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A review by booking_along
This Is Where the World Ends by Amy Zhang
3.0
This is one of those books that has lyrical beautiful writing. And at the beginning that sucks the reader in and makes the reader want to see where it is going.
What is the author trying to tell me with how this is written?
Where is this going?
What will be happening that makes the author tell the story this way?
And for half the book it does make sense that this book reads more or less like a dream. Because the characters feel that way to.
We have a girl that feels as if she wants it all but at the same time is happy to have those tiny little moments when she can get them.
And we have this boy that doesn't really seem to know where he fits in and on top of that loses a big chunk of his memories for the most part of this book which makes everything he says and experience even more unsure.
But they are friends and it works since for some strange reason it wouldn't make sense for them NOT to be friends.
but after half the book the strange writing and constant back and forth of what is and isn't real, what and how the characters behave gets boring and predictable because while its fun and interesting at the beginning once I read about it two or three times i don't need it to happen again and again.
and with this strange lyrical whimsical writing style that doesn't really give a huge amount of substance to care the story alone the entire books starts to sink fast.
To me this book felt a bit as if the author tried to do something great and she started out that way. But somewhere along the book she didn't really know how to carry it to the finish line and because of that the plot, the characters and the writing started to feel used and repetitive.
I do think that the book as some good moments and it really shows how strange friendships can be and how sometimes even thought friendships feel right they can be very wrong, or the other way around that sometimes friends can feel wrong and as if you shouldn't really spend time with that person but actually those are the exact people you really should be spending time with.
If that makes sense.
All in all it was a good read.
But i wish the author would have made the ending a bit better and didn't try to make it seem as if it was this big reveal of what happened since its very clear what happens pretty early on in the book.
What is the author trying to tell me with how this is written?
Where is this going?
What will be happening that makes the author tell the story this way?
And for half the book it does make sense that this book reads more or less like a dream. Because the characters feel that way to.
We have a girl that feels as if she wants it all but at the same time is happy to have those tiny little moments when she can get them.
And we have this boy that doesn't really seem to know where he fits in and on top of that loses a big chunk of his memories for the most part of this book which makes everything he says and experience even more unsure.
But they are friends and it works since for some strange reason it wouldn't make sense for them NOT to be friends.
but after half the book the strange writing and constant back and forth of what is and isn't real, what and how the characters behave gets boring and predictable because while its fun and interesting at the beginning once I read about it two or three times i don't need it to happen again and again.
and with this strange lyrical whimsical writing style that doesn't really give a huge amount of substance to care the story alone the entire books starts to sink fast.
It starts raining again. It's okay. We've always liked water. no, that's not right. Janie loved fire. She loved markers and rocks and ire. I like water, though. I like the way it waits, and when you touch it, it both moves away and clings to your finger. I like the way it rises, like memory, or fear. You told me once that i was made of water, i think. i don't remember. I don't remember again but
what if
it just
doesn't
matter?
To me this book felt a bit as if the author tried to do something great and she started out that way. But somewhere along the book she didn't really know how to carry it to the finish line and because of that the plot, the characters and the writing started to feel used and repetitive.
I do think that the book as some good moments and it really shows how strange friendships can be and how sometimes even thought friendships feel right they can be very wrong, or the other way around that sometimes friends can feel wrong and as if you shouldn't really spend time with that person but actually those are the exact people you really should be spending time with.
If that makes sense.
All in all it was a good read.
But i wish the author would have made the ending a bit better and didn't try to make it seem as if it was this big reveal of what happened since its very clear what happens pretty early on in the book.