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rreadsbooks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.75
mlvreads's review against another edition
4.0
"Em grabs my hand as I watch Charlie swing back to the tree and then out again, like he's flying, and then he whoops, no words, just a scream of pure joy and raw fury, a heart on the outside for everyone to see..."
Letting Go of Gravity is, much like it's synopsis states, about a brother and sister trying to reconnect after one of them has been through cancer treatment twice. Charlie and Parker were once inseparable (they are twins), but Charlie was diagnosed with Leukemia when he was 9, and it changed their family for good. And while we do read a lot about the strain of the twins' relationship, this story has a lot more focus on Parker, the "healthy" twin, the one who has felt the need to keep it together in order to keep her family from falling apart.
The language is in this book is b e a u t i f u l. It's thoughtful without being heavy-handed or unrealistic and, again, it has more to do with realizing the state of Parker's family than it does with the way she speaks to people. The characters are flawed, they make the occasional bad decision, and they are just trying to figure it all out.
Anxiety plays a big role, with Parker experiencing more than one panic attack (though she doesn't really know what that means) and I feel that it was handled with a lot of care and accuracy. It is clear that she has dealt with anxiety for the majority of her life, but it is exacerbated by the future she has created for herself based solely on what she felt Charlie and her parents needed.
I found this book to be incredibly positive, but there is still a lot of grief and pain in the book. It's a great read for those who enjoy angsty or emotional YA contemporaries, with light-hearted moments sprinkled into more serious subject matter.
I was provided an arc from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Letting Go of Gravity is, much like it's synopsis states, about a brother and sister trying to reconnect after one of them has been through cancer treatment twice. Charlie and Parker were once inseparable (they are twins), but Charlie was diagnosed with Leukemia when he was 9, and it changed their family for good. And while we do read a lot about the strain of the twins' relationship, this story has a lot more focus on Parker, the "healthy" twin, the one who has felt the need to keep it together in order to keep her family from falling apart.
The language is in this book is b e a u t i f u l. It's thoughtful without being heavy-handed or unrealistic and, again, it has more to do with realizing the state of Parker's family than it does with the way she speaks to people. The characters are flawed, they make the occasional bad decision, and they are just trying to figure it all out.
Anxiety plays a big role, with Parker experiencing more than one panic attack (though she doesn't really know what that means) and I feel that it was handled with a lot of care and accuracy. It is clear that she has dealt with anxiety for the majority of her life, but it is exacerbated by the future she has created for herself based solely on what she felt Charlie and her parents needed.
I found this book to be incredibly positive, but there is still a lot of grief and pain in the book. It's a great read for those who enjoy angsty or emotional YA contemporaries, with light-hearted moments sprinkled into more serious subject matter.
I was provided an arc from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
thechronicknitter's review against another edition
5.0
Parker McCullough has just graduated as valedictorian of her class, but the moment is bittersweet.
Instead of her twin brother, Charlie, sitting with the rest of their graduating class he is nowhere to be seen. It is a bittersweet day for him as well, as all of his friends and his sister are moving on with their lives, but he will remain in high school after having to skip his senior year to fight leukemia once more. The twin’s relationship has struggled for quite some time, never fully recovering from his first bout with cancer, but only went downhill when it finally came back right before Senior year. Parker has always been the overachiever, always been the tightly-wound anxiety type trying to please her parents, to make them happy. Mostly, since Charlie’s first bout of Leukemia when they were 9. One day she told her parents that she wanted to be a doctor so that she could save Charlie, and ever since that day her life had become about saving her brother.
Charlie isn’t sure how to handle life after remission, and Parker isn’t sure how to handle living a life she doesn’t really want. Sure, she worked her butt off to get into Harvard, earned those scholarships as well as that prestigious internship at Children’s Hospital Cincinnati, but being at the internship makes her sick, as does the thought of being a doctor. But she can’t tell her folks because they are so proud of her. To most people, all of her dreams are coming true. But it is only her best friend, Emerson, and her brother Charlie, who truly see her pain and anxiety as she presents her “I want to be a doctor” façade to the world. Em is going away this summer though, backpacking around Europe with her cousin, Matty, who is Charlie’s best friend. Em brings up the internship, the whole doctor thing, when she has to pick Parker up from her internship on the first day because she had a panic attack (though she doesn’t call it this yet. They are just “her nerves”) and was too ill to stay. Parker doesn’t want to hear that it’s the wrong call. Besides, what would it do to her parents? They are so proud of her, particularly her father who has already begun calling her Dr. McCullough, a nickname she hates, but she knows he loves it more than she hates it. So it stays, just like everything else in her life. She doesn’t yet see that she is living her life for other people.
One day she meets Ruby Collie, a soon to be junior in high school and person of color, who wants to be Parker when she grows up. She truly wants to be a doctor and, like everyone in town, is aware of how well Parker has done and is looking for some tips on how to be awesome. Parker doesn’t know what to say as she genuinely hates her life right now and isn’t in a great headspace. But in this encounter comes a blast from the past: Finn Casper. Finn was a childhood friend and boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Talking to Finn makes her brave enough to do what she wants, so she leaves the internship and starts working at the pottery studio where she gets interested in art therapy from the elderly outreach program the studio has. Over the course of the summer Parker soon finds out who she is and what she wants, and soon, so does everyone else.
So, what’s great about this book? The answer: so much. Leder makes lifelike characters who are perfectly imperfect and who each face their own challenges. These is never an impression of one person’s challenge being of greater importance/value than anyone else’s whether it is physical abuse, fighting cancer, or fighting yourself. As this book illustrates it can be hard to let go, especially when you have been hanging on for dear life for so long. But sometimes the bravest and best thing you can do for everyone, is to let go and see what happens.
This book is perfect for readers who love and appreciate a good coming-of-age story, a romance that doesn’t have a perfect happy ending because the story is too lifelike, and when one character isn’t saved by another, but that they all end up saving each other.
Instead of her twin brother, Charlie, sitting with the rest of their graduating class he is nowhere to be seen. It is a bittersweet day for him as well, as all of his friends and his sister are moving on with their lives, but he will remain in high school after having to skip his senior year to fight leukemia once more. The twin’s relationship has struggled for quite some time, never fully recovering from his first bout with cancer, but only went downhill when it finally came back right before Senior year. Parker has always been the overachiever, always been the tightly-wound anxiety type trying to please her parents, to make them happy. Mostly, since Charlie’s first bout of Leukemia when they were 9. One day she told her parents that she wanted to be a doctor so that she could save Charlie, and ever since that day her life had become about saving her brother.
Charlie isn’t sure how to handle life after remission, and Parker isn’t sure how to handle living a life she doesn’t really want. Sure, she worked her butt off to get into Harvard, earned those scholarships as well as that prestigious internship at Children’s Hospital Cincinnati, but being at the internship makes her sick, as does the thought of being a doctor. But she can’t tell her folks because they are so proud of her. To most people, all of her dreams are coming true. But it is only her best friend, Emerson, and her brother Charlie, who truly see her pain and anxiety as she presents her “I want to be a doctor” façade to the world. Em is going away this summer though, backpacking around Europe with her cousin, Matty, who is Charlie’s best friend. Em brings up the internship, the whole doctor thing, when she has to pick Parker up from her internship on the first day because she had a panic attack (though she doesn’t call it this yet. They are just “her nerves”) and was too ill to stay. Parker doesn’t want to hear that it’s the wrong call. Besides, what would it do to her parents? They are so proud of her, particularly her father who has already begun calling her Dr. McCullough, a nickname she hates, but she knows he loves it more than she hates it. So it stays, just like everything else in her life. She doesn’t yet see that she is living her life for other people.
One day she meets Ruby Collie, a soon to be junior in high school and person of color, who wants to be Parker when she grows up. She truly wants to be a doctor and, like everyone in town, is aware of how well Parker has done and is looking for some tips on how to be awesome. Parker doesn’t know what to say as she genuinely hates her life right now and isn’t in a great headspace. But in this encounter comes a blast from the past: Finn Casper. Finn was a childhood friend and boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Talking to Finn makes her brave enough to do what she wants, so she leaves the internship and starts working at the pottery studio where she gets interested in art therapy from the elderly outreach program the studio has. Over the course of the summer Parker soon finds out who she is and what she wants, and soon, so does everyone else.
So, what’s great about this book? The answer: so much. Leder makes lifelike characters who are perfectly imperfect and who each face their own challenges. These is never an impression of one person’s challenge being of greater importance/value than anyone else’s whether it is physical abuse, fighting cancer, or fighting yourself. As this book illustrates it can be hard to let go, especially when you have been hanging on for dear life for so long. But sometimes the bravest and best thing you can do for everyone, is to let go and see what happens.
This book is perfect for readers who love and appreciate a good coming-of-age story, a romance that doesn’t have a perfect happy ending because the story is too lifelike, and when one character isn’t saved by another, but that they all end up saving each other.
jlholowaty's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed this unique take on family, friendship, our preconceived ideas, and the expectations we feel pressured to live up to. Likeable, dynamic characters that become people you'd like to know yourself. Quick, easy read, well-written, and enjoyable. I would definitely recommend!
darlingbudsofrae's review against another edition
4.0
"What's your message to the world today?" I ask Finn.
"You are here," he replies.
this wasn't a perfect book at all but how it tugs at my rusty heartstrings and i just really need a box of tissues right now **cue intense overwhelmed sobs**
foreveryoungadult's review against another edition
Graded By: Rosemary
Cover Story: Put a Bird On It
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 8
Talky Talk: School of Sarah Dessen
Bonus Factor: Mysterious Loner Dude
Relationship Status: Just My Type
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: Put a Bird On It
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 8
Talky Talk: School of Sarah Dessen
Bonus Factor: Mysterious Loner Dude
Relationship Status: Just My Type
Read the full book report here.
adan_'s review against another edition
5.0
Ok wow, I don't think it's a coincidence that lately I've been reading some really great books like it may have something to do with the fact a certain person didn't recommend them to me....BUT LIKE WOW THIS STORY WAS SO GOOD I SWEAR I CRIED SO MUCH WHILST READING THE BOOK.
I love all the characters so much like I don't know what to say it was so good lol.
I love all the characters so much like I don't know what to say it was so good lol.
cityofamber's review against another edition
3.0
This book was just ok. It was a quick easy read but it could of been shorted, it really dragged in the middle. the ending also felt unsatisfying and unresolved.
miraaraceli's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0