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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
funny
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
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
There’s something special reading about characters who grew up in the time I grew up — just somewhere else in the world. Like our worlds and experiences are all connected.
The whole time I was reading the book I was trying to figure out what the point if it was. I honestly didn’t like the main character. I thought she was selfish and she annoyed me the entire time I felt a lack of connection with her and just didn’t really care for most of the story and was just trying to get through it. I listened to it on audio book and thank god I did, or else I’m not sure if I would’ve finished reading it.
On a positive note, it was a very fast paced book and easy to follow along and I liked the full circle moment towards the end.
On a positive note, it was a very fast paced book and easy to follow along and I liked the full circle moment towards the end.
challenging
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am so mixed on this!!!
I think it's a great representation of early 20s college kids. So much so that I wanted to shake Rachel for her immaturity, her lack of her own personality, her codependent mistakes. There were several times I considered turning the audiobook off because I couldn't stand listening to her stumble through another mistake easily solved with communication. I experienced a lot of secondhand embarrassment on her behalf. But it was also incredibly accurate for that age and I uncomfortably saw my younger self mirrored (and didn't like it.) But then O'Donoghue would slip in a statement or observation of life of something I'd experienced or thought and assumed nobody else had, expressed with such frankness that I never would have thought someone would admit to also feeling, and I was won over again.
My criticisms: something about a straight woman telling a gay man's story from a straight woman's point of view felt gross. I understand it's modeled off of her own friendship but I still felt that outsider feeling I get when talking to allies who won't ever really understand. According to an article she wrote, it's supposed to be a refutation of the "gay best friend" trope but it doesn't actually do that and further cements that trope. Rachel is stuck so far up her own ass that never really stops to think about how James feels, she absconds his story and makes it her own.
My other problem is the lack of any female friendships until the last 10%. Young Rachel has such misogyny towards her own gender, and can only seem to connect to men, that it's off-putting. She supposedly becomes a feminist journalist but we don't actually get to see that development happen and it's very hard to believe.
I think it's a great representation of early 20s college kids. So much so that I wanted to shake Rachel for her immaturity, her lack of her own personality, her codependent mistakes. There were several times I considered turning the audiobook off because I couldn't stand listening to her stumble through another mistake easily solved with communication. I experienced a lot of secondhand embarrassment on her behalf. But it was also incredibly accurate for that age and I uncomfortably saw my younger self mirrored (and didn't like it.) But then O'Donoghue would slip in a statement or observation of life of something I'd experienced or thought and assumed nobody else had, expressed with such frankness that I never would have thought someone would admit to also feeling, and I was won over again.
My criticisms: something about a straight woman telling a gay man's story from a straight woman's point of view felt gross. I understand it's modeled off of her own friendship but I still felt that outsider feeling I get when talking to allies who won't ever really understand. According to an article she wrote, it's supposed to be a refutation of the "gay best friend" trope but it doesn't actually do that and further cements that trope. Rachel is stuck so far up her own ass that never really stops to think about how James feels, she absconds his story and makes it her own.
My other problem is the lack of any female friendships until the last 10%. Young Rachel has such misogyny towards her own gender, and can only seem to connect to men, that it's off-putting. She supposedly becomes a feminist journalist but we don't actually get to see that development happen and it's very hard to believe.
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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:
No