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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
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
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
I have no words honestly. As much as I dislike character driven books, I loved this one. Do I love both Sadie and Sam? No. And I don’t find them particularly likable, but they feel like real people with real flaws making real mistakes. And honestly, I think that’s beautiful. Sadie and Sam’s relationship is incredibly complex and there were times I wished the miscommunication trope wasn’t used but they’re eventually able to work through their issues because you see them grow up throughout the book.
I normally don’t like character driven narratives because they feel disjointed to me and it doesn’t feel like there is a real plot, but Zevin does a lovely job of showing character growth through windows into her character's lives while also creating a nice build toward climax and a satisfying denouement.
Also as someone who loves playing games, this book was so exciting to me and I’ve never read anything like it! I understand why people love this book so much.
I normally don’t like character driven narratives because they feel disjointed to me and it doesn’t feel like there is a real plot, but Zevin does a lovely job of showing character growth through windows into her character's lives while also creating a nice build toward climax and a satisfying denouement.
Also as someone who loves playing games, this book was so exciting to me and I’ve never read anything like it! I understand why people love this book so much.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence
Minor: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-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
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love books that teach me new things: as fascinating as the character arcs and plot was, I truly love the way Gabrielle Zevin blended so many references, from Shakespeare to Donkey Kong to Emily Dickinson to ancient Persian polymaths- all designed to add textures and ornaments to a tragic but heartwarming story. A wonderful, complex, thought-provoking read.
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
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:
Complicated
What a beautiful and difficult friendship Sadie and Sam have. It resonated with me because I’ve had a few friendships that might have become romantic relationships, but were ultimately so much richer for not introducing romance. It sometimes seems there’s so much emphasis on depicting romantic relationships that these deep friendships are overlooked. This is a real gem of a novel.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Being a video game lover myself, I loved this book— and its messages outside of what’s it was like to be a game designer in the 90’s will stick with me for a long time. Full of nostalgia, tension, romance, and humor, the story had so much depth in its plot and characters. A fantastic read for any game lover, and a really good read for anyone! Only knock on points for me is I feel while this book explored so many traumatic themes, they all felt a bit underdeveloped because there were so many. This caused me to lose interest a bit in the last third of the book, but I still thought it was great.