brittany_tellefsen's review against another edition
4.0
When she was just six weeks only, Cassandra McMurtrey was adopted by the loving parents who have given her such a beautiful life and have loved her unconditionally as their own.
But now that Cass is 18, she is curious about her birth parents, wanting answers to questions about identity. Answers her adoptive parents just can't answer.
Told between Cass's present-day struggles and letters Cass's birth mom wrote to her before she was born, this is a poignant story about family, hard choices, and living life on your own terms.
Cynthia Hand is perhaps one of the most underrated and underhyped YA authors in the online bookish community. I have now read four books that she has written and every single one has impressed me in some form or fashion and The How & The Why was no different.
First, let's talk about the family and friendship dynamics within the story. Not only are Cass's parents very present in her life, but they are extremely supportive, willing to listen to their daughter, and not discount her feelings or her desires. On the opposite end, Cass is respectful of her parents and values their opinions and feelings. It is a very healthy parent/child relationship that you do not often see depicted within the pages of a YA novel.
Nila, Cass's best friend, was also a very refreshing character. She too was adopted, only she is black and was raised by a white family. Though she has money and privilege that Cass doesn't, her identity issues are of a different scale, as she has to grapple with being a different race while also knowing that she was given up for different reasons. Nila was also a very supportive friend, and there was never a mean-girl aspect to their relationship, although there was conflict between the two at one point in the story.
We also are given the perspective of Cass's birth mom, who we only know as "S" through the majority of the story. She was placed in a school for teen mothers where she was encouraged to write letters to her unborn child. Through these letters, we find out about "S" and what led her to her current situation and the maturity and bravery she showed when choosing to give up her child for adoption.
There were two aspects of the plot I didn't love or understand:
- For the majority of the story, Cass's mother is very sick. She is hospitalized, needing a heart transplant and the fact that she could die at any moment hangs over the story. However, in the end, it was virtually irrelevant. I won't give spoilers, but this side story didn't really have anything to do with the overall plot and the actions within, so I am not entirely sure what the motivation was behind this side plot.
-The one gay character in this story, I feel, was thrown for the sake of diversity and nothing more. Now, I don't tend to subscribe to the belief that authors need to make all of their books diverse. I believe authors should write what and who they want to write, and in many instances, they write what they know. But if a character that is representative of a certain population is going to be included, I feel it should be done with purpose. Rather, in this instance, Sebastian is originally introduced as a love interest for Cass. She crushes on him throughout the story, only to kiss him and find out that he is gay. What exactly was the point?
Overall, though, I thought this was well told. I also love that the story ended at an absolutely pivotal moment. A moment you essentially wait for the whole book to see. So we are left wondering with no true conclusions. Part of me is frustrated we do not get a resolution, with everything tied neatly in a bow. The other part of me loves that I can use my imagination to believe that it all worked out in the end.
Another solid story from Cynthia Hand. Definitely recommend.
But now that Cass is 18, she is curious about her birth parents, wanting answers to questions about identity. Answers her adoptive parents just can't answer.
Told between Cass's present-day struggles and letters Cass's birth mom wrote to her before she was born, this is a poignant story about family, hard choices, and living life on your own terms.
Cynthia Hand is perhaps one of the most underrated and underhyped YA authors in the online bookish community. I have now read four books that she has written and every single one has impressed me in some form or fashion and The How & The Why was no different.
First, let's talk about the family and friendship dynamics within the story. Not only are Cass's parents very present in her life, but they are extremely supportive, willing to listen to their daughter, and not discount her feelings or her desires. On the opposite end, Cass is respectful of her parents and values their opinions and feelings. It is a very healthy parent/child relationship that you do not often see depicted within the pages of a YA novel.
Nila, Cass's best friend, was also a very refreshing character. She too was adopted, only she is black and was raised by a white family. Though she has money and privilege that Cass doesn't, her identity issues are of a different scale, as she has to grapple with being a different race while also knowing that she was given up for different reasons. Nila was also a very supportive friend, and there was never a mean-girl aspect to their relationship, although there was conflict between the two at one point in the story.
We also are given the perspective of Cass's birth mom, who we only know as "S" through the majority of the story. She was placed in a school for teen mothers where she was encouraged to write letters to her unborn child. Through these letters, we find out about "S" and what led her to her current situation and the maturity and bravery she showed when choosing to give up her child for adoption.
There were two aspects of the plot I didn't love or understand:
- For the majority of the story, Cass's mother is very sick. She is hospitalized, needing a heart transplant and the fact that she could die at any moment hangs over the story. However, in the end, it was virtually irrelevant. I won't give spoilers, but this side story didn't really have anything to do with the overall plot and the actions within, so I am not entirely sure what the motivation was behind this side plot.
-The one gay character in this story, I feel, was thrown for the sake of diversity and nothing more. Now, I don't tend to subscribe to the belief that authors need to make all of their books diverse. I believe authors should write what and who they want to write, and in many instances, they write what they know. But if a character that is representative of a certain population is going to be included, I feel it should be done with purpose. Rather, in this instance, Sebastian is originally introduced as a love interest for Cass. She crushes on him throughout the story, only to kiss him and find out that he is gay. What exactly was the point?
Overall, though, I thought this was well told. I also love that the story ended at an absolutely pivotal moment. A moment you essentially wait for the whole book to see. So we are left wondering with no true conclusions. Part of me is frustrated we do not get a resolution, with everything tied neatly in a bow. The other part of me loves that I can use my imagination to believe that it all worked out in the end.
Another solid story from Cynthia Hand. Definitely recommend.
brianna_4pawsandabook's review against another edition
5.0
This was good... like really good. I am a sucker for a story about adoption and I haven't found one that i didn't like, but this one tackled so much, and it did it well. It dealt with how the adopted parents felt, the struggle of Cass to try to find her past but also to respect her adopted parents feelings. I loved Cass, but I also loved S. We got the perspective of the birth mother, and typically, there is usually one POV that is stronger, but I loved both of these characters.
CW: giving up a child for adoption, parent sickness, life in a hospital, teen pregnancy, racism, homophobia, talk of religion, talk of mortality.
CW: giving up a child for adoption, parent sickness, life in a hospital, teen pregnancy, racism, homophobia, talk of religion, talk of mortality.
laceydbell's review against another edition
5.0
This was fantastic. I tend to love stories about family/adoption/motherhood, and this was no exception. The main character went on such a great journey throughout this book. I was genuinely curious about all the things she was curious about. The addition of the letters from her birth mother being thrown in was so nice. It made her a real person, and I couldn't help but want to know more about her! The ending of this book had me worried at first, but DING. DANG. It ended up taking a shocking turn that I ATE UP. This was so good! Highly recommend!
readabookorfive's review against another edition
3.0
3.75!
trigger warnings; adoption, heart transplant, mentions of drugs, alcohol and a brief mention of suicide, birth, pregnancy, racism, homophobia and mentions of abuse
The How & The Why follows our main character, Cass, who knows she was adopted when she was six weeks old. She has the perfect family and the perfect friends but with her mother in the hospital needing a heart transplant and her future on the horizon, Cass finds that she wants to find her birth mother. It is also told in letters that her birth mother wrote for her whilst she was pregnant with Cass and gives insight into the process of adoption and how it can change somebody's life.
I've been hearing good things about this book since it first came out and I have a massive soft spot for sad books or books featuring hard hitting topics so I knew that I wanted to give this one a go and I am genuinely glad that I read it.
I'm still a little bit confused about how I feel about the book just because of some of the things that happened but overall, I think the book was really good, it was emotional and the writing was stunning but there were a couple things I didn't love. I'm going to start doing my reviews in stages so, here we go;
The Writing
I really enjoyed the writing style. I think that the story flowed really well even when it's broken up a little bit because of the fact it's told in two different formats; normal prose and letters. I wanted to keep reading which is how I ended up reading this entire book in one sitting and I think overall the writing was really beautiful. The pace was even throughout the book and it was definitely easy to read. i think the language choices etc were really good, the writing overall, was just really stunning and definitely one of the best parts of the book as a whole.
The Plot
Overall, I enjoyed the plot of this book. As everyone says who have read both books, it did really remind me of Far From The Tree which is one of my absolute favourite books of all time. It also follows the themes of adoption and trying to find out who your biological parents are so in that sense, the whole plot kind of made me feel warm inside because I just love Far From The Tree so, SO much. But, it was also unique in its own way, I loved that it had the theatre elements to it because I'm a bit of a theatre nerd myself and love books revolving around the theatre and how much people love it so I loved that aspect of it. As well as Cass' adoptive parents being a huge part of the plot and that they were genuinely good people who obviously adored Cass so much.
This book was truly heartbreaking in some parts especially in regards to how much Cass is truly struggling internally between her mother being ill, college, feeling like she's second best when it comes to the theatre, her lust over a boy and her birth mother. As well as the letters from her birth mother were so heartbreaking in some parts. I definitely shed a few tears through the book and that means that I did really enjoy it and was definitely invested.
I don't think there's really anything wrong with the plot apart from two things that I had a bit of an issue with.
1) I don't think this will be a wide spread issue but the epilogue. I had an issue with the epilogue just because I wanted more. I wanted to know what happened next between Cass and the people around her. I will say I did predict the ending in a way because I knew that a certain character had something to do with Cass and her family.
2) USING SEXUALITY AS A PLOT TWIST is my least favourite things that authors do. I didn't know that this book had an LGBTQ+ character because guess what? it's technically a spoiler. I hate it. Sexuality should never, ever be used as a plot twist, it's a disgusting writing technique that I just absolutely loathe and I hope one day, authors will just stop doing it so yes, it's a spoiler but Sebastian is gay and his parents are awful.
Characters
I really did love most of the characters that we were introduced to throughout the story. Cass was a brilliant protagonist and I really empathised with her and wanted her to succeed and do what she wants. I also really loved the group of friends that she had, especially her best friend, Nyla who understands parts of what Cass is going through because she was also adopted at a young age, loves the theatre and is also deciding what college to go to. I also really loved Bastien, he was a really good, pure person who's heart was forever in the right place and I loved him. I thought Cass' adoptive parents were wonderful too, they truly love Cass and want what's best for her although her dad really did frustrate me at times when it came to college.
I also really loved S, which is Cass' birth mother. Her story was really sad and I loved reading from her perspective through the letters that she was writing to Cass. It was a really beautiful way to see both sides of adoption and what it can be like when you're a teenager and in that position. She also deserved the world and I would happily read another book just about what happened afterwards and the happy life she got.
Overall, I really did enjoy The How & The Why yes, there were things I didn't massively love and things that frustrated me but overall, it's beautiful story about family and about the fact that you can follow your own dreams not the dreams other people have for you. It's about friendship and believing in yourself and it was truly a beautiful novel that I would definitely recommend!
trigger warnings; adoption, heart transplant, mentions of drugs, alcohol and a brief mention of suicide, birth, pregnancy, racism, homophobia and mentions of abuse
The How & The Why follows our main character, Cass, who knows she was adopted when she was six weeks old. She has the perfect family and the perfect friends but with her mother in the hospital needing a heart transplant and her future on the horizon, Cass finds that she wants to find her birth mother. It is also told in letters that her birth mother wrote for her whilst she was pregnant with Cass and gives insight into the process of adoption and how it can change somebody's life.
I've been hearing good things about this book since it first came out and I have a massive soft spot for sad books or books featuring hard hitting topics so I knew that I wanted to give this one a go and I am genuinely glad that I read it.
I'm still a little bit confused about how I feel about the book just because of some of the things that happened but overall, I think the book was really good, it was emotional and the writing was stunning but there were a couple things I didn't love. I'm going to start doing my reviews in stages so, here we go;
The Writing
I really enjoyed the writing style. I think that the story flowed really well even when it's broken up a little bit because of the fact it's told in two different formats; normal prose and letters. I wanted to keep reading which is how I ended up reading this entire book in one sitting and I think overall the writing was really beautiful. The pace was even throughout the book and it was definitely easy to read. i think the language choices etc were really good, the writing overall, was just really stunning and definitely one of the best parts of the book as a whole.
The Plot
Overall, I enjoyed the plot of this book. As everyone says who have read both books, it did really remind me of Far From The Tree which is one of my absolute favourite books of all time. It also follows the themes of adoption and trying to find out who your biological parents are so in that sense, the whole plot kind of made me feel warm inside because I just love Far From The Tree so, SO much. But, it was also unique in its own way, I loved that it had the theatre elements to it because I'm a bit of a theatre nerd myself and love books revolving around the theatre and how much people love it so I loved that aspect of it. As well as Cass' adoptive parents being a huge part of the plot and that they were genuinely good people who obviously adored Cass so much.
This book was truly heartbreaking in some parts especially in regards to how much Cass is truly struggling internally between her mother being ill, college, feeling like she's second best when it comes to the theatre, her lust over a boy and her birth mother. As well as the letters from her birth mother were so heartbreaking in some parts. I definitely shed a few tears through the book and that means that I did really enjoy it and was definitely invested.
I don't think there's really anything wrong with the plot apart from two things that I had a bit of an issue with.
1) I don't think this will be a wide spread issue but the epilogue. I had an issue with the epilogue just because I wanted more. I wanted to know what happened next between Cass and the people around her. I will say I did predict the ending in a way because I knew that a certain character had something to do with Cass and her family.
2) USING SEXUALITY AS A PLOT TWIST is my least favourite things that authors do. I didn't know that this book had an LGBTQ+ character because guess what? it's technically a spoiler. I hate it. Sexuality should never, ever be used as a plot twist, it's a disgusting writing technique that I just absolutely loathe and I hope one day, authors will just stop doing it so yes, it's a spoiler but Sebastian is gay and his parents are awful.
Characters
I really did love most of the characters that we were introduced to throughout the story. Cass was a brilliant protagonist and I really empathised with her and wanted her to succeed and do what she wants. I also really loved the group of friends that she had, especially her best friend, Nyla who understands parts of what Cass is going through because she was also adopted at a young age, loves the theatre and is also deciding what college to go to. I also really loved Bastien, he was a really good, pure person who's heart was forever in the right place and I loved him. I thought Cass' adoptive parents were wonderful too, they truly love Cass and want what's best for her although her dad really did frustrate me at times when it came to college.
I also really loved S, which is Cass' birth mother. Her story was really sad and I loved reading from her perspective through the letters that she was writing to Cass. It was a really beautiful way to see both sides of adoption and what it can be like when you're a teenager and in that position. She also deserved the world and I would happily read another book just about what happened afterwards and the happy life she got.
Overall, I really did enjoy The How & The Why yes, there were things I didn't massively love and things that frustrated me but overall, it's beautiful story about family and about the fact that you can follow your own dreams not the dreams other people have for you. It's about friendship and believing in yourself and it was truly a beautiful novel that I would definitely recommend!
angiejoli's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
saltyglasses's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
guitourinho's review
4.0
Amei esse livro, mas teve uma parte que me incomodou muito: O momento do anuncio das vencedoras do concurso anual. Totalmente corrido, senti que não trabalhou bem o que tendia a ser um momento emocionante.
PS: Era obvio que o Bastian era Gay. Clichês que adoramos.
PS: Era obvio que o Bastian era Gay. Clichês que adoramos.
cupcakegirly's review against another edition
5.0
Wow...it’s been a hot minute since I’ve read a book I didn’t want to put down—or end, for that matter. There is so much to love about this story: the writing, the family dynamic, Cass and Nyla’s friendship, the letters, all of it. It’s thought provoking and at times, utterly heartbreaking, but so full of hope.
And that epilogue... ♥️♥️♥️♥️
And that epilogue... ♥️♥️♥️♥️
lestaslettering's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my heart, please tell me that you did not just cut us out of the most possibly epic reunion/meeting of ever, Dear Cynthia Hand, no I don't want this to be left to my imagination, nooooooo!!!!! Can't you see me crying? Rolling on the floor crying? Why do you have to do this to me?
I really loved S ,oh and Nyla and Class's mom & dad, obviously Cass too. Just cos he owned up doesn't mean he's not an asshat, Dawson, because he is. Too good that we like Ted, right? Not everyone has to be depicted good, C, okay? But other than that, my heart is full. And Ms. Hand whenever I meet you, you are telling me how the meeting went. Please. I beg you. I was okay when Cass moved on but not okay when THAT happened in the last page and we don't get to witness it. In this case, the universe doesn't at all unfold the way it should :/
Also I wanted this to be part of my 2020 reads, I mean, I didn't want to end this year without reading it and no matter how much I complain, I love this book to bits. Also not every book makes it to my personal shelf. It's very easy to be part of the 5 star club but not to be a personal go-to-book for so many people and after The Truth about Forever and The Last Time We Say Goodbye, this book just, my heart, I'm gonna cry once more.
I really loved S ,oh and Nyla and Class's mom & dad, obviously Cass too. Just cos he owned up doesn't mean he's not an asshat, Dawson, because he is. Too good that we like Ted, right? Not everyone has to be depicted good, C, okay? But other than that, my heart is full. And Ms. Hand whenever I meet you, you are telling me how the meeting went. Please. I beg you. I was okay when Cass moved on but not okay when THAT happened in the last page and we don't get to witness it. In this case, the universe doesn't at all unfold the way it should :/
Also I wanted this to be part of my 2020 reads, I mean, I didn't want to end this year without reading it and no matter how much I complain, I love this book to bits. Also not every book makes it to my personal shelf. It's very easy to be part of the 5 star club but not to be a personal go-to-book for so many people and after The Truth about Forever and The Last Time We Say Goodbye, this book just, my heart, I'm gonna cry once more.