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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Yes yes yes yes yes I absolutely loved this book. I love female friendships! I love stories about figuring yourself out! I love a focus on non-romantic relationships!
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This book represents the struggles of friendship for adolescent girls so well - the complications, the great times, the fights. Extremely relatable and beautifully written. I had chills the whole time I was reading it.
"Girls wage endless wars with their voices, tearing you apart without touching you at all."
"Girls wage endless wars with their voices, tearing you apart without touching you at all."
“My faith in friendship has been shaken & I’m not sure if I will ever get it back “
It describes exactly what I feel at this point in my life. In this book we go on a journey with best friends, Cleo and Layla. They’ve been friends since they were 12 years old but there’s a shift in their friendship when Layla starts handing out with a new group of friends and prioritizes them over Cleo. I loved this book because even though it was YA, it still gave a very relatable portrayal of friendships and what happens when you start growing apart. First there’s the betrayal, the stage where you don’t talk, the urge to reconcile and when it doesn’t work out you just try to forget about them. Not to mention the unwillingness of start new friendships because you were just burned by someone so close to you. I’ve been through everything Cleo has been through in many of my friendships but like Cleo I was able to let one friend go and be hopeful about new friendships.
It describes exactly what I feel at this point in my life. In this book we go on a journey with best friends, Cleo and Layla. They’ve been friends since they were 12 years old but there’s a shift in their friendship when Layla starts handing out with a new group of friends and prioritizes them over Cleo. I loved this book because even though it was YA, it still gave a very relatable portrayal of friendships and what happens when you start growing apart. First there’s the betrayal, the stage where you don’t talk, the urge to reconcile and when it doesn’t work out you just try to forget about them. Not to mention the unwillingness of start new friendships because you were just burned by someone so close to you. I’ve been through everything Cleo has been through in many of my friendships but like Cleo I was able to let one friend go and be hopeful about new friendships.
This book is making me grieve the loss of a friendship. Still hurts, both the book and my real life.
This book kept me guessing at just the right pace to keep my interest. I knew Cleo and Layla’s friendship had imploded, that was clear from the beginning, but I didn’t realize the full extent of the drama. I am a sucker for drama, which this book fulfilled in the best possible way.
The story line alternates back and forth between Cleo post friendship break up and Cleo pre friendship breakup. Woodfolk balances this perfectly, weaving the friendships and story line back and forth more fluidly than almost any split timeline book I’ve read before. It’s rare to read a YA book that masters this element so easily.
As I am also a sucker for character development in addition to relationship drama, this book really sailed straight into my wheelhouse. The whole book is a story about Cleo’s personal development, meted out through various interactions with people in her life. I loved how much we got to see of her friendships, her relationships with her parents, and her relationships with the boys she dates/has dated. It’s ideal that the relationship this book focuses on the most is her friendship with Layla, a friendship that came to a crashing halt following a series of events, as this gives her other relationships more room to breathe and therefore to feel more genuine. I have a hard time reading a book that’s solely about parent drama or boyfriend drama, but because this centered first and foremost on friend drama, it made the others fall into place in a very relatable way.
Of course every teenager feels like their life is imploding at one time or another. Sometimes we feel that consistently. What Cleo experiences, is the feeling that one after another relationships are falling like dominoes, and she’s wondering if it’s outside of her circle of control. In fact, she’s hoping it is, because then she can at least be justified in her unlike-ability and miser-ability. It can be hard for us all to find our places where we feel comfortable but also in our growth phase, and that’s especially true during high school. This book highlights those feelings well, and I felt deep empathy for Cleo even as I acknowledged the areas in which she were failing herself.
Despite the turbulence in Cleo’s relationships, there’s a certain stability running throughout the book as well. There are plenty of healthy relationships running throughout the story, and plenty of healthy coping skills that both Cleo uses and the other people in her life use. It’s clear that Woodfolk understands emotions and is able to write about them in a way that does not come across as imposing, but lends a self-awareness to her characters that is perfectly suitable for a YA (and adult) audience learning to manage their inner emotions. I’m so excited for more people to read this book.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The story line alternates back and forth between Cleo post friendship break up and Cleo pre friendship breakup. Woodfolk balances this perfectly, weaving the friendships and story line back and forth more fluidly than almost any split timeline book I’ve read before. It’s rare to read a YA book that masters this element so easily.
As I am also a sucker for character development in addition to relationship drama, this book really sailed straight into my wheelhouse. The whole book is a story about Cleo’s personal development, meted out through various interactions with people in her life. I loved how much we got to see of her friendships, her relationships with her parents, and her relationships with the boys she dates/has dated. It’s ideal that the relationship this book focuses on the most is her friendship with Layla, a friendship that came to a crashing halt following a series of events, as this gives her other relationships more room to breathe and therefore to feel more genuine. I have a hard time reading a book that’s solely about parent drama or boyfriend drama, but because this centered first and foremost on friend drama, it made the others fall into place in a very relatable way.
Of course every teenager feels like their life is imploding at one time or another. Sometimes we feel that consistently. What Cleo experiences, is the feeling that one after another relationships are falling like dominoes, and she’s wondering if it’s outside of her circle of control. In fact, she’s hoping it is, because then she can at least be justified in her unlike-ability and miser-ability. It can be hard for us all to find our places where we feel comfortable but also in our growth phase, and that’s especially true during high school. This book highlights those feelings well, and I felt deep empathy for Cleo even as I acknowledged the areas in which she were failing herself.
Despite the turbulence in Cleo’s relationships, there’s a certain stability running throughout the book as well. There are plenty of healthy relationships running throughout the story, and plenty of healthy coping skills that both Cleo uses and the other people in her life use. It’s clear that Woodfolk understands emotions and is able to write about them in a way that does not come across as imposing, but lends a self-awareness to her characters that is perfectly suitable for a YA (and adult) audience learning to manage their inner emotions. I’m so excited for more people to read this book.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book made very me very angry, and I'm not sure if that was the point, or if the subject matter just hit a nerve as I have been in the same situation as the main character, but either way, there is certainly something commendable in the writing that is can evoke such strong emotion.
There were parts of the book that I enjoyed reading, and parts that made me have to put it down and read something else, and it definitely feels like you are reading YA, but on the whole I'd say it was pretty good, and the story certainly felt new and original compared to the plots of much contemporary YA. I feel the switching between preset and past was a double-edged sword - on the one hand I liked slowly seeing how everything unfolded and being kept in suspense, but also I felt it left less time to explore Cleo's recovery and less time to dedicate to the other characters so that it all felt a bit rushed and underdeveloped. (SPOILER) The ending did put a nice spin on how we should positively perceive friendships that have ended, but still felt quite unsatisfying to me as there was never any repercussions for Sloane despite her bullying.
Overall I don't think I will be recommending this book to everyone, but I am certainly glad I read it, and I do think certain readers will benefit from and enjoy this book, so if the subject matter appeals to you, do pick it up.
There were parts of the book that I enjoyed reading, and parts that made me have to put it down and read something else, and it definitely feels like you are reading YA, but on the whole I'd say it was pretty good, and the story certainly felt new and original compared to the plots of much contemporary YA. I feel the switching between preset and past was a double-edged sword - on the one hand I liked slowly seeing how everything unfolded and being kept in suspense, but also I felt it left less time to explore Cleo's recovery and less time to dedicate to the other characters so that it all felt a bit rushed and underdeveloped. (SPOILER) The ending did put a nice spin on how we should positively perceive friendships that have ended, but still felt quite unsatisfying to me as there was never any repercussions for Sloane despite her bullying.
Overall I don't think I will be recommending this book to everyone, but I am certainly glad I read it, and I do think certain readers will benefit from and enjoy this book, so if the subject matter appeals to you, do pick it up.
between a 3.5 and 4 most time, settling on 4☆ because I think that books like this need to be written
It's one of those books that will show the harsh picture of losing friends and navigating through the trillion ordeals that comes with it.
The writing is exquisite and touching. The main characters are flawed and battling with conflicts and mixed emotions. The characters were diverse. However, I felt like it was pretty surface level.
For the most part, I did like the book but it got a little big slow and dragging at the end. There was a romance subplot which I felt was unnecessary and I wished the author talked about the traumas of losing friends and dived deeper into the subject.
The writing is exquisite and touching. The main characters are flawed and battling with conflicts and mixed emotions. The characters were diverse. However, I felt like it was pretty surface level.
For the most part, I did like the book but it got a little big slow and dragging at the end. There was a romance subplot which I felt was unnecessary and I wished the author talked about the traumas of losing friends and dived deeper into the subject.