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A review by omgbeansgoreadabook
Where I Live by Brenda Rufener
4.0
Plot: Where I Live follows the story of a homeless girl named Linden Rose who resides in the same high school she attends every day.
She's keeping the fact that she's homeless from everyone around her including her two best friends Ham and Seung.
Linden is a witness to the school's most popular girl (and tormenter) Bea getting beaten by what everyone assumes is her meathead boyfriend, but once questions start getting asked, Linden's lies are in danger of being outed.
Writing Style: For some reason, I didn't exactly like how this was written. I always find fault with contemporaries and the way they are written and that doesn't mean that it's written horribly, it just means that it's usually not my favorite style. I think it's because a lot of YA contemporaries leave me with a lot of questions because some of the characters get away with a lot of things that normal people wouldn't be able to get away with in real life. It hinders my connection to the story, and that was my main problem with this one.
Characters: I adored Ham and all of his crazy antics and my heart dropped out of my chest at one scene that featured him. Lips are zipped...you have to read it to get it!
At times I loved Seung but at others I really hated him. I know he was supposed to be shown as loving and caring but a lot of the things he did made me want to slap him. I felt like he was pressuring Linden too much and when she wouldn't budge he got mad then acted like nothing happened? It seemed a little off to me so his character never sat well in my mind.
Linden is so strong but she makes a lot of excuses for Seung that I don't think she should have made. This book deals with a lot of physical violence but some instances throughout the book left me reeling with the words "emotional abuse" as well.
All in all, I give this book a 4/5! I'm so glad I got the chance to read it and review it so major thanks to the publisher and Brenda herself!
She's keeping the fact that she's homeless from everyone around her including her two best friends Ham and Seung.
Linden is a witness to the school's most popular girl (and tormenter) Bea getting beaten by what everyone assumes is her meathead boyfriend, but once questions start getting asked, Linden's lies are in danger of being outed.
Writing Style: For some reason, I didn't exactly like how this was written. I always find fault with contemporaries and the way they are written and that doesn't mean that it's written horribly, it just means that it's usually not my favorite style. I think it's because a lot of YA contemporaries leave me with a lot of questions because some of the characters get away with a lot of things that normal people wouldn't be able to get away with in real life. It hinders my connection to the story, and that was my main problem with this one.
Characters: I adored Ham and all of his crazy antics and my heart dropped out of my chest at one scene that featured him. Lips are zipped...you have to read it to get it!
At times I loved Seung but at others I really hated him. I know he was supposed to be shown as loving and caring but a lot of the things he did made me want to slap him. I felt like he was pressuring Linden too much and when she wouldn't budge he got mad then acted like nothing happened? It seemed a little off to me so his character never sat well in my mind.
Linden is so strong but she makes a lot of excuses for Seung that I don't think she should have made. This book deals with a lot of physical violence but some instances throughout the book left me reeling with the words "emotional abuse" as well.
All in all, I give this book a 4/5! I'm so glad I got the chance to read it and review it so major thanks to the publisher and Brenda herself!