A review by riajasfuentes
Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

this is a reread because i don’t remember a single thing from this book when i read it four years ago and i wished i kept it that way. 

this was a snoozefest for me. i was bored for around 75% of the book and the remaining 25%, i sped through just to get this book over with. 

Holding Up the Universe had a pretty nice premise and had a possible chance to be a really good book. it deals with bullying, fat-shaming, insecurity, and figuring out that everyone has their problems and that you aren’t alone. and that morale is actually really important and something we should all learn. however, this book delivered it with characters which, for me, didn’t seem to have logical and rational decision thinking skills that i expected from a high schooler. there was two specific scenes that just really pissed me off and made me question if i was the one who thought it was a bad idea and a non-logical one. it’s honestly bad enough that i was so bored but i even had to dislike the characters near the end of the story?? come. on. 

the book contains quite a lot of filler chapters that i deem unnecessary. those chapters could’ve been used to flesh out characters in a better way and to really delve into the themes that the book wants to tackle. and because of the amount of filler chapters, i got a sense of slice-of-life trope, but done badly. 

i actually don’t think i’ve outgrown young adult books because i just read a pretty good ya book Pushing Perfect that i really liked. this book was just not it. and because of that i’m pushing back reading this author’s other book All The Bright Places which i already bought many years ago :”> 
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