Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Letztendlich sind wir dem Universum egal

I appreciate a book that focuses in one main concept and explores it in many different ways; what would waking up as a new person every day really mean? I feel like it could have gone even more in depth but I feel like the author struck a balance and didnt overstay their welcome. The concept as it was presented left me with more questions I could happily explore on my own. The love story and central plot felt secondary to my own enjoyment of it, but others might get more out if that aspect too. A book I could recommend most casual readers.

Content Warnings

mariekejee's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I'm a bit conflicted on this book - the magical realism part is quite nice, but I don't think I liked the romance part as much as I should've. Therefore, it sits at a solid 3,75 stars for me. As A is both and neither boy or girl, it is essentially a queer love story with a non-binary main character, which is commendable for a book from 2012.

As for the magical realism part: I liked getting to read through A living in a new body every day - I actually got excited about getting to meet the new person every chapter. The book poses a lot of questions about A's existence, and is not particularly interested in answering them. I can imagine this will turn some people off, but I didn't mind - this is, for all intents and purposes, more a YA romance novel than it is a book about body swapping, and that's fine.

As for the romance, it is filled with questionable tropes that I don't particularly care about. I'm not a big fan of the insta-love, I physically cringed at A's first description of Rhiannon (she is lost in the sadness, I'm the only one that notices her gentleness, and my favourite: she's pretty but she doesn't see it. Need I say more?!), the stalking,

the way A fucks up people's life so they can see Rhiannon

the way Rhiannon properly cheated on her boyfriend and we're supposed to think that's okay because he's a jack-ass

. A thinks they're a good person, and can be pretty preachy with lines such as "we have 98 percent in common, but people like to focus on the 2 percent". In fact, Rhiannon and A both are described as compassionate, kind people but their whole affair is riddled with selfish acts, a lot of which have long lasting effects on those affected. It's actually a breath of fresh air when I got to read about the day A lives in the body of a girl who has a healthy, loving relationship with her girlfriend.

And don't even start with the ending: A setting Rhiannon up with the body he's inhabiting without their consent. That's.. all types of fucked up. From a romantic standpoint, just because the person he's inhabiting is similar to them, doesn't mean Rhiannon would love him equally, and just sets their relationship up to fail. And again: the non-existent consent?!

Sidenote: I kinda hate how every book about people inhabiting multiple bodies needs to include a fatphobic chapter where the person inhabits the body of a fat person. They're all the same; they wake up struggling to get up because every part of their body is heavy, everything about them is grotesque and gross (the sweat! so much sweat!) and the fat people themselves have no redeemable qualities (none at all! they are literally the worst because they are fat!). Please, thin writers, please stop talking about living in a fat body when you cannot disguise your disgust for them. This chapter wasn't as bad as the one I read in The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, but reading it still felt like an unexpected cold shower.

In the end, the romance is kinda iffy but nice enough. I want to think this book would be better suited for me when I was in high school myself, but to be frank, given how serious I was about school I probably would've given myself an aneurysm reading about how casually A skips tests and important events. I liked the body swapping parts, and this has been one of the few books that have kept me hooked in a long time, so I'm grateful for that. Nevertheless, I don't think I would recommend this book to friends.

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ginbat's review against another edition

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reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Not all books need to have a thick plot, but to say this book has none would be an understatement. Unlikeable characters can be a good thing, but I just couldn't really find much that I liked about this book. It could be worse I guess? Just wasn't for me.

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novella42's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

One of my favorite books. In spite of the many different content warnings, it's one of my favorites to give to teenagers because it's the best recipe I know for empathy.

I turn to the excellent audiobook to get me through hard days.

Today I re-read it on the long road trip to my grandfather's funeral, and had completely forgotten about the scene where A witnesses the funeral of a beloved grandfather. It happened when I was twenty miles away from the church, and the writing was so powerful and the different layers of grief resonated so intensely with me that I started sobbing. (Luckily my partner was driving.)

I just... I keep coming back to this book because it keeps meaning more and new and different things to me at different times in my life. I know it's a young adult book, but I'm 37, and was born with a disability. As a kid I would have given anything to have A's blessing/curse. The story of A's life reminds me of the many different facets of human existence, and helps me feel less alone.

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lauralintunen's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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ginadapooh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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suklaa's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Mixed feelings but I mostly liked this book. I love the writing. It was my favorite part of this book. I swear every chapter had at least one quote or thought that I would like to get tattooed or framed on the wall!

But to the actual contents of the book. I do like the premise of a person/being who wakes up in a different body everyday. I loved seeing all the lives A lived through in this book. Overall A is such a good protagonist besides a few questionable actions. I found it annoying how they kept trying to get Rhiannon to break up with Justin. Yes, he was toxic but still, is it fair to constantly push someone into breaking up with their partner just because you think you're better for them?? Also I really didn't care much for Rhiannon. She just didn't seem that interesting to me.

The story was good but it ended so suddenly. Towards the end were given all of this new information of A and others like them but then the book just ends. And people had to wait for the sequel for 6 damn years!!!

Another complaint I have is that in the Vic chapter Rhiannon misgenders him multiple times but she doesn't get fucking corrected?? Like even if it's supposed to be the character's thoughts neither A or the narration points out how wrong it's to misgender someone. Also this is probably the reason why I don't like Rhiannon. How can A praise her for being "kind" when she's an transphobic ass 💀 Another character who they did dirty was the overweight kid who's name I forgot. He deserved better!! Both A and Rhiannon were so cruel to him :((

Althought there were some mistakes with some of the characters, I really liked how most of them were written. The chapter with the depressed girl made me cry.

"Because then maybe she'd realize, if only for a split second, that even thought the world doesn't matter to her, she matters to the world".

Overall, this is a nice book but it does come with flaws. Please check trigger warnings before reading!

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