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karineiva's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ibazel's review against another edition
I bought this book because it was the thickest one I could find (more for your money!) but it ended up being really interesting! Weird, not exactly what I'd think of as a realistic teenage girl, but it was really engrossing anyway and I read it multiple times.
BUT SHEESH THE ENDING IS SUCH A COP OUT. GOD.
BUT SHEESH THE ENDING IS SUCH A COP OUT. GOD.
svh1307's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
9,5/10
jackiehorne's review against another edition
5.0
With the exception of the kidnapping thread and the final Pillow Box (why, why WHY, Aidan Chambers, did you feel the need to kill off your main character???), an amazing, thought-provoking, killingly honest exploration of late adolescence and the meaning of romantic love. Some might argue that Cordelia does not sound like a teenager, and she doesn't, at least not like the average teenager. But Chambers has always written for a small audience -- the intellectually-inclined teen and adult -- and as a heroine for such an audience, Cordelia is all that is convincing.
It's rare that a book makes you want to be a better person, but passages in Chambers make me want to strive to be more than I am — a better writer, a more compassionate human being.
I didn't realize that several of Chambers' books were part of a sequence. Will have to go back and read the sequence in order. Perhaps NIK will make more sense when read as part of a sequence...
It's rare that a book makes you want to be a better person, but passages in Chambers make me want to strive to be more than I am — a better writer, a more compassionate human being.
I didn't realize that several of Chambers' books were part of a sequence. Will have to go back and read the sequence in order. Perhaps NIK will make more sense when read as part of a sequence...
cmcgint1's review against another edition
5.0
The ending ! the freaking ending!! and we never found out the baby's name yet! i loved this book and took me forever to read it!!
mldias's review against another edition
4.0
(I have marked this as spoilerish in content, but wish to reiterate here that this review contains MAJOR spoilers.)
If I could, I would give this book 3.5 stars; however, since that isn't an option, I will give it 4. I try very hard not to grade a book down when the ending doesn't go my way. Some of the best books I have read have had disappointing/ambiguous/depressing endings, but ones generally in keeping with the tenor of the narrative. But I do not enjoy cheap narrative tricks (i.e., contrived "twists", Hollywood tearjerker sleights of pen, or saccharine big-red-bow endings).
Unfortunately, Book Five of this narrative involved a rather unrealistic big-red-bow sequence of serendipities; jobs, income, dwellings, office help, and even rent waivers fell from the sky and into Will's and Cordelia's laps. After so much struggle, their starting a life together felt somewhat effortless. These were college-age kids trying to strike out on their own. Where was the ramen, so to speak? Where was the initial financial struggle that couples even a decade older face? Simply put, where was the realism? Perhaps Chambers knew that he was running low on real estate, that his epic adolescent tome was already several inches thick and in need of an ending, so he had Cordelia apologize on his behalf for rushing through this part of the narrative. Unfortunately, in doing so, he forfeited some of the overarching realism that made this story so endearing.
Book Six, however, was when this book jumped the Heinian shark for me, and an otherwise unique narrative inspired by a timeless Japanese classic became a hackneyed tearjerker. Let me preface this by remarking that this story was a bold endeavor from the get-go--a male author taking on the psyche of a teenage girl. Chambers did the feminine adolescent mind justice throughout much of this book, with a few minor missteps here and there. However, Book Six was where he made his most egregious miscalculation. In killing off Cordelia and finishing the story from Will's point of view, he essentially broke the promise of the first five books--that this was Cordelia's story, her psyche, her gift to her child. She was not allowed to finish her own story; instead, she was disposed of (literally) at her beloved Uffington White Horse and we were left with nothing but Will's closing statements. We experienced some of the most pivotal moments of her life--her wedding, her baby's naming, and her few months of motherhood before death--through her husband's eyes. Thus, both narrator and reader were robbed of something vital.
Cordelia's voice carried us through nearly 800 pages of teenage angst, heartache, joy, musings, and relationships. It strikes me as strange that, in the final pages, the author took away her voice and replaced it with that of a man.
If I could, I would give this book 3.5 stars; however, since that isn't an option, I will give it 4. I try very hard not to grade a book down when the ending doesn't go my way. Some of the best books I have read have had disappointing/ambiguous/depressing endings, but ones generally in keeping with the tenor of the narrative. But I do not enjoy cheap narrative tricks (i.e., contrived "twists", Hollywood tearjerker sleights of pen, or saccharine big-red-bow endings).
Unfortunately, Book Five of this narrative involved a rather unrealistic big-red-bow sequence of serendipities; jobs, income, dwellings, office help, and even rent waivers fell from the sky and into Will's and Cordelia's laps. After so much struggle, their starting a life together felt somewhat effortless. These were college-age kids trying to strike out on their own. Where was the ramen, so to speak? Where was the initial financial struggle that couples even a decade older face? Simply put, where was the realism? Perhaps Chambers knew that he was running low on real estate, that his epic adolescent tome was already several inches thick and in need of an ending, so he had Cordelia apologize on his behalf for rushing through this part of the narrative. Unfortunately, in doing so, he forfeited some of the overarching realism that made this story so endearing.
Book Six, however, was when this book jumped the Heinian shark for me, and an otherwise unique narrative inspired by a timeless Japanese classic became a hackneyed tearjerker. Let me preface this by remarking that this story was a bold endeavor from the get-go--a male author taking on the psyche of a teenage girl. Chambers did the feminine adolescent mind justice throughout much of this book, with a few minor missteps here and there. However, Book Six was where he made his most egregious miscalculation. In killing off Cordelia and finishing the story from Will's point of view, he essentially broke the promise of the first five books--that this was Cordelia's story, her psyche, her gift to her child. She was not allowed to finish her own story; instead, she was disposed of (literally) at her beloved Uffington White Horse and we were left with nothing but Will's closing statements. We experienced some of the most pivotal moments of her life--her wedding, her baby's naming, and her few months of motherhood before death--through her husband's eyes. Thus, both narrator and reader were robbed of something vital.
Cordelia's voice carried us through nearly 800 pages of teenage angst, heartache, joy, musings, and relationships. It strikes me as strange that, in the final pages, the author took away her voice and replaced it with that of a man.
bookishblond's review against another edition
5.0
This book is so complete. I read it, and I questioned how this Aidan Chambers knew so much about me. I love this book beyond belief. It is so important to me.
kittyputthekettleon's review against another edition
5.0
I have never quite found the words to describe this book, though I read it many years ago. Aidan Chambers has an extraordinary perception of what it is to be a girl; Cordelia is perhaps the most fleshed-out character you will ever read, and at the end I felt as though I had been reading about someone I had known and loved all my life. It is the small details that make this story so extraordinary; Cordelia lives and breathes through her unique little habits that seem too real to have been dreamt up for the sake of a story. Her story rings true, and I both loved and hated the author by the end of it for what he had put me through.