“Did you just use ‘artisanal’ to refer to nachos?”
^Now I want nachos. There was seriously so much delicious food in this book, 3.5 Stars
Overview:
“Did you just use ‘artisanal’ to refer to nachos?”
^Now I want nachos. There was seriously so much delicious food in this book, and now I want to go to Paris.
Clara has an unhealthy relationship with food, prompting her mother to relocate her to Paris and her father’s for the summer. During her stay, Clara grows closer with her younger brother, Alastair, who is on the autistic spectrum.
I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review, thank you to Second Story Press for the opportunity! (All quotes are not final)
Pros:
“I’m on the autism spectrum, but I’m not autistic. You’re on the eating disorder spectrum.
There’s some really strong ASD and eating disorder representation here. Clara is diagnosed with orthorexia—which I wasn’t personally familiar with. It is a term used to describe those who have an unhealthy relationship with dieting and food, without reaching the all-encompassing levels of anorexia. There was a lot of nuanced and interesting discussion about what it means to eat ‘healthy.’ When does counting calories and avoiding carbs turn to obsession?
Similar themes were explored with Clara’s younger brother, Alastair. Though he is not neurotypical, he’s not what is traditionally considered ‘autistic.’ Even though he’s only six-years-old, he struggles with his identity in the world. He’s also cute as heck and I loved him.
Clara has a really interesting relationship with her ballerina mother—who also suffers from an eating disorder. Her mother’s unhealthy relationship with food no doubt affected Clara growing up, and they are both still trying to process this.
She also has to work on her relationship with her father and step-mother, both interesting character's in their own right. This really succeeded as a character study, and everyone's intersecting stories worked very well.
(Also I just really enjoyed the history and food enriched atmosphere of Paris)
Cons:
I really hated the romance???
Look, Michel is an interesting character in his own right, and I enjoyed his relationships with food, race and the city But I don’t understand why the romance was here at all. It felt detracting from the real story, and like it only existed to add some drama to the last act.
It’s a little predictable. The plot’s cute… but nothing really surprised me.
This reallllyyyyyyy takes its time getting started. Like 30% in the plot FINALLY kicked in.
A couple of points of really on-the-nose descriptions in the narrative. Don’t tell me Clara’s mother has an ‘unhealthy dependent’ relationship with her manager, show me.
In Conclusion:
As a whole, this was a lot more thoughtful than I expected a summer-romp through Paris to be....more
“We see what we want to see, what we expect to see, instead of what's really there. I don't think we do it on purpose, most of the
3 Stars
Overview:
“We see what we want to see, what we expect to see, instead of what's really there. I don't think we do it on purpose, most of the time. We just get kind of stuck.
Jessa’s good at hiding her anxiety disorder, until she’s involved in a car accident that leaves her with physical and mental injuries. She’s shipped off to her father’s house to heal, where she starts attending an alternative school and has to redefine ‘healing.’
I received an ARC of this through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Three Saints Press for the opportunity!
Pros:
This is one of the best depections of anxiety that I have ever read. Jessa’s thoughts are invasive and controlling-- physically represented by lower-case italics that interject her conversations and several daily activities.
All too often, YA treats mental illeness like something that can be ‘cured.’ Like throwing the two love interests together will ‘fix’ them and everyone will be magically happy. Not here. Jessa previously tried to move past her struggles by throwing herself into her relationship, sacrifcing part of her identity in doing so. This was a really strong plot point, and handled very well.
I really enjoyed most of the characters! Marshall is fun, with creative outlooks on life. Struggling with a heart-condition since birth (that left him without symptoms) he has a completely different definition of what it means to be ‘sick” and it lead to interesting discussions.
Marshall’s sister, Hannah, was also a very interesting character. Devoted entirely to her piano studies, she quickly has to reevaluate her goals and what she’s willing to do to get there. I also appreciated the large amount of focus on Jessa/Hannah's friendship, instead of just focusing on Jessa’s romantic relationship.
Cons:
That ending was disappointing.
Suddenly everything turned into a Hallmark special? With all this talk of souls and miracles and everything magically working out?
It just felt like a cop-out to me, and the heavily spiritual themes overshadowed the previous character development. Jessa no longer had to find strength inside herself, as the universe handled things for her.
With so many interesting characters and dynamics, I don’t understand why Jessa’s relationship with her mother was completely glossed over? There are references to Jessa not getting along with her new stepfamily, and wishing she belonged, but nothing where she ever tries to work this out. It almost seemed an easy way to write her mother and old life out?
In Conclusion:
This has an incredibly strong narrative voice that opens some excellent discussions about mental health. Could have easily been five-stars if the ending wasn't so cheesy....more
This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2017, so color-me-disappointed.
Our protagonist is Kale: [image]
Only probab2 Stars
Overview: DNF @ 56%
This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2017, so color-me-disappointed.
Our protagonist is Kale: [image]
Only probably not that healthy.
Instead, Kale is a high-school drop-out with an ability to time travel. However, he only jumps back to WWII and serves on the front lines. He suffers from PTSD as a result of a war that occurred 60 years ago. Our story starts when Harper, one of his best friends from childhood, moves back to town.
Pros:
I love, love, love this idea. It’s exceptionally creative, unlike anything I’ve read before and had an overwhelming amount of potential.
There are some really stark and nuanced discussions of PTSD and familial relationships. Though neither was explored in detail, the writing carries both very well and flows smoothly.
Cons:
It’s such a great idea, that’s somehow almost irrelevant to the book??? Kale suddenly is jumping to one location and one location only. But no one even wonders why he jumps at all? Let alone why it changed? There’s surprisingly few scenes of Kale actually going back in time, and the few that were present seemed very stereotypical of WWII scenes.
That sounds really calloused and that's not how I mean it. Kale's stories from WWII were just very... predictable. As soon as random side character shares a smoke with Kale, we know he’s going to die in Kale's arms shortly after. It's just what always happens in generic war-front stories. The very few flashbacks were all this predictable and offered surprisingly little to the conversation—though they were emotional and written well.
Harper and Kale sound exactly alike. I honestly kept forgetting whose POV I was reading.
Uncle Jasper isn’t even really a character. He’s just a stereotypical old man who works on cars and spouts questionable advice:
“People don’t make mistakes,” he says, “They make decisions.”
”Some people fight through it, and some people choose not to by ignoring it. It’s up to them, and we can only support and love them. But sometimes that isn’t enough. No matter what we do.”
”Sometimes being apart can start healing before it begins.
Seriously, everything the guy said sounded like a fortune cookie—It’s all pretty, but not very substantial.
Once I got to the part where everyone determines Kale’s time-jumping is dependent on his relationship with his father—that he really can control it, he just has to belieeeevvvveeee! --that's when I gave up.
It’s not even poorly written. It’s just not interesting.
In Conclusion:
A fantastic idea that somehow gets bogged down with a predictable narrative....more
“I wish I could explain, what it was like. Fingers counting the bones that were becoming me.”
No, this book isn’t perfect.
Yes, 4.5 Stars
Overview:
“I wish I could explain, what it was like. Fingers counting the bones that were becoming me.”
No, this book isn’t perfect.
Yes, the writing style isn’t for everyone.
But it is single-handedly the best book about eating disorders I have ever read.
All too often eating disorders are romanticized into some pretty girl with a shy smile meekly pushing a plate of food away from her. Or it’s all treated like an after school special where someone faints, is told a few kind words, and then are magically "fine.”
Eating disorders are what the name implies—disordered thinking. A disordered relationship with food that creeps into all aspects of someone’s life. The reality is harsh, gritty and not-always pretty to look at, but it’s also not as straight forward as we want to imagine it is.
I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley. Thank you to the publisher and author for the opportunity!
Pros:
This was a visceral, realistic and incredibly personal account of mental illness. Catherine Alene's writing style forces us into the mindset of Raesha as her entire manner of thinking slowly changes. It bleeds into her relationships and her hobbies without holding back.
Some passages in this were absolutely gut-wrenching for me, not because they were so dramatic, but simply because they weren’t. Raesha’s actions are easily justifiable and common-place to her, even when she knows they shouldn’t be. I lack the words to truly express how powerful I found it. Which is why I’m rounding up to 5 stars.
The author's note at the end of this was almost as powerful as the book itself. I applaud Alene for writing something so personal, and handling it with such grace.
I don’t typically read 'horse books,' but something about this setting and the animals involved really worked for me. It wasn’t the primary focus, but it felt natural and like the huge part of Raesha’s life it was.
I love, love, the focus on familial relationships in this. Raesha’s relationship with her father was handled in a realistic and beautiful way, the same as her relationship with her best friend and deceased mother. YA contemporaries all too often focus on romance as some sort of tethering pole, and while romance was present, it was secondary to Raesha's own characterization and arc.
Cons
Cody and Raesha’s relationship was very interesting at the start, but he didn’t seem very supportive. I understand she changes in ways he doesn't comprehend, but he simply seemed judgmental and not conducive to her healing. It felt realistic, but I wish it had been addressed.
I was initially thrown by the writing style, especially since I was unaware this was told in verse. At times the verse really didn’t seem like poetry, but rather short, descriptive sentences divided by line breaks. While I got used to it and the manner of story-telling, I can see how others would not. I’m not entirely certain the book benefited from being told in verse, and couldn’t help wonder if it would have been better as a straight-forward novel.
I can completely see how others DNF-ed this book due to the choppy writing style, but I believe they are missing out on an important and masterfully told story.
In Conclusion
Gripping, beautiful novel in verse. The poems themselves don’t particularly stand out, but the story as a whole is one of the best portrayals of eating disorders....more
This is a book that says some beautiful, important things, but uses an exploitive, painful a2.5 Stars
“Hate ricochets, but kindness does too.”
This is a book that says some beautiful, important things, but uses an exploitive, painful abuse storyline to do so.
…okay. Bear with me. I know that’s a big statement, and I know the majority disagrees with me. But the whole time I read this… I just felt unsettled? The overwhelming focus is on the physical manifestations of abuse and very little on any healing? Sure, the narrative mentions healing, but the plot is just one horrible, horrible abuse after another, and as soon as the abuse stops there’s just a rushed-haphazard ending—like there was nothing left to resolve or discuss?
This also felt apparent in the way every single adult was a horrible archetype. Whether it was Julian’s monster of an uncle, numerous dimwitted and mean school teachers or Adam’s nice, but completely oblivious mother… none of the adults were helpful. It continued to amp up the drama of the situation and create another kids-don’t-trust-adults-or-ask-for-help story.
It’s not that this book was poorly written… it wasn’t! It features some great ADHD representation in a likeable, extroverted narrator as well as Julian-the-precious-cinnamon-roll. I loved that the focus was on friendship/brotherhood, compared to the ever-popular romance. The romance that was present was cute, and featured a brief, but important discussion of consent and sex positivity.
Overall: I couldn’t move past the main, brutal storyline and how it used an abuse victim just for the shock factor. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I just never connected with the story. Maybe I missed something. Maybe I'm dead inside....more
Focusing on the relationship between teenage Chloe and her autistic sister, Ivy, this story revolves around their ‘quest to find l 2.5 Stars
Overview:
Focusing on the relationship between teenage Chloe and her autistic sister, Ivy, this story revolves around their ‘quest to find love’ for Ivy, but quickly proves it contains much more. Instead, this becomes a coming-of-age for both of the sisters.
I received an ARC of this through Netgalley, thanks to HMH Books for the opportunity!
Pros:
LGBT representation in a healthy and realistic way.
There’s a note at the end that says the author has personal experience with autism and has already written about the topic in nonfiction—and it definitely shows. The topic was handled with care and addressed with a gravity I’ve never quite seen before. It was incredibly refreshing
I greatly enjoyed that the main character has great social skills, an active sex life, and popularity. I find YA tends to demonize most of these things so it was incredibly refreshing to see a female MC who not only possessed these things, but was aware of it.
This had several important things to say about not only LGBT and autism, but also feminism and mental health.
Chloe’s stepfather is one of the most realistic antagonists I’ve ever come across. I absolutely couldn’t stand him, even more for that fact that he feels like someone you could encounter in real life.
Cons:
Here’s my thing:
This book talks about so many important things. It absolutely does. The glowing reviews have not lied to you.
But the story was sacrificed for those things.
There’s no instalove, which is a plus, but the romance develops so slowly and oddly that I never detected any chemistry between either character? They seemed like they didn’t like each other, and then suddenly they really liked each other. I think this development was hidden underneath all the other topics and sub-plot lines this was saturated with.
I’m not saying I think those topics should have been pushed to the side in favor of the romance—but if you’re going to include a romance, it needs attention too. In fact, I don’t understand why the romance was here at all, and think the story would have been much better without it.
This was so overstuffed it wasn’t just evident in the romance. But a lot of the family dynamics are pushed aside in favor or making the family discuss politics, a lot of the character development is really rushed, most descriptions are lacking in exchange for dialogue, etc.
This randomly would bring up really important topics or discussions and condense them down to one line. The characters would really just reference previous arguments and conversations (that happened off-screen) merely as a way of bringing those topics into the narrative. I don't feel like you can address these important and nuanced topics in one-or-two offhand sentences.
In Conclusion:
A multi-faceted portrayal of autism in a coming-of-age story that’s overstuffed with discussion....more
“Every girl wants to be Dorothy Gale or maybe Glinda. I never wanted to be the tornado.”
I’m no stranger to unpopular-opinions, 3.5 Stars
Overview
“Every girl wants to be Dorothy Gale or maybe Glinda. I never wanted to be the tornado.”
I’m no stranger to unpopular-opinions, but I don’t often enjoy a book more than the majority of my GR friends.
My first of Emery Lord's books, the initial premise of this revolves around the typical summer romance of two teens, but in a refreshing turn-of-events, features a heavy emphasis on mental health and family dynamics.
Pros:
I completely wasn’t expecting the family dynamic in this, but loved it! Jonah has a large family, but every single one of his six siblings is as a multidimensional character—even the younger kids have their own likes, dislikes, motivations and personality quirks. Most of the time, large families in books sort of exist as background noise created by flat characters. Not the case here, and it was great
This was a multifaceted depiction of bipolar disorder, which a beautiful emphasis on self-care and love. (Slight spoilers? The character's illness is quickly discussed/mentioned?) The depictions of mania were very well done and really illustrated what was going on in Vivi’s head. I’m sure experiences with this are personal for each individual with the disorder, but from my perspective, this appeared to be handled very well.
“Vivi was here.” <---- this was used perfectly
Vivi and Jonah’s relationships starts and develops fast—but the narrative is completely aware of this. The realities of this quick-moving relationship were quickly shown, especially when the characters realized how little they knew about each other.
Cons:
Here’s my thing: I still don’t understand Vivi as a character. This seems like a horrible, nit-picky thing, because I’m not sure Vivi herself understood her character. But it was incredibly difficult for me to really feel for here when I couldn’t figure out what she wanted or who she was.
Her narrative was large, exciting and eccentric, so much so it was hard to determine when her manic episodes began or if she was simply being intense in her descriptions again. She was incredibly flawed and could be outright selfish, which I did not have a problem with. I don’t judge characters based off if I would want to be friends with them, I base off how real they feel.
Her selfishness felt like a real flaw and she was still likeable despite this. However, she seemed incredibly aimless and I didn’t understand the purpose of her actions 75% of the time.
I have some issues with the ending, largely because Jonah’s development and resolution is sacrificed for Vivi’s.
Am I the only one who hated Ellie? Because I did. She was insanely perfect and all the other characters constantly talked about how “nice” or “relatable” she was. She felt like a caricature of the worlds-greatest friend and super fake.
In Conclusion:
This puts a twist on the typical summer romance YA by focusing on family and self-care, but certain characters were still lacking direction....more
“We're not words, Henry, we're people. Words are how others define us, but we can define ourselves any way we choose.”
Dude, that ending m 4 Stars
“We're not words, Henry, we're people. Words are how others define us, but we can define ourselves any way we choose.”
Dude, that ending messed me up.
Our story revolves around Henry, a teenager with what can only be described as a shitty home life.
So when Henry is given the option of letting the world end, or saving it at the press of a button-- he hesitates.
And the rest of what follows was a glorious expedition of character development, philosophy and profoundly unsettling questions.
Every character was purposeful. Everyone was developed. Every. One. Henry’s jerktastic brother, Charlie. Their grandmother. Charlie’s pregnant girlfriend, Zooey. The school bully, Marcus. Audrey. Deigo. All of the character’s were allowed faults and insecurities, in addition to their personality quirks. They all feel real.
The plot tries to take a look at some harsh realities and holds no punches. There are some really heavy, painful subjects addressed, including: depression, suicide, abuse and homophobia. All this weight had the potential to sink the story, but it’s handled in nuanced ways framed by the complicated characters. Instead, the plot goes along with Henry’s nihilistic and confused outlook, further complicating the moral dilemma.
I also appreciated how this isn’t a case of love-fixes-everything. Diego is an important part of the plot, and a developed character, but meeting him isn’t necessarily what fundamentally changes Henry’s world, like the blurb suggests. Instead, Henry has to determine his own world-view and make his own decision about the save-the-world-button.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and thought it was expertly crafted. I had a few problems with some pacing, and certain points I felt a little redundant-- just teetering this side of melodrama. But this is a really special story, and I don’t know I’ve ever read anything like it.
Overall I found this to be a devastating and beautiful story, but unfortunately it was weighed down with redundant and uneven plot el3 Stars
Overview:
Overall I found this to be a devastating and beautiful story, but unfortunately it was weighed down with redundant and uneven plot elements.
Nastya, a former piano prodigy whose dreams were shattered along with the bones in her hand, moves in with her aunt and starts attending a new school. While there she meets Josh, a lonely boy whose past is filled with his own personal tragedies.
Pros:
This has some terribly visceral and gut-wrenching paragraphs. Overall, the writing is very strong and beautiful, but there were a few places in particular where the narrative seemed to reach out and grab me by the throat. I can see why so mainly people had such strong reactions to this book—the writing itself is fantastic.
This book didn’t wince words and it didn’t steer away from the dark ramifications of dealing with trauma. Josh and Nastya are both allowed faults, and their selfish behavior and disordered thinking is all laid out in a very raw and nuanced way.
I feel too many YA/NA’s contemporary stories are written in alternating first-person present POV. My main problem is this quickly gets repetitive, especially if the POV switch just consists of recapping the events of the last chapter from a new POV. This book never used the POV change that way and avoided most other gimmicks as well. Each chapter brought about fresh material and thoughts/feelings unique to that character.
I really have to point out again how strong the writing itself and character voices were. While I did have problems with this book overall, it was never due to these aspects, and part of me really wants to rank this book higher because of how enjoyable they were.
[image]
Drew was a bit excessive in the beginning, and it drove me crazy how every other character seemed to know about him. But he had much more depth than initially indicated, and I especially enjoyed his interaction with his sister.
Can I get a spin-off of Drew and Tierney please? I would have really loved to see more of their relationship.
This ending was borderline perfect.(view spoiler)[ Both the end scene (that last line blew my mind; it had just enough build-up to make sense, but not too much as to ruin the surprise) and the entire last few chapters. I really think it was great Nastya/Emilia was encouraged to start working on finally healing. In particular, her dealing with anger and acknowledgement were fantastic. (hide spoiler)]
Cons
To put it simply, I feel this book would have benefited greatly from some edits. Overall, this was filled with several interesting plot elements or character qualities, but they were never very consistent. It was also filled with several scenes of characters getting to know each other or very similar interactions. The writing was there. By cutting or reshaping these unnecessary or inconsistent parts, it could have easily been a five-star read for me.
When I’m talking about inconsistencies here, I don’t mean simply plot holes. I’m referring to character traits that were never elaborated on, or forgotten, or areas where character motivation was not addressed.
For example, here are some I noted while reading:
- Why does Nastya decide to go back to school? (view spoiler)[ Especially given she doesn’t want to talk. (hide spoiler)] She’d previously been homeschooled for two years, was the switch to going to public school secondary to moving away?
- Nastya says she enjoys collecting names and understanding their meanings. Precisely twice in the beginning she thinks of the meaning of someone's name upon meeting them, and then it's not brought up again until the end of the book.
- In the very first chapter, Nastya’s aunt plays her music very loud in the car. Nastya comments on how much loud sounds bother her, and expresses relief at their car ride being short. The next chapter, Nastya is anxious about crossing the courtyard in her school because of how "cacophony” going on. From that point on, Nastya’s aversion to loud sounds is never brought up again, and her next few chapters illustrate going to shop-class, which Josh has already described as “incredibly loud” in his chapters.
- Nastya claims at one point she did not take any clothes with her that weren’t black, but then Josh describes her in denim shorts and a colored t-shirt a few chapters later. A few chapters after that she talks about having to go to the mall to buy some colored clothing. (okay so this one is a plot thing)
- (view spoiler)[ Nastya says she chooses not to talk. This is how she phrases it. She even talks to herself in the shower, and once at Josh’s house she laughs (it’s a somewhat hysterical laugh and a large part of the story at that point). She has no physical or mental disability preventing her from speaking/making sound (she states this herself). Yet when there is an accident in shop-class and her hand is accidentally struck with a hammer, she makes no noise? (hide spoiler)]
- Nastya just shows up in Josh’s garage/workshop one day. They don’t know each other very well and don’t talk, so why does she show up? He mentions that it’s odd, but it’s never addressed in her narrative. We are never told why she decided to show up there.
- (view spoiler)[ We are also never told why she decided to start talking to him or Drew, especially when the idea upset her so much just a few chapters before. (hide spoiler)]
- (view spoiler)[ Mainly an example of lack of character motivation here, but after Josh and Nastya have sex, what upset her? She has every right to be upset and I appreciated him trying to understand, but she never gives him a real explanation (aside from that she was attempting to “ruin” herself, which she later tells him wasn’t true) and it’s never addressed in her narrative. (hide spoiler)]
- Nastya dresses very provocatively throughout the book, and while it’s completely her choice to dress however she wants, I don’t understand her reasoning? She mentions something about how “if people are going to stare, they might as well stare at my ass” but then mentions how she simply wants to avoid attention? It also becomes obvious very quick into the book that she’s not extremely comfortable dressing this way. Maybe I missed something, but I just don’t think it was ever explained very well.
- Josh’s grandfather is present briefly within the first four chapters, then he’s taken to a Hospice center, where he dies later in the book. Josh spends a large amount of time talking about how those closest to him have died and how these deaths have affected him, however he leaves his grandfather to die alone? There is very, very little mention of his grandfather as an actual character and I couldn’t help but think this either made Josh very selfish or the grandfather was removed for convenience.
- The book starts with Nastya mentioning she wants to kill the person who did this to her, but then this rage she feels disappears for most of the book. It’s only brought back up again at the end. And while I feel it was handled very well in the end, I would have enjoyed if this anger had been something present in her character for the whole story, rather than something to bookend the story.
- Why has Nastya been in therapy for several years, but when she moves her family makes no efforts for her to continue therapy at her new home? Especially when they insist she go to sessions when she comes up for visits?
While I appreciated that this wasn't insta-love, and I generally really enjoy slow-burn romance, did this book really need to be so long? Somewhere around the middle several chapters just seemed to include scenes of Josh and Nastya (occasionally Drew as well) goofing off, or the tension building between them. I feel their getting to know each other was dragged out very far, and there were several scenes that could have been combined or removed all together without impacting the overall story.
Aside from this, my only other real problem with the book is that every single character is described as beautiful? Why is every.single.chracter conventionally attractive?
Some people may enjoy it, but I personally hated how Josh referred to Nastya as ‘Sunshine’ in his own thoughts.
In Conclusion
The writing was there. By cutting or reshaping these unnecessary or inconsistent parts, it could have easily been a five-star read for me....more
(Was there more going on? I couldn't understand it between Mim's rambling metaphors, whims 2 Stars
Overview:
In a word: quirky.
Just so, so, so quirky.
(Was there more going on? I couldn't understand it between Mim's rambling metaphors, whimsical lists and other quirks.)
Pros:
Surprisingly, I liked this writing. Independent from the story, I really love several paragraphs and sentences. Most of them are really beautiful and well-constructed metaphors. Some of my favorites:
“I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons: my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange.”
“I'm feeling reckless - or honest, maybe. Sometimes, it's hard to tell the difference.”
“You spend you life roaming the hillsides, scouring the four corners of the earth, searching desperately for just one persons to f*cking get you. And I’m thinking, if you can find that, you’ve found home.”
Cons:
It was all too much.
It took so much effort to figure out this kaleidoscope, and when I did… I was disappointed. The actual plot itself is very predictable and not unlike several books I’ve read recently (Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Paper Townsto name two). I think for such fantastical writing, I was expecting more substance.
This whirlwind of whimsical paragraphs doesn't just hide the lackluster plot, but makes it hard to understand at all. At one point, there’s actually a car crash and I could not tell. There was a lot of mumbo-jumbo about flying and soaring and how to tell up from down. I didn’t know what was real and it took me literal pages to decipher.
There’s something really squicky feeling about taking a man with down-syndrome to a vet (because everything else was “closed”) and then comparing him to your pet.
In Conclusion:
Really gorgeous and whimsical paragraphs, but not a lot of substance. ...more
Some books are just hard to review… and this is one of them. Because how do you review something that feels so personal?
First published in 1964 Stars
Some books are just hard to review… and this is one of them. Because how do you review something that feels so personal?
First published in 1963, I understand why Plath’s semi-autobiographical is still so widely read. This is raw and unapologetic. The narrator, Esther walks us through a year in her life as her depression becomes overwhelming, she encounters ECT, and navigates mental health in the 1950s. It’s rarely pretty, and sometimes felt so ugly and personal it almost felt wrong to read.
But it’s more than just a journal, as Plath’s lyrical writing portrays Esther’s struggles in a mesmerizing manner, the surreal merges with the relatable. One of my favorite examples is the passage where Eleanor envisions all of her possible futures each as a separate fig on a large tree. And then relays feeling paralyzed by the decision and losing all the other possibilities.
”I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
Plath’s beautiful and metaphorical writing manages to describe big-isolating feelings. Being able to name and express an emotion like that felt so powerful. I think there are times the narrative revels in these moments, and borders romanization in places—though through the lens of a narrator who is mentally ill, so it’s a weird critique.
Which brings me back to how hard this is to review. Because as a reader, the ending feels abrupt and Esther’s relationship with her therapist difficult to track. But I also understand Plath was trying to write an ending to something she was still going through.
Overall: This is an uncomfortable read. It’s absurdly personal as a woman navigates through the overwhelming aspects of mental illness. It attempts to define the ill defined, and sometimes it succeeds, sometimes it really succeeds, and sometimes it doesn't. ...more
I don’t think I’ve ever put down a book and just felt so utterly… conflicted.
Let me admit that for the first half of this book, I w 3 Stars
Overall:
I don’t think I’ve ever put down a book and just felt so utterly… conflicted.
Let me admit that for the first half of this book, I was totally not impressed and was convinced I was going to hate this book. Because I’m a stubborn individual I decided to finish it, and wow! What a turn around. I still had my issues with it, but that ending knocked the breath out of me and left me wishing I hadn’t read the book in a public place—so I could process all my emotions in private.
Basically [image]
But, like I said, it definitely had its problems—Namely the sheer randomness.
Pros: Sorry in advance, but most everything I liked about this book was a spoiler
Major spoiler. Do not read if you haven’t read the book. (view spoiler)[ Theo kills himself guys. I was absolutely not expecting that. I thought this was just a book about a maniac-pixie dream boy who ends up invigorating the shy quiet girl and breaks her out of her shell of grief. Then with Theo’s bipolar diagnosis, it all became much more real. I can’t say it reached the level I was hoping for, as the writing still maintained this air of absurdity, but it definitely improved.
This actually was a complete turnaround of what was making me hate the book during the first half. I just felt as if the book was romanticizing depression and suicidal feelings, it felt almost like “quirky” behavior. Truth be told, I think that’s what Violet thought of it too—until Theo started sending his last messages. Violet finding his body nearly made me cry in a public place. It just took the “quirky” behavior and showed the devastating effects of it.
I also encourage everyone to read the authors note at the end. Jennifer Niven writes about personal experiences in the book and the importance of seeking help if you are struggling. (hide spoiler)]
I actually really liked Violets POV. She was by no means a particularly unique character, and I feel I’ve actually read several characters similar to her recently. but there were tons of details brought to her chapters that I simply really enjoyed. For instance, I really liked her sister’s glasses and the color of her sister's room.
I liked the side characters as well. Especially Brenda.
(view spoiler)[ I loved the descriptions of Theo’s mania. It was absolutely fantastic. The randomness of the writing style really worked here and the sensory input was just phenomenal. (hide spoiler)]
Cons:
Theo Finch is just not a believable character. Some things about him are believable (see Pros), but as a whole he was just not. I actually found myself really disliking him for a large portion of the book. People just… don’t speak that way. I’ve recently seen a lot of criticism regarding “teenagers sounding too smart” in YA novels (John Green in particular speaks about this frequently). My probable was not that Theo wasn’t speaking like a teenager, my problem was he wasn’t speaking like anyone. It’s not because of the mental health issues he deals with throughout the book (see Pros) it was actually everything else about him. The random stories he knows, his random poetry, his big thoughts about life and death, the fact that he somehow knows everything about literature that is convenient—it just wasn’t believable.
The book was so random . He was… asleep? And now he is awake? They are going to “wander.” Oh look a roller coaster. Nope now we are fighting. Now we’re at dad’s house. Nope, now we are on mountain. Now we are screaming from a tower—what is this tower? How did we get there? What? Just huh?
(view spoiler)[ While I loved the descriptions of Theo’s mania, there just wasn’t anything to contrast it with. Speaking as someone with a decent knowledge of bipolar disorder (though I certainly cannot speak for everyone and their experiences) Theo should have been having depressive episodes. I just simply never noted these in the story, even, surprisingly enough, before he killed himself. (hide spoiler)]
In conclusion:
I still just didn’t love the style of this book, but any author that can invoke such a gut wrenching reaction from me deserves some praise....more
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