kandicez's review against another edition
5.0
Bruiser is narrated in turn by Tennyson, Bronte, Cody, and Brewster. Each voice is distinct and believable, particularly Brewster's which is written in poetry form. Not only is this unexpected, but it makes his entries so much more haunting.
The book is really about sacrifice and love: Would you sacrifice your own happiness if it meant that those you love would feel no pain? Is Brewster's power to take away the pain from those he loves a gift or a curse? How can a person be happy knowing that someone he or she loves must feel so much pain? By taking pain away from those you love because you can't bear to see them suffer, are you causing them to in turn suffer over your pain? It's a vicious circle in the way love so often is.
Bruiser is an intense, almost violently emotional experience. I can't remember a time where I cared so deeply about such an initially distant, almost unlikable, character. The last chapters are at once torturous and touching, anguished and hopeful. It literally hurt to read them. This book will stay with you long after you've read the final page.
The book is really about sacrifice and love: Would you sacrifice your own happiness if it meant that those you love would feel no pain? Is Brewster's power to take away the pain from those he loves a gift or a curse? How can a person be happy knowing that someone he or she loves must feel so much pain? By taking pain away from those you love because you can't bear to see them suffer, are you causing them to in turn suffer over your pain? It's a vicious circle in the way love so often is.
Bruiser is an intense, almost violently emotional experience. I can't remember a time where I cared so deeply about such an initially distant, almost unlikable, character. The last chapters are at once torturous and touching, anguished and hopeful. It literally hurt to read them. This book will stay with you long after you've read the final page.
lorathelibrarian's review
3.0
This book was not what I expected.
I listened to it and I loved how each voice was read by a different person. It really helped me understand the characters better. I loved each character at different moments and I thought it was really wonderful of Shusterman to make each character flawed. There wasn't one person that stood out as being truly good at all times. Each character had a fault that deeply affected those around them. I thought this made the book much more realistic (especially considering how unrealistic it is otherwise).
I caught on quickly to what Brew could do, but I didn't see it all. And I'm glad I didn't catch on right away because then the book would have been way too predictable. Overall the book was a fun read, and I will think about it a lot (and compare it to Green Mile a lot). I can even see myself recommending it a lot because it's a YA book that doesn't necessarily have all that higher level content that people seem to be so afraid of.
I listened to it and I loved how each voice was read by a different person. It really helped me understand the characters better. I loved each character at different moments and I thought it was really wonderful of Shusterman to make each character flawed. There wasn't one person that stood out as being truly good at all times. Each character had a fault that deeply affected those around them. I thought this made the book much more realistic (especially considering how unrealistic it is otherwise).
I caught on quickly to what Brew could do, but I didn't see it all. And I'm glad I didn't catch on right away because then the book would have been way too predictable. Overall the book was a fun read, and I will think about it a lot (and compare it to Green Mile a lot). I can even see myself recommending it a lot because it's a YA book that doesn't necessarily have all that higher level content that people seem to be so afraid of.
sunshine64's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
x_tora's review against another edition
I enjoyed it up until it got to Bruiser's sections. He writes in sort of a poetic way and it was just annoying to read. Then it got to his brother who was also sort of annoying to read from the POV of and I just decided I was done with it.
mimitucker's review against another edition
emotional
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
3.75
cass_fleming's review against another edition
I like recommending this book to people so I can watch their hearts slowly break.
sc104906's review against another edition
3.0
The school loner, Brewster (or Bruiser as the bullies call him), has caught the eye of perfect Bronte. Tennyson, her brother, does not like the new relationship between the two and works to break them apart. However, as the twins Tennyson and Bronte get closer to Brewster they learn that there is more to him than they ever knew. Brewster is an empath, who takes the pains away from those he loves. The twins want to show the world how wonderful Brewster really is, but is this opening him up to more than he can handle?
I liked the multiple perspectives. I thought they were unique and compelling. I found the concept interesting and really felt for Brewster. I enjoyed this novel.
I liked the multiple perspectives. I thought they were unique and compelling. I found the concept interesting and really felt for Brewster. I enjoyed this novel.
kristinetp's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-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
Would I read it again? No
This was another revisit to a book I got at a book fair and loved the first time I read it in high school. It certainly does not hold up for me now. Again, I just don’t really enjoy young adult writing anymore but I’m going back to them to see if the meat of the stories work for me as an adult. This one didn’t lol. I mean, I do like the whole “you need to take accountability for your feelings” thing, but that was about it. Happy to get this one off my shelf.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Child abuse
Moderate: Infidelity
bxermom's review against another edition
4.0
Neil Shusterman is amazing! He writes like no one else. I highly recommend that you check out his books.
eleana's review against another edition
4.0
I suppose you can read this book in 2 ways:
1. As a *deep* metaphor for empathy , or
2. For what it is on a surface level : a story about a teenager with extraordinary powers which harms him, falling in love for the first time and growing up. Aka, classic YA coming of age story with a twist.
I have to admit I am a sucker for Neal Shusterman's writing. Unwind, but more prominently this book, are written in a way that gives you both a complex look into the characters' emotions as well as being extremely easy to read with touches of humour on every page. I certainly could have finished this entire book in one night if I didn't value sleep so much.
While, sometimes the book came off as cheesy and cliche it did a great job of making you empathise with the characters and was overall a touching story. I found the use of "power words" (as dubbed by Tennyson in the book) for the titles really clever. I have to admit, Brew's chapters, written as poetry, were a little hard to get through at first-and honestly a tiny bit pretentious- but once I got used to them I grew to love them. They gave Brew a very distinct voice in the book. The multiple POVs worked great with each other, Cody's especially gave great insight to Brew's character, maybe even better than Brew's chapters. I was slightly annoyed by the constant cliff hangers in between chapters , "maybe I could have stopped what happened to Brew next", " I didn't mean for what was going to happen", "maybe I could have stopped it" etc, they were just very annoying.
The characters were absolutely lovable. Brew is easily my favourite. Truthfully, while it does not fit his character description at all, I could not stop imagining him being played by Evan Peters. He's just this broody misfit teenager who just takes himself too seriously, maybe for a good reason considering his powers, and he was just so dumb and cute.
There's things that could have been better about this book, but I certainly enjoyed it a lot either way.
1. As a *deep* metaphor for empathy , or
2. For what it is on a surface level : a story about a teenager with extraordinary powers which harms him, falling in love for the first time and growing up. Aka, classic YA coming of age story with a twist.
I have to admit I am a sucker for Neal Shusterman's writing. Unwind, but more prominently this book, are written in a way that gives you both a complex look into the characters' emotions as well as being extremely easy to read with touches of humour on every page. I certainly could have finished this entire book in one night if I didn't value sleep so much.
While, sometimes the book came off as cheesy and cliche it did a great job of making you empathise with the characters and was overall a touching story. I found the use of "power words" (as dubbed by Tennyson in the book) for the titles really clever. I have to admit, Brew's chapters, written as poetry, were a little hard to get through at first-and honestly a tiny bit pretentious- but once I got used to them I grew to love them. They gave Brew a very distinct voice in the book. The multiple POVs worked great with each other, Cody's especially gave great insight to Brew's character, maybe even better than Brew's chapters. I was slightly annoyed by the constant cliff hangers in between chapters , "maybe I could have stopped what happened to Brew next", " I didn't mean for what was going to happen", "maybe I could have stopped it" etc, they were just very annoying.
The characters were absolutely lovable. Brew is easily my favourite. Truthfully, while it does not fit his character description at all, I could not stop imagining him being played by Evan Peters. He's just this broody misfit teenager who just takes himself too seriously, maybe for a good reason considering his powers, and he was just so dumb and cute.
There's things that could have been better about this book, but I certainly enjoyed it a lot either way.