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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It’s very rare for a book to have the power, to grip a reader from the first page. This one did, a fantastic page-turner written in a second-person narrative, immersing the reader into the story. A solid 5 stars from me!
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback. Thank you NetGalley!
This book blew me away, I’ve never read anything like this. The second person point of view was so interesting to read! The story is very compelling and beautifully written. It’s a sort of love letter to growing up as a girl at the beginning of the internet and I identified with it a lot.
I really went through a journey reading this book and it was so interesting to me that I was able to see the world and experience it through someone else’s perspective but then at the same time feel nostalgic towards my own experiences. Particularly the teenage school years brought up a lot of feelings that I had long forgotten.
Tender, eye opening, and poignant, this book is a must read for anyone who remembers their parents bringing home their first family computer and lived their childhoods through the computer screen.
This book blew me away, I’ve never read anything like this. The second person point of view was so interesting to read! The story is very compelling and beautifully written. It’s a sort of love letter to growing up as a girl at the beginning of the internet and I identified with it a lot.
I really went through a journey reading this book and it was so interesting to me that I was able to see the world and experience it through someone else’s perspective but then at the same time feel nostalgic towards my own experiences. Particularly the teenage school years brought up a lot of feelings that I had long forgotten.
Tender, eye opening, and poignant, this book is a must read for anyone who remembers their parents bringing home their first family computer and lived their childhoods through the computer screen.
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This Is How You Remember is a brilliant try at a novel about growing up online and navigating public as well as private spaces while growing up as the first generation to have the ability to do so. This coming-of-age story is told in the second-person pov, from when a girl's family purchases a computer when she is nine years old, and she (also as the reader) rapidly realises how wonderful it is to be able to find anything on it, from exploring virtual pet sites to entering chat rooms and conversing with people who become friends. Quickly, as the use of the internet and social media becomes more frequent, the attempts to fit in the offline world get confused with the ones online, especially as the lines get blurred.
As someone who grew up throughout the rapid growth of the internet, this book spoke to me deeply, especially because of the close 2nd-person pov and the shocking but real events described in the book.
So far, so good, but here is where it fell flat for me. In the execusion.
The writing is very simple and straight-forward, but the rapid timelines can make a person confused about where they are in the story.
What also fell short for me was that the takeaway appeared to be a little shallow in comparison to what could've been a vast exploration of online space, boiled down to more or less 'put down the phone and live in the moment' as a moral. It was pleasing to see the protagonist mature, gain confidence, and move away from the addiction of social media, as one might anticipate from a coming-of-age story, but it lacked the necessary weight and clarity for me because of how fast-paced the story line was. I wish there was more dedication to the development of both the story and characters, but seeing as everything is fast on the internet, I will blame it on being a calculated move.
Thank you to NetGalley and Canongate for the ARC!
As someone who grew up throughout the rapid growth of the internet, this book spoke to me deeply, especially because of the close 2nd-person pov and the shocking but real events described in the book.
So far, so good, but here is where it fell flat for me. In the execusion.
The writing is very simple and straight-forward, but the rapid timelines can make a person confused about where they are in the story.
What also fell short for me was that the takeaway appeared to be a little shallow in comparison to what could've been a vast exploration of online space, boiled down to more or less 'put down the phone and live in the moment' as a moral. It was pleasing to see the protagonist mature, gain confidence, and move away from the addiction of social media, as one might anticipate from a coming-of-age story, but it lacked the necessary weight and clarity for me because of how fast-paced the story line was. I wish there was more dedication to the development of both the story and characters, but seeing as everything is fast on the internet, I will blame it on being a calculated move.
Thank you to NetGalley and Canongate for the ARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Alcohol
Minor: Fatphobia, Grief
emotional
reflective
medium-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
such a clever use of the 2nd person pov to show the harmful effects of growing up in the age of the internet. little confusing at times as the time jumps are never specified so you have to rely on context clues to figure out what age the narrator is in each chapter + i didn’t really understand the parts about the ‘hole’ in her stomach. but all in all, enjoyable read
#netgalley #arc
#netgalley #arc
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
perfection
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
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
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advance digital copy of this book.
This was an incredible piece about growing up in the early 2000's and how the unrestricted internet access that a lot of us had (as the generation whose parents had no idea) really fucked with our concepts of self, sex, body image, relationships and consent at a very young age.
I tend to really love books written in second person and this was no exception, and I think in this context it works so well, narrating experiences that so many of us went through in a way that is so violent and uncomfortable at times. The use of various (unnamed) internet sites was a great way to track the passage of time as well as bond us to the main character. The subtextual relationships to and between secondary characters was also really interesting and felt very true to how a teenager would experience these things.
My only wish is that the romance had been either less of a focus at the end, or done with just a bit less misscommunication, as the main character literally sprinting away from conversations was frustrating.
Overall I really enjoyed this and it's also helped me come to terms with some of my experiences as a child and young teen on the internet as well as early experiences with sex and relationships. An excellent book.
This was an incredible piece about growing up in the early 2000's and how the unrestricted internet access that a lot of us had (as the generation whose parents had no idea) really fucked with our concepts of self, sex, body image, relationships and consent at a very young age.
I tend to really love books written in second person and this was no exception, and I think in this context it works so well, narrating experiences that so many of us went through in a way that is so violent and uncomfortable at times. The use of various (unnamed) internet sites was a great way to track the passage of time as well as bond us to the main character. The subtextual relationships to and between secondary characters was also really interesting and felt very true to how a teenager would experience these things.
My only wish is that the romance had been either less of a focus at the end, or done with just a bit less misscommunication, as the main character literally sprinting away from conversations was frustrating.
Overall I really enjoyed this and it's also helped me come to terms with some of my experiences as a child and young teen on the internet as well as early experiences with sex and relationships. An excellent book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Alcohol
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow, what a brilliant book! I feel like this will resonate with you, especially if you are a Millennial/elder Gen-Z.
The main theme of this book is how unmonitored internet access shapes you as you grow up, especially when it comes to your body image and sense of self. It starts off as very innocent, with computer games that I’m pretty sure was Neopets (the nostalgia!) but was never officially named, and morphs into something more sinister. It completely changes how our unnamed main character perceives the world. You watch, and go through it, with her as she learns human experiences like shame, grief and emotional (or lack of) connection. Even things like the politics of the Internet and how disconnected that is compared to the offline world.
The writing choices were all so good. Choosing the main character to be unnamed and using second person adding a personal touch to it, like they were your thoughts and your experiences. In many ways, they were. As well as that, we didn’t know the passage of time through anything else other than through the evolution of social media and technology. Other than context clues, it was rarely obvious how old the characters were supposed to be or what year we were in. I loved that choice.
Finally, the little love story that felt like the backbone of the book was lovely to follow. Their relationship remained distant and somewhat shallow until the main character changed her relationship with social media. Once she saw it more as an addition to her life instead of something that *is* her life. only then did her relationship become something different.
Please read it!
The main theme of this book is how unmonitored internet access shapes you as you grow up, especially when it comes to your body image and sense of self. It starts off as very innocent, with computer games that I’m pretty sure was Neopets (the nostalgia!) but was never officially named, and morphs into something more sinister. It completely changes how our unnamed main character perceives the world. You watch, and go through it, with her as she learns human experiences like shame, grief and emotional (or lack of) connection. Even things like the politics of the Internet and how disconnected that is compared to the offline world.
The writing choices were all so good. Choosing the main character to be unnamed and using second person adding a personal touch to it, like they were your thoughts and your experiences. In many ways, they were. As well as that, we didn’t know the passage of time through anything else other than through the evolution of social media and technology. Other than context clues, it was rarely obvious how old the characters were supposed to be or what year we were in. I loved that choice.
Finally, the little love story that felt like the backbone of the book was lovely to follow. Their relationship remained distant and somewhat shallow until the main character changed her relationship with social media. Once she saw it more as an addition to her life instead of something that *is* her life. only then did her relationship become something different.
Please read it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment
Minor: Fatphobia, Grief