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alexisfay13's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. I'm surprised by how much I loved this. I picked this one up on a whim from my 'books I'm thinking of unhauling' pile. And then I just could not put it down. So good!
brokenrecord's review against another edition
4.0
This was pretty good! I'm always up for a You've Got Mail type of set-up - I will read basically any romance with any remotely similar premise. I liked Juliet and Declan a lot, and the friendships between Rev and Declan, and Rev and Juliet, were great. I did think all the drama about her mom's death and Declan's accident was a little much. Despite those complaints, I did still enjoy this!
Spoiler
I also liked that even though Declan tried to convince Juliet that it wasn't him who was sending the letters, she still suspected it could be him.Spoiler
I mean, it seemed like it took a little too long for them to find out that he wasn't involved. Like, it should be pretty easy to look up where her mom's accident happened and where his accident happened and the timing and see if it could be his fault, which is what she basically did, but I don't know why she didn't do it IMMEDIATELY. It just didn't seem plausible to me that it would cause tension for more than a couple minutes since it should've been simple to verify. And as a side note, the fact that her mom was cheating on her dad seemed like it was just kind of thrown in at the end and wasn't fully resolved.fritz42's review against another edition
5.0
Lately, I’ve been on a kick of reading books with a You’ve Got Mail theme. The kind where boy meets girl via some written communication form, and they connect on an emotional level, only to hate each other in real life. In fact, I found this book via the Goodreads Recommendation for [b:Alex, Approximately|34927042|Alex, Approximately|Jenn Bennett|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1492787431s/34927042.jpg|48100718].
Only this book was different and so much more than the others. The other ones were more light-hearted. This one grapples with the question: how does one continue to live and come back from losing a big chunk of one’s life when a love one has died. It grabbed me by my heart and held on the two days it took me to finish it.
In this book we have two people, hurting from such major loses: Juliet had lost her mother and Declan had lost his sister and, subsequently, his father. Juliet spends her time writing letters to her mother, leaving them at her grave. Declan just tries to hold on and get through the hours of community service he has to perform, mowing the lawn at the cemetery. Neither are handling their pain well. On top of all that, both have people who have grown impatient and expect them to be on the road back to their previous selves. Juliet and Declan have such anger rolling inside of them, I wondered how they could even cope with it all. Julia internalizes her, whereas Declan just lets his erupt when things get too much. Unsurprisingly, both of them have shut down, cutting themselves off from significant people in their lives.
So when Declan leaves a two-word response on one of Julia’s letters, it starts them down a path of opening up to each other via letters and then later emails. Their thoughts, pain, and feelings just pour out of them. They become what the other needs: an outlet for all of that with someone who truly understands.
In real life, they attend the same high school. The two of them have preconceived notions of the other, and they aren’t flattering, let me just say. There were times that I wanted to shake the two of them. They say some incredibly cruel and hurtful things to each other, as people in pain oft do. But even with all of that, their comments and suggestions in their on-line exchanges helps them recognize something in the other one during their real life interactions, helping them start to connect, with each other and with others in their lives.
This is a book that I will remember for a long time.
Only this book was different and so much more than the others. The other ones were more light-hearted. This one grapples with the question: how does one continue to live and come back from losing a big chunk of one’s life when a love one has died. It grabbed me by my heart and held on the two days it took me to finish it.
In this book we have two people, hurting from such major loses: Juliet had lost her mother and Declan had lost his sister and, subsequently, his father. Juliet spends her time writing letters to her mother, leaving them at her grave. Declan just tries to hold on and get through the hours of community service he has to perform, mowing the lawn at the cemetery. Neither are handling their pain well. On top of all that, both have people who have grown impatient and expect them to be on the road back to their previous selves. Juliet and Declan have such anger rolling inside of them, I wondered how they could even cope with it all. Julia internalizes her, whereas Declan just lets his erupt when things get too much. Unsurprisingly, both of them have shut down, cutting themselves off from significant people in their lives.
So when Declan leaves a two-word response on one of Julia’s letters, it starts them down a path of opening up to each other via letters and then later emails. Their thoughts, pain, and feelings just pour out of them. They become what the other needs: an outlet for all of that with someone who truly understands.
In real life, they attend the same high school. The two of them have preconceived notions of the other, and they aren’t flattering, let me just say. There were times that I wanted to shake the two of them. They say some incredibly cruel and hurtful things to each other, as people in pain oft do. But even with all of that, their comments and suggestions in their on-line exchanges helps them recognize something in the other one during their real life interactions, helping them start to connect, with each other and with others in their lives.
This is a book that I will remember for a long time.
jenniferjoy's review against another edition
4.0
I didn’t realize how emotional this book would make me, I definitely cried! Would recommend for a romance that makes you cry (in a good way)!
rekadarnb's review against another edition
5.0
It was a solid 4.5. I don’t know if I’d read it again; the themes were heavy. I learned there is a second book for Rev. I liked him, so I think I’ll get it a go!
kimbergakker's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
justanotherreaderofwords's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Car accident
mia_v_rose's review against another edition
5.0
**spoiler alert**
I have practically bawled my eyes out and I really should go to sleep because if I don't I might actually freak the shit out of Mama when she wakes up. But... There's so much to talk about!!!!! I pulling my hair out.
I. WANT. TO. SCREAM!!!!!!
I- OMG. I NEED A BREAK TO LET MYSELF HANDLE ALL OF IT.
Hours later....
I was supposed to buddy read it with Arundhati, Abigail and Johanna but with the last update, couldn't help myself.
Now this book.. I am at loss for words. I don't re-read books much, not even my favorites.. but this one, I can see myself after years still digging my face in it with a drumming heart.
You know what.. I can't write a review. I am a loser and this book, it deserves a better review than just a girl filling the lines with crying emojis.
Let's just put down quotes because those are EVERYTHING!
Rev doesn’t walk around quoting Bible verses or anything—usually—but his faith is rock solid. I once asked him how he can believe in a providential god when he barely survived living with his father.
He looked at me and said, “Because I did survive.”
((↑ make it a note you LOVE this dude! Absolutely fuckin' ADORE him!!))
Sometimes I think fate conspires against us. Or maybe fate conspires with us.
((↑ Best writer's award goes to this author. She will make you cry and feel like no one else!))
I don’t think it’s hopeful, either. It’s life. When everything goes to hell around you, the only way to go is forward. Those kids on the swing set know it. The guys with the guns do, too
((↑ I read those lines 5 times before I started crying. This book is so damn powerful! The realities of life, like, represented so easily.Like how at Declan's house no one's ready to fix things. We are all scared. ))
I don’t know what the point of this story is, except maybe to say that sometimes you get to a point where it hurts too much, and you’ll do anything to get rid of the pain.
Even if it means doing something that hurts someone else.
((↑ No. No. Suddenly the crying emojis doesn't sound like that bad of an idea.))
I did something unexpected. Not just unexpected to the people around me—I think showing up for school is unexpected at this point—but unexpected for myself. Everyone else is going to see this as some kind of turning point, I’m sure. Oh look, she’s back to herself.
What they don’t know is that I’m terrified.
That must mean I’m veering away from fate, right? Making my own way? Because the other path was a heck of a lot less frightening.
((↑ My heart is too warm what do I do? I know how terrifying it is. But how tremendous it can be. How happy can, overcoming the initial fear, make you feel. It's like you won a Pulitzer for a photograph (ㆁωㆁ) ))
If I can’t blame fate, who else is left
You want to know what I believe? I believe in fate, but I also believe in free will. Meaning, there’s a path, but we’re free to veer away from it. The only problem is that there’s no way to know whose path we’re following at any given moment. Our own? Or fate’s? Other people are on their own paths, too. What happens when we intersect? What happens when someone else wipes our path clean, and we’re left with no road to follow? Is that fate? Is that when free will kicks in? Is the path there, but invisible?
Who the hell knows?
Guilt is not a competition. Or at least it shouldn’t be.
“We were wrong,” she says. “You make your own path.”
((↑ that's a series dialogues/ letters talking about the same thing. You see it? The character development? It's AMAZING! If you haven't read it already, there's no need for you to wait too long. Give it a go, it's an amazing journey about how two broken people find each other; Declan and Juliet and make their own path through their grief. There's no gushy love, just two torn souls finding their way back to each other.. oh! Keep tissue paper ready. Sleeves are okay for tears but snot? Really?))
“I’m not ready,” he says. “Not yet.”
I shrug and try not to make this seem like a big deal. “There’s always tomorrow.”
“You said ‘not yet.’” He looks at me. “I’ll leave it up to you. But ‘never’ is okay, too, Jules. Never is always okay.”
((↑There are so many diverse characters coming from different backgrounds, all suffering from pain and just look up at those lines! The last time I read such vulnerable book... It was maybe ‘The Misfortunes of Lolita’ (that book was actually AMAZING! I recommend it highly if you like this one. If anyone interested ask me in comments). I mean- why?? Why does this book wants me to cry so bad!?))
His voice hasn’t changed tone, but he flicks a lever on the dash pretty hard. “You know what sucks? If you pick on someone weak at school, you end up suspended.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“No. But people can say whatever they want to a guy with a reputation, and no one cares. People actually root for it.”
The more I think about it, I wonder if that was a crazy goal altogether. Can a picture ever tell the whole story?
Do you think there’s any truth to that? If a rich kid taunts a poor kid for wearing old hand-me-downs, that’s obviously cruel. If a poor kid mocks a rich kid for failing a test, is it a lesser cruelty because of their stations in life? Is everyone a one-dimensional target in some way?
And if we are, is there a way to show more of ourselves? Or are we all trapped in a single photograph that doesn’t tell the whole story?
It’s only as complicated as you make it.
((↑ There are just so many lessons in this book! You can keep it in your suitcase and call it your life mantra and read it everyday for a better life. Yeah, but that would trouble you with a whole lot of tissues. But the point is.. oh.. I love this book))
The Character flaws : Juliet might come off as a judgmental person at first (Don't dnf it there!!!) but come on! When you are influenced by people all around you saying stuff about some person it makes a certain impact on you! It's only human! And she felt guilty! And this book is all about CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. duh!
Declan on the other hand has an issue with “talking”. It kinda put me off as well, he was unnecessarily mean at times (I will kill you guys if you are guilty of hating Juliet for her flaws because girls should all be Mary Sue, while guys can get off with the brooding face. Just because it's HOT! Go read Twilight!) but again.. he changes. He does the unexpected. Shouldn't it be all that matters?
(Yes, I read the rants)
The Ending : Wow.. I am a big fan of happy endings and this.. when the story slowly whispers to you in ear It's all okay at the end .. I just LOVE it! I won't give a lot of spoilers but OMG! READ IT!!
The Ending Chapter : I saw a lot of people say they wanted ||SPOILER|| more than just a kiss without any deatails!!! But come on, I thought it was perfect. It was never meant to be a gushy story and did you guys not read that hug!? O.M.G.
Just.. you will love the characters. You will love their stories. You will love their journey. You will love the side characters. You will love the friendship and basically every relationship. You will love the writing. You will love the pacing. You will love the dialogue and the details! Oh selfish human what more do you want!?? Shut up and Read it!!
5 stars. ❤️Heart
_________________________
Re-read : 21 July. Sobbed #2. This book is amazing. Chef's kiss.. so many quotes. I added more
_____________________________
Reading the third time! I'm re-living the teenage heart which adored this so much.
finished : Actually, I WAS right! When I said that I could imagine myself reading this years later with just as much love and intensity. I digged it! It was THIS close to my face while I read, and I hung on to every word. I hadn't cried in a while (which is a surprise, because my exams were giving me a run for it), and it made me cry harder than before. I didn't explain what the book was about in the first review; following is my version of summary.
Juliet writes letters to her late mother, who died earlier this year, and one day, a letter she wrote and left on her mother's gravestone.. is read, and someone replied to her innermost insecurities. It was Declan Murphy. He replied "me too". It pissed her. And she writes back to him a very mad reply. This goes back and forth and soon they realize that they share much in common. Their conversations start becoming their support as they continue to share what they can't find the courage to say to the people in their real lives. And so the story begins. Earlier this year, Declan had attempted suicide. Everyone expected Juliet to pull it together. Everyone expected Declan to throw a fist. So they help each other.
I continued to listen to Soniyo, the song from Raaz movie, during the final 150 or so pages. The lyrics matched perfectly!
raahon mein tanaha hoon, saath le chal yun
sang tere safar pura karu
tujhko jo paaya toh hai yeh lagta kyu
baahon mein bas teri mehfooz hoon
tu de de mera saath tham le haath, chaahe jo bhi ho baat
tu bas de de mera saath
It was awesome!!!!!!
5 stars. ❤️ Heart.
I have practically bawled my eyes out and I really should go to sleep because if I don't I might actually freak the shit out of Mama when she wakes up. But... There's so much to talk about!!!!! I pulling my hair out.
I. WANT. TO. SCREAM!!!!!!
I- OMG. I NEED A BREAK TO LET MYSELF HANDLE ALL OF IT.
Hours later....
I was supposed to buddy read it with Arundhati, Abigail and Johanna but with the last update, couldn't help myself.
Now this book.. I am at loss for words. I don't re-read books much, not even my favorites.. but this one, I can see myself after years still digging my face in it with a drumming heart.
You know what.. I can't write a review. I am a loser and this book, it deserves a better review than just a girl filling the lines with crying emojis.
Let's just put down quotes because those are EVERYTHING!
Rev doesn’t walk around quoting Bible verses or anything—usually—but his faith is rock solid. I once asked him how he can believe in a providential god when he barely survived living with his father.
He looked at me and said, “Because I did survive.”
((↑ make it a note you LOVE this dude! Absolutely fuckin' ADORE him!!))
Sometimes I think fate conspires against us. Or maybe fate conspires with us.
((↑ Best writer's award goes to this author. She will make you cry and feel like no one else!))
I don’t think it’s hopeful, either. It’s life. When everything goes to hell around you, the only way to go is forward. Those kids on the swing set know it. The guys with the guns do, too
((↑ I read those lines 5 times before I started crying. This book is so damn powerful! The realities of life, like, represented so easily.Like how at Declan's house no one's ready to fix things. We are all scared. ))
I don’t know what the point of this story is, except maybe to say that sometimes you get to a point where it hurts too much, and you’ll do anything to get rid of the pain.
Even if it means doing something that hurts someone else.
((↑ No. No. Suddenly the crying emojis doesn't sound like that bad of an idea.))
I did something unexpected. Not just unexpected to the people around me—I think showing up for school is unexpected at this point—but unexpected for myself. Everyone else is going to see this as some kind of turning point, I’m sure. Oh look, she’s back to herself.
What they don’t know is that I’m terrified.
That must mean I’m veering away from fate, right? Making my own way? Because the other path was a heck of a lot less frightening.
((↑ My heart is too warm what do I do? I know how terrifying it is. But how tremendous it can be. How happy can, overcoming the initial fear, make you feel. It's like you won a Pulitzer for a photograph (ㆁωㆁ) ))
If I can’t blame fate, who else is left
You want to know what I believe? I believe in fate, but I also believe in free will. Meaning, there’s a path, but we’re free to veer away from it. The only problem is that there’s no way to know whose path we’re following at any given moment. Our own? Or fate’s? Other people are on their own paths, too. What happens when we intersect? What happens when someone else wipes our path clean, and we’re left with no road to follow? Is that fate? Is that when free will kicks in? Is the path there, but invisible?
Who the hell knows?
Guilt is not a competition. Or at least it shouldn’t be.
“We were wrong,” she says. “You make your own path.”
((↑ that's a series dialogues/ letters talking about the same thing. You see it? The character development? It's AMAZING! If you haven't read it already, there's no need for you to wait too long. Give it a go, it's an amazing journey about how two broken people find each other; Declan and Juliet and make their own path through their grief. There's no gushy love, just two torn souls finding their way back to each other.. oh! Keep tissue paper ready. Sleeves are okay for tears but snot? Really?))
“I’m not ready,” he says. “Not yet.”
I shrug and try not to make this seem like a big deal. “There’s always tomorrow.”
“You said ‘not yet.’” He looks at me. “I’ll leave it up to you. But ‘never’ is okay, too, Jules. Never is always okay.”
((↑There are so many diverse characters coming from different backgrounds, all suffering from pain and just look up at those lines! The last time I read such vulnerable book... It was maybe ‘The Misfortunes of Lolita’ (that book was actually AMAZING! I recommend it highly if you like this one. If anyone interested ask me in comments). I mean- why?? Why does this book wants me to cry so bad!?))
His voice hasn’t changed tone, but he flicks a lever on the dash pretty hard. “You know what sucks? If you pick on someone weak at school, you end up suspended.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“No. But people can say whatever they want to a guy with a reputation, and no one cares. People actually root for it.”
The more I think about it, I wonder if that was a crazy goal altogether. Can a picture ever tell the whole story?
Do you think there’s any truth to that? If a rich kid taunts a poor kid for wearing old hand-me-downs, that’s obviously cruel. If a poor kid mocks a rich kid for failing a test, is it a lesser cruelty because of their stations in life? Is everyone a one-dimensional target in some way?
And if we are, is there a way to show more of ourselves? Or are we all trapped in a single photograph that doesn’t tell the whole story?
It’s only as complicated as you make it.
((↑ There are just so many lessons in this book! You can keep it in your suitcase and call it your life mantra and read it everyday for a better life. Yeah, but that would trouble you with a whole lot of tissues. But the point is.. oh.. I love this book))
The Character flaws : Juliet might come off as a judgmental person at first (Don't dnf it there!!!) but come on! When you are influenced by people all around you saying stuff about some person it makes a certain impact on you! It's only human! And she felt guilty! And this book is all about CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. duh!
Declan on the other hand has an issue with “talking”. It kinda put me off as well, he was unnecessarily mean at times (I will kill you guys if you are guilty of hating Juliet for her flaws because girls should all be Mary Sue, while guys can get off with the brooding face. Just because it's HOT! Go read Twilight!) but again.. he changes. He does the unexpected. Shouldn't it be all that matters?
(Yes, I read the rants)
The Ending : Wow.. I am a big fan of happy endings and this.. when the story slowly whispers to you in ear It's all okay at the end .. I just LOVE it! I won't give a lot of spoilers but OMG! READ IT!!
The Ending Chapter : I saw a lot of people say they wanted ||SPOILER|| more than just a kiss without any deatails!!! But come on, I thought it was perfect. It was never meant to be a gushy story and did you guys not read that hug!? O.M.G.
Just.. you will love the characters. You will love their stories. You will love their journey. You will love the side characters. You will love the friendship and basically every relationship. You will love the writing. You will love the pacing. You will love the dialogue and the details! Oh selfish human what more do you want!?? Shut up and Read it!!
5 stars. ❤️Heart
_________________________
Re-read : 21 July. Sobbed #2. This book is amazing. Chef's kiss.. so many quotes. I added more
_____________________________
Reading the third time! I'm re-living the teenage heart which adored this so much.
finished : Actually, I WAS right! When I said that I could imagine myself reading this years later with just as much love and intensity. I digged it! It was THIS close to my face while I read, and I hung on to every word. I hadn't cried in a while (which is a surprise, because my exams were giving me a run for it), and it made me cry harder than before. I didn't explain what the book was about in the first review; following is my version of summary.
Juliet writes letters to her late mother, who died earlier this year, and one day, a letter she wrote and left on her mother's gravestone.. is read, and someone replied to her innermost insecurities. It was Declan Murphy. He replied "me too". It pissed her. And she writes back to him a very mad reply. This goes back and forth and soon they realize that they share much in common. Their conversations start becoming their support as they continue to share what they can't find the courage to say to the people in their real lives. And so the story begins. Earlier this year, Declan had attempted suicide. Everyone expected Juliet to pull it together. Everyone expected Declan to throw a fist. So they help each other.
I continued to listen to Soniyo, the song from Raaz movie, during the final 150 or so pages. The lyrics matched perfectly!
raahon mein tanaha hoon, saath le chal yun
sang tere safar pura karu
tujhko jo paaya toh hai yeh lagta kyu
baahon mein bas teri mehfooz hoon
tu de de mera saath tham le haath, chaahe jo bhi ho baat
tu bas de de mera saath
It was awesome!!!!!!
5 stars. ❤️ Heart.