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A review by paulina_aspiringliterati
The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I by Carolyn Mackler
4.0
4 surprised stars!
Full disclosure: I requested this for review unaware that it was a sequel. I did not read „The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” by Carolyn Mackler, nevertheless I ended up enjoying „The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I” quite a bit. A lot more, in fact, than the initial couple of chapters led me to believe.
However, to start at the beginning, the book continues with a now 16-year-old Virginia (nicknamed ‘Gin’ by her family which I found adorable) who has finally accepted who she is inside and out. Sadly though, not all is well as her older brother Byron has been charged with a date-rape which shattered their once great relationship. She needs to learn how to navigate that new reality, even more so when her relationship with boyfriend Froggy starts dissolving and she meets Nate. And Nate… let me tell you! Haha. Actually, no, I won’t because you’ll read about it and it’ll be even better than me telling you.
I went into this mildly annoyed with the narration style. Or rather I was annoyed with Virginia’s POV. Not to name drop but there is a certain holier-than-thou attitiude certain characters in certain YA contemporary novels exhibit which I find very irritating. Unfortunately for me, Virginia’s attitiude read like that for the first couple of chapters. Then it got better (or I got used to it) and I ended up rooting for her, finding that she could learn from her mistakes and improve upon her past judgmental self (I just can’t stand black-or-white judgmental characters, call it my personal flaw in character or whatever but I cannot, my skin crawls). I was also a fan of her newly blossoming romantic relationship and wanted, more than anything, for Byron and hers brother/sister dynamic to be salvaged.
I never read the first book so I’m missing information here but from what I gathered from this one, I could tell that the sibling relationship between Virginia and Byron used to be pretty great. He was an older brother who could be a dick sometimes but they were close and it was overall good. Reading about Virginia’s life post rape accusation made against her older brother was therefore absolutely heartbreaking. My heart was wrenching for her because it was an impossible situation. How can one choose sides? A girl was hurt. Badly. Irrevocably. But then again he says he was drunk and doesn’t remember a thing. And he IS your brother! The latter first and foremost could send any reason packing. I felt the emotional turmoil and I found myself sympathizing with Virginia’s difficult family life A LOT. Despite my initial reservations at the beginning of this book which I see as victory because sometimes first impressions are impossible to surpass.
I liked where this book went family life wise, heart feels what heart will wise, too. Some of the conslusions were very mature and I loved what I was reading. I wasn’t that invested in the romance part itself but I also don’t think it was intended as primary focus of this book. Sure, it influenced a major part of the plot and how things concluded but it wasn’t made into something dramatic. It was important but its importance wasn’t blown out of proportion which happens a lot in contemporary YA. I was grateful for that and I strongly believe that „The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I” benfited from not expanding on drama in an unnecessary way.
All in all this book really took me aback. I expected to breeze through it but not for the subject matter to land so well and in such a profound way. As I read it having never read the first book and still enjoyed it a lot I don’t think it is necessary to start with the first. Although I’m pretty sure one can only benefit from getting to know the origins of this story better.
**massive thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**
Full disclosure: I requested this for review unaware that it was a sequel. I did not read „The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” by Carolyn Mackler, nevertheless I ended up enjoying „The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I” quite a bit. A lot more, in fact, than the initial couple of chapters led me to believe.
However, to start at the beginning, the book continues with a now 16-year-old Virginia (nicknamed ‘Gin’ by her family which I found adorable) who has finally accepted who she is inside and out. Sadly though, not all is well as her older brother Byron has been charged with a date-rape which shattered their once great relationship. She needs to learn how to navigate that new reality, even more so when her relationship with boyfriend Froggy starts dissolving and she meets Nate. And Nate… let me tell you! Haha. Actually, no, I won’t because you’ll read about it and it’ll be even better than me telling you.
I went into this mildly annoyed with the narration style. Or rather I was annoyed with Virginia’s POV. Not to name drop but there is a certain holier-than-thou attitiude certain characters in certain YA contemporary novels exhibit which I find very irritating. Unfortunately for me, Virginia’s attitiude read like that for the first couple of chapters. Then it got better (or I got used to it) and I ended up rooting for her, finding that she could learn from her mistakes and improve upon her past judgmental self (I just can’t stand black-or-white judgmental characters, call it my personal flaw in character or whatever but I cannot, my skin crawls). I was also a fan of her newly blossoming romantic relationship and wanted, more than anything, for Byron and hers brother/sister dynamic to be salvaged.
I never read the first book so I’m missing information here but from what I gathered from this one, I could tell that the sibling relationship between Virginia and Byron used to be pretty great. He was an older brother who could be a dick sometimes but they were close and it was overall good. Reading about Virginia’s life post rape accusation made against her older brother was therefore absolutely heartbreaking. My heart was wrenching for her because it was an impossible situation. How can one choose sides? A girl was hurt. Badly. Irrevocably. But then again he says he was drunk and doesn’t remember a thing. And he IS your brother! The latter first and foremost could send any reason packing. I felt the emotional turmoil and I found myself sympathizing with Virginia’s difficult family life A LOT. Despite my initial reservations at the beginning of this book which I see as victory because sometimes first impressions are impossible to surpass.
I liked where this book went family life wise, heart feels what heart will wise, too. Some of the conslusions were very mature and I loved what I was reading. I wasn’t that invested in the romance part itself but I also don’t think it was intended as primary focus of this book. Sure, it influenced a major part of the plot and how things concluded but it wasn’t made into something dramatic. It was important but its importance wasn’t blown out of proportion which happens a lot in contemporary YA. I was grateful for that and I strongly believe that „The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I” benfited from not expanding on drama in an unnecessary way.
All in all this book really took me aback. I expected to breeze through it but not for the subject matter to land so well and in such a profound way. As I read it having never read the first book and still enjoyed it a lot I don’t think it is necessary to start with the first. Although I’m pretty sure one can only benefit from getting to know the origins of this story better.
**massive thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**