rivulet027's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
fast-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
The look of wonder on Abby's face on the cover is what first made me interested in this book and I'm so glad that it did because I wasn't disappointed! Abby is an anxious twelve year old who's mother moves the entire family to Florida for work. And then the school assigns Abby a mentor, Juliana, to help her settle in! Suddenly Abby is living near her recluse of an aunt, her dad is busy remodeling the house, and her mother is working sixty hours a week! Abby is convinced this is a disaster and honestly who could blame her? When she meets two time travelers escaping to their time period seems to be the perfect solution.
What follows is a deft exploration of anxiety, first crushes, coping skills, and finding new friends while still maintaining friendships after a move. I really enjoyed that as Abby gets to know her Aunt Nora she starts to realizes that both her mom and aunt have similar experiences as her with anxiety and that they've both developed different ways of coping with that anxiety. I like that Abby thinks running away to the future will solve all her problems and lift her from the dystopian reality she believes she's living in and how over the course of her book she starts to see that the future isn't perfect and running away isn't the solution to her problems that she wants it to be. Alex and Bix dilemma of getting home was easy to get invested in and I also liked how their relationship with Abby and her family developed. The future slang the boys used took a moment to get used to, but was fun. I also really enjoyed how the author weaved in actually history and science into the book while using that to flesh out Abby's mother's job at SpaceNow and the future Alex and Bix come from.
Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the advanced review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
What follows is a deft exploration of anxiety, first crushes, coping skills, and finding new friends while still maintaining friendships after a move. I really enjoyed that as Abby gets to know her Aunt Nora she starts to realizes that both her mom and aunt have similar experiences as her with anxiety and that they've both developed different ways of coping with that anxiety. I like that Abby thinks running away to the future will solve all her problems and lift her from the dystopian reality she believes she's living in and how over the course of her book she starts to see that the future isn't perfect and running away isn't the solution to her problems that she wants it to be. Alex and Bix dilemma of getting home was easy to get invested in and I also liked how their relationship with Abby and her family developed. The future slang the boys used took a moment to get used to, but was fun. I also really enjoyed how the author weaved in actually history and science into the book while using that to flesh out Abby's mother's job at SpaceNow and the future Alex and Bix come from.
Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the advanced review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy
theequestrianslibrary's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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? No
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley for providing the eARC edition of A Long Way from Home in return for a fair and honest review!
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**Disclaimer: This list may/may not include all content warnings for A Long Way from Home. However, any warnings listed are all very mild and handled tactfully given it is a Young Reader/Middle Grade book.
--
So! I have completed my first review of a Young Reader/Middle Grade books, and I'm very happy that it was this one that I chose first. A lot of people don't give younger books enough credit, since their stories can be written just as well and with as much emotional impact and influence as an adult novel can. The only difference is that they are written in a way that is easy to understand and comprehend, and usually, the ending is happy. Sometimes we need a happy ending in life, and if we can find it through a book, I think that's a wonderful thing.
To start, the book gives me some amazing Meet the Robinson's vibes with the time travel, the comparison of the present and the future, the wanting to abandon the old life for the new, how endless issues have been solved, etc. As that is one of my favorite movies, I was very happy to see the parallels between the two, even if they weren't connected at all.
Abby is a relatable character, given that she is twelve years old. Some things that kids do at twelve years old are cringy, and that's just how it is. Tweens using slang such as "bae" may not be as common now, but I'm also long from 7th grade, so maybe it's still a thing. For someone who WAS in 7th grade when that type of speech was used on the daily, it hit a weird little nugget of familiarity.
I think her frustration with her mother is understanding. Parents who mean well can often come across as overbearing and insufferable, and it's easy to agree with Abby that her mom does need to lay off sometimes. Positivity is always a good thing, but in endless amounts, it can be suffocating since, like Abby says in the book, "she never lets me say anything negative." Feeling like you're forced to feel only one thing can be detrimental to someone's mental health, especially when they cannot uphold those expectations, and that can lead into fear of disappointing people.
I thought all the characters were lovely, and Bix made me laugh out loud numerous times. The idea of a 4th grade, the equivalent of roughly 9 years old, talking in such blunt, objective, and scientific ways that were more advanced than grown scientists, was absolutely hilarious to me. Adam was sweet and charming, Olivia a comforting presence even if her role was small.
Julianna was interesting for me. Like Abby, I would've been immediately overwhelmed with someone like her being my school mentor. To see that obvious discomfort was a nice nod to the introverts in the world who don't handle such bubbly personalities. I like Nora and her air of mystery and her casual aloofness. It was relatable to my own personality, with a general air of neutral aloofness that can be tapped into with some gentle "persistence."
The writing was well done and easy to read. It was easy to follow along, and I really enjoyed it for what it was. If there was any content in the book that I would flag, it was all very mild and brief to keep in time with the age range of the book.
I just liked it genuinely as it stands. It was a good read, and I look forward to grabbing this one from the shelves as well!
**ADDENDUM: Additional thoughts that I am adding here from my review left on NetGalley. I liked the message of "being where you're meant to be." Sometimes we, as people, get grandiose ideas of where we want to be and how we want to get there when sometimes the best plan of action is to simply exist where we are. It's a comforting thought to consider that maybe we should remain in our presents, in our moments, especially since playing with time can cause all sorts of screwy things to happen.
Also, thank you to the author for the fun little spins on time travel and how all of that works. It gets me every time, and I'm very charmed by it!
--
**Disclaimer: This list may/may not include all content warnings for A Long Way from Home. However, any warnings listed are all very mild and handled tactfully given it is a Young Reader/Middle Grade book.
--
So! I have completed my first review of a Young Reader/Middle Grade books, and I'm very happy that it was this one that I chose first. A lot of people don't give younger books enough credit, since their stories can be written just as well and with as much emotional impact and influence as an adult novel can. The only difference is that they are written in a way that is easy to understand and comprehend, and usually, the ending is happy. Sometimes we need a happy ending in life, and if we can find it through a book, I think that's a wonderful thing.
To start, the book gives me some amazing Meet the Robinson's vibes with the time travel, the comparison of the present and the future, the wanting to abandon the old life for the new, how endless issues have been solved, etc. As that is one of my favorite movies, I was very happy to see the parallels between the two, even if they weren't connected at all.
Abby is a relatable character, given that she is twelve years old. Some things that kids do at twelve years old are cringy, and that's just how it is. Tweens using slang such as "bae" may not be as common now, but I'm also long from 7th grade, so maybe it's still a thing. For someone who WAS in 7th grade when that type of speech was used on the daily, it hit a weird little nugget of familiarity.
I think her frustration with her mother is understanding. Parents who mean well can often come across as overbearing and insufferable, and it's easy to agree with Abby that her mom does need to lay off sometimes. Positivity is always a good thing, but in endless amounts, it can be suffocating since, like Abby says in the book, "she never lets me say anything negative." Feeling like you're forced to feel only one thing can be detrimental to someone's mental health, especially when they cannot uphold those expectations, and that can lead into fear of disappointing people.
I thought all the characters were lovely, and Bix made me laugh out loud numerous times. The idea of a 4th grade, the equivalent of roughly 9 years old, talking in such blunt, objective, and scientific ways that were more advanced than grown scientists, was absolutely hilarious to me. Adam was sweet and charming, Olivia a comforting presence even if her role was small.
Julianna was interesting for me. Like Abby, I would've been immediately overwhelmed with someone like her being my school mentor. To see that obvious discomfort was a nice nod to the introverts in the world who don't handle such bubbly personalities. I like Nora and her air of mystery and her casual aloofness. It was relatable to my own personality, with a general air of neutral aloofness that can be tapped into with some gentle "persistence."
The writing was well done and easy to read. It was easy to follow along, and I really enjoyed it for what it was. If there was any content in the book that I would flag, it was all very mild and brief to keep in time with the age range of the book.
I just liked it genuinely as it stands. It was a good read, and I look forward to grabbing this one from the shelves as well!
**ADDENDUM: Additional thoughts that I am adding here from my review left on NetGalley. I liked the message of "being where you're meant to be." Sometimes we, as people, get grandiose ideas of where we want to be and how we want to get there when sometimes the best plan of action is to simply exist where we are. It's a comforting thought to consider that maybe we should remain in our presents, in our moments, especially since playing with time can cause all sorts of screwy things to happen.
Also, thank you to the author for the fun little spins on time travel and how all of that works. It gets me every time, and I'm very charmed by it!
Content Warnings
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Mental illness
Dystopic themes (pollution, natural disasters, poverty, climate change, etc.), Brief mentions of depression, Regular mentions of anxiety and coping methods, Animal Pregnancy/Birth
More...