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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
The scariest thing in life is the door that closes and can't ever be opened again.
Once I opened the door and stepped into the void, that door would slam shut behind me and I could never go back.
But maybe it's okay to be afraid.
I don't think I'll ever be able to properly put into coherent words how much Shaun David Hutchinson and his books mean to me. I loved We Are the Ants, but At the Edge of the Universe was a whole different story.
It's one of those books that make you question your entire existence and leave you wanting to read it back from the start the exact moment you finish it.
So beautiful and painful and real. SDH's writing is a gift to the world.
*wipes away tears* I love this book so much.
Spoiler
can we please talk about diego's little appearance because omg I'm dying
4.75 stars
I liked this book even more than [b: We Are the Ants|23677341|We Are the Ants|Shaun David Hutchinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1425574151s/23677341.jpg|43285034]. It was unputdownable, to say the least.
Ozzie was such a character that I enjoyed so much - he just wanted to know the truth about the sudden disappearence of his boyfriend, Tommy.
Ozzie was such a character that I enjoyed so much - he just wanted to know the truth about the sudden disappearence of his boyfriend, Tommy.
This book is so diverse in characters - it seems that authors are becoming more and more aware that the world isn't made of only a specific branch of etnicities, races and sexual orientations, it's so refreshing to see this chances!
As the universe slowly became smaller, the time that Ozzie had to find answers was getting shorter too, so I was constantly trying to figure out what the hell was goin' on, but the thing is, it doesn't really matter at the end, all the things that Ozzie went through (the more sci-fi stuff) isn't meant to be the focus. The only thing that made me sad was that
Spoiler at the end, Ozzie didn't get to be with Tommy, because he broke up with Ozzie, and Calvin doesn't even know he had a thing with Ozzie, and since we don't know if it's another universe or not, we don't know the reason why the universe after "collapsing" and ending, it's suddenly increasing in size. At least Calvin was brave enough to tell the truth
It's also important to note that [a: David Hutchinson|3130410|Shaun David Hutchinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1387295428p2/3130410.jpg] wrote Calvin with some characteristics based on him - the cutting and the depression. It's so important to people who suffer from depression and have suicide tendencies to talk to someone so that they get help - it will save their lifes.
This book has to be one of the shittiest things I’ve ever read. The characters are insufferable and not even in a fun way. I stopped reading after Ozzie and Calvin had sex in his car for absolutely no reason whatsoever, and then he proceeded to get angry and “woe is me” for cheating on Tommy.
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars - this was different. Ozzie is a gay teen, a high-school senior, who woke up one day to find that his boyhood best friend and now boyfriend Tommy was missing. Not only that, but all evidence of Tommy had been erased from the world - his own mother didn't remember having a son, his gifts to Ozzie had vanished, no one in school recalled his presence. Ozzie though, had a lifetime of memories of Tommy, and he's determined to hang onto them and to find Tommy and figure out what happened. He has a dozen theories, from parallel universes to alien activity. His parents and his shrinks all think it's in his head. His friends probably do too, even as they try to be supportive.
In many other ways, this senior year of school is becoming a mess. His best friend Lua, who is genderfluid, is having success with their band but not their personal life, and their friendship has been strained by the Tommy issue as well. Ozzie's parents are getting a divorce, his brother is joining the military, and he's assigned to do a physics project with a loner kid who seemed to self-destruct in the last year.
And Ozzie seems to be the only person to notice that the universe is shrinking. Every day when he Googles "the size of the universe" the estimate up on science sites is smaller. Yet, no one else is capable of remembering differently from one day to the next. And Ozzie has to try to live his ordinary life, worked in between the sharp splinters of loss and change and weirdness and impending disaster.
Calvin, his physics partner, turns out to be a smart, troubled gay boy with secrets of his own. And as they grow closer together, he's the only one who seems to really believe that Ozzie isn't just crazy, that Tommy might actually exist somewhere, and that something weird is going on. But Calvin has his own demons, and not much time or energy to deal with Ozzie's.
The story pulled me in and kept me fascinated. In its very improbability, it still had a lot to say about being human and growing up. The ending was satisfying, if not the one I wanted. This author's talent for on-the-edge-of-reality stories is well worth the reading time.
Content warning for
In many other ways, this senior year of school is becoming a mess. His best friend Lua, who is genderfluid, is having success with their band but not their personal life, and their friendship has been strained by the Tommy issue as well. Ozzie's parents are getting a divorce, his brother is joining the military, and he's assigned to do a physics project with a loner kid who seemed to self-destruct in the last year.
And Ozzie seems to be the only person to notice that the universe is shrinking. Every day when he Googles "the size of the universe" the estimate up on science sites is smaller. Yet, no one else is capable of remembering differently from one day to the next. And Ozzie has to try to live his ordinary life, worked in between the sharp splinters of loss and change and weirdness and impending disaster.
Calvin, his physics partner, turns out to be a smart, troubled gay boy with secrets of his own. And as they grow closer together, he's the only one who seems to really believe that Ozzie isn't just crazy, that Tommy might actually exist somewhere, and that something weird is going on. But Calvin has his own demons, and not much time or energy to deal with Ozzie's.
The story pulled me in and kept me fascinated. In its very improbability, it still had a lot to say about being human and growing up. The ending was satisfying, if not the one I wanted. This author's talent for on-the-edge-of-reality stories is well worth the reading time.
Content warning for
Spoiler
self-harm, domestic violence off page, physical and sexual abuse history
WHAT A GREAT BOOK. I was at the bookstore the day it came out, and even though it took me a little while to actually start reading it, I'm really glad I did.
The LGBT+ representation in this is STUNNINGLY written, I was so pleasantly surprised. Seriously, job well done, especially with Lua. Ozzie alternating pronouns respectively according to how she felt that day was PEAK acceptance and love in a friendship.
All in all this book was amazing. Definitely needed a content warning page for some triggers, but amazing.
The LGBT+ representation in this is STUNNINGLY written, I was so pleasantly surprised. Seriously, job well done, especially with Lua. Ozzie alternating pronouns respectively according to how she felt that day was PEAK acceptance and love in a friendship.
All in all this book was amazing. Definitely needed a content warning page for some triggers, but amazing.
4.25/5
This was so enjoyable to read.
This is the second SDH (his name is long ok) book I've read, and the supernatural element in this one was more integrated to the story. I loved it. It was quite stressful. The universe was literally shrinking and people's idea of how the world works changed completely. It was so well done, and how people's memories and minds adapted was really great world re-building. It was written smoothly, and the narrator was the only one who remembered how the world used to be. Supernatural elements can feel disjointed in YA contemporary books, but here it was flawless, in my opinion. Definitely one of the favorite aspects of this book.
I was waiting for the supernatural element's philosophical metaphor to explain itself, and it did not disappoint.
Does it matter if the universe is shrinking, if the universe is small if you never lived life to the fullest when it seemed infinite anyway?
Basically, it was about not reducing your universe to one person. It was beautiful.
The reveal about why Tommy disappeared also punched me right in the heart. I didn't see it coming. And the metaphor made a lot of sense.
With that said, I really loved both romances in this book, and how they were portrayed. Both Tommy and Calvin were such sweet guys.
Ozzie's relationship with his family and Tommy's mom were also beautiful and heartwrenching. I loved that the story wasn't really only about Tommy and Calvin. There was lots of dark shit and loss going on. Losing family, great parents, shit parents, shit adults. This is a SDH book after all.
Oh, and I loved that so many different therapists and their ways of doing their jobs were included as well.
And this may be a weird detail but I also LOVE how SDH writes sex scenes. They feel so real? Hot in the moment, not world-shaking, a bit messy and awkward, and just two boys having sex. I'm really sick of YA and NA writing sex likes it shakes the stars and gives you a thousand orgasms. So I just love SDH's casual, to-the-point sex scenes.
I am still iffy about the ending though. I think the supernatural element was resolved alright. I just wish that Ozzie and Calvin were at least friends. There is no reason that Calvin would not even be his good friend in the 'real world'.
It just felt a tad anti-climatic.
But overall, great book.
PS: for some reason, I was certain that the reveal would be that Ozzie's dad had slept with Calvin. Because Ozzie's dad was mentioned cheating with a student, and Calvin was being groomed and abused by a teacher. For some reason, my brain went to the worst possible scenario. Well, I was thankfully wrong.
This was so enjoyable to read.
This is the second SDH (his name is long ok) book I've read, and the supernatural element in this one was more integrated to the story. I loved it. It was quite stressful. The universe was literally shrinking and people's idea of how the world works changed completely. It was so well done, and how people's memories and minds adapted was really great world re-building. It was written smoothly, and the narrator was the only one who remembered how the world used to be. Supernatural elements can feel disjointed in YA contemporary books, but here it was flawless, in my opinion. Definitely one of the favorite aspects of this book.
I was waiting for the supernatural element's philosophical metaphor to explain itself, and it did not disappoint.
Does it matter if the universe is shrinking, if the universe is small if you never lived life to the fullest when it seemed infinite anyway?
Basically, it was about not reducing your universe to one person. It was beautiful.
The reveal about why Tommy disappeared also punched me right in the heart. I didn't see it coming. And the metaphor made a lot of sense.
With that said, I really loved both romances in this book, and how they were portrayed. Both Tommy and Calvin were such sweet guys.
Ozzie's relationship with his family and Tommy's mom were also beautiful and heartwrenching. I loved that the story wasn't really only about Tommy and Calvin. There was lots of dark shit and loss going on. Losing family, great parents, shit parents, shit adults. This is a SDH book after all.
Oh, and I loved that so many different therapists and their ways of doing their jobs were included as well.
And this may be a weird detail but I also LOVE how SDH writes sex scenes. They feel so real? Hot in the moment, not world-shaking, a bit messy and awkward, and just two boys having sex. I'm really sick of YA and NA writing sex likes it shakes the stars and gives you a thousand orgasms. So I just love SDH's casual, to-the-point sex scenes.
I am still iffy about the ending though. I think the supernatural element was resolved alright. I just wish that Ozzie and Calvin were at least friends. There is no reason that Calvin would not even be his good friend in the 'real world'.
It just felt a tad anti-climatic.
But overall, great book.
PS: for some reason, I was certain that the reveal would be that Ozzie's dad had slept with Calvin. Because Ozzie's dad was mentioned cheating with a student, and Calvin was being groomed and abused by a teacher. For some reason, my brain went to the worst possible scenario. Well, I was thankfully wrong.