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A review by barefootmegz
Words and Their Meanings by Kate Bassett
3.0
Words and Their Meanings is a story of grief. It is the story of a young girl who loses one of her favourite people unexpectedly, and the dysfunctional way in which she tries to mourn him and punish herself.
But it is also a story of words. It is the story of their power over a life, and the story of how tragedy can make them dry up.
I enjoyed this book, but not as much as I had expected. I thought it was a very different take on the normal grieving teenager trope – very unique, and a completely different tone. Anna is so different from the other main characters in these kinds of books. Very unique and vivid.
Unfortunately, I struggled to connect with her. Despite her distinct personality, she didn’t feel real to me. She felt, somehow, missing. And I do like to connect with a character to seem degree. However, having suffered loss myself before, I do realise that grief has the propensity to detach the mourner, to make them distant and unreachable.
The other thing is… THERE WAS INSTA-LOVE. Ooooooh I didn’t like it. I mean, Matteo is nice and all, I don’t have any problems with him specifically, but that insta-love was just so… insta-lovey!
I have the same relationship with words as Anna does, and I know the darkness when words leave you. I thought that was well done – and again pretty unique for YA. I just felt that it lacked a certain element of depth. I felt the role of words could have been more thoroughly explored and utilized for the purposes of this novel.
Although, I loved this:
“It’s the loving, more than the talent, that’s the rarest gift.”
The family members are incredible. I loved the depth that they had, and I grew fond of each of them. The family is a bit dysfunctional, but they are all PRESENT.
“I make sure she knows I’ll always find her. I’ll see her, no matter how many times she tried to be erased.”
In terms of an “issues book” dealing with grief, this was very well done. It was not at all preachy, and illustrated the process of grieving in an incredibly real way. I enjoyed that. I would highly suggest this book to high school students and YA readers.
“Everyone gets one last line. But first lines, stories of love and loss and hope floating on backs of paper cranes? We choose how many of those we get to tell.”
I RECEIVED AN E-GALLEY OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
But it is also a story of words. It is the story of their power over a life, and the story of how tragedy can make them dry up.
I enjoyed this book, but not as much as I had expected. I thought it was a very different take on the normal grieving teenager trope – very unique, and a completely different tone. Anna is so different from the other main characters in these kinds of books. Very unique and vivid.
Unfortunately, I struggled to connect with her. Despite her distinct personality, she didn’t feel real to me. She felt, somehow, missing. And I do like to connect with a character to seem degree. However, having suffered loss myself before, I do realise that grief has the propensity to detach the mourner, to make them distant and unreachable.
The other thing is… THERE WAS INSTA-LOVE. Ooooooh I didn’t like it. I mean, Matteo is nice and all, I don’t have any problems with him specifically, but that insta-love was just so… insta-lovey!
I have the same relationship with words as Anna does, and I know the darkness when words leave you. I thought that was well done – and again pretty unique for YA. I just felt that it lacked a certain element of depth. I felt the role of words could have been more thoroughly explored and utilized for the purposes of this novel.
Although, I loved this:
“It’s the loving, more than the talent, that’s the rarest gift.”
The family members are incredible. I loved the depth that they had, and I grew fond of each of them. The family is a bit dysfunctional, but they are all PRESENT.
“I make sure she knows I’ll always find her. I’ll see her, no matter how many times she tried to be erased.”
In terms of an “issues book” dealing with grief, this was very well done. It was not at all preachy, and illustrated the process of grieving in an incredibly real way. I enjoyed that. I would highly suggest this book to high school students and YA readers.
“Everyone gets one last line. But first lines, stories of love and loss and hope floating on backs of paper cranes? We choose how many of those we get to tell.”
I RECEIVED AN E-GALLEY OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.