. 10/10 recommend.
such a timeless book! this is the kind of book that will resonate with everyone because we have all been teenagers, we have all wanted to belong, we have all dealt with some kind of social class issue.
i read this book for the first time in high school as part as my summer reading (almost 10 years ago, for reference), and i remember loving it. and re-reading it has solidified my love for it. 5 stars, easily.
the main character, ponyboy, is incredibly relatable. though he is a 14 year old gang member, i could see myself in him. he is honest, likeable, friendly, and loyal. his circle of friend/gang, called the greasers, were all well-written as well. se hinton (who i literally just found out was a woman) did an amazing job of humanizing the greasers. in a social world that looks down on the "hoodlums," hinton humanized them, showing (through ponyboy) that these gang members are only kids. they've been dealt a bad hand in life.
there are a lot of themes that hinton explores realistically--what it means to belong, empathy regardless of one's social standing (ponyboy and cherry exemplified this), loyalty, preserving childhood innocence (darry with ponyboy, and johnny), rich vs. poor. what i also loved (as a woman) is how positive male friendships and relationships were shows in this book. i loved how affectionate ponyboy, sodapop and darry were to one another.
another point. classics and literary fiction are my main genres. i've been reading classics since i was young so i'm comfortable with them. but i can acknowledge that most of the "classic books for beginners" lists are not realistic. they have books like "anna karenina" on it (which i read in high school for fun and loved) but it's their length and writing styles that are often intimidating to new readers.
in my opinion, "the outsiders" is the BEST classic to start with. it's a short book (my copy was 180 pages) and the writing style is extremely accessible. books like "anna karenina" and "dracula" are amazing but if someone is coming from the Land of Doom Scrolling with quick boosts of dopamine or hasn't touched a single book in over a decade, idk...they're probably not the best to start with. slow and easy wins the race.
anyway. that was enough yapping. "the outsiders"--memorable characters, incredible writing, impactful themes, fantastic plot that keeps you on your toes. 10/10 recommend.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Just reread this one and it's still as good as ever. Amazing to think that a high-schooler wrote it.
it was a little boring but it actually wasn’t horrible