sarahannkateri's review against another edition
4.0
"If you think your best friend dying is a bitch, try your best friend dying after he screws you over..."
As children, Vera and Charlie were inseparable, and though they spent more time apart once high school began, they never lost their best friend bond - until a few months before Charlie died...Now that he's gone, Vera spends her days trying to stay invisible at school, working a pizza delivery job, and wrestling with whether or not she should speak up about what really happened on the night Charlie died.
What do you do when someone you loved betrays you and then dies? What if he was accused of something you knew he didn't do? Could you forgive him and clear his name, or do some betrayals run too deep? How can you put someone in the past when they are still haunting you?
This book asks all those questions and more. With powerful, relatable characters and a suspensful storyline, this exploration of growing up, growing apart, and choosing what is right over what is easy defintely deserves its Printz Honor.
Good for teens who want gripping realistic fiction.
As children, Vera and Charlie were inseparable, and though they spent more time apart once high school began, they never lost their best friend bond - until a few months before Charlie died...Now that he's gone, Vera spends her days trying to stay invisible at school, working a pizza delivery job, and wrestling with whether or not she should speak up about what really happened on the night Charlie died.
What do you do when someone you loved betrays you and then dies? What if he was accused of something you knew he didn't do? Could you forgive him and clear his name, or do some betrayals run too deep? How can you put someone in the past when they are still haunting you?
This book asks all those questions and more. With powerful, relatable characters and a suspensful storyline, this exploration of growing up, growing apart, and choosing what is right over what is easy defintely deserves its Printz Honor.
Good for teens who want gripping realistic fiction.
carlyroth10's review against another edition
5.0
I honestly don't know what to say about this book, except that I loved it and it's now one of my favorites!
leasummer's review against another edition
5.0
I would not have picked this up on my own, I got it in the Book Riot quarterly box, and I'm so glad I did. I love the characters, I love the way the story is told. At first I thought the sections where the dead kid, the pagoda and Vera's dad talk wouldn't work, but they did and added to the awesome writing style in the book. The characters are so real, this could happen. The emotions are palpable. This is a book that will stick with me quite awhile.
This is me using love in a sentences - over and over again.
This is me using love in a sentences - over and over again.
hiltzmoore's review against another edition
3.0
A well written but sad book about facing destiny vs. life choices along with teenage grief. I loved Vera's relationship with her dad and thought that was the best part of the book. Not really a fan of some of the other parts, particularly the method of 1st person point of view from several characters and one place (?).
16swest's review against another edition
4.0
The grunge, we-hate-the-world-and-no-one-understand-us, teen angst of this book was SUCH an era of 2000s-2010s YA lit. I surprisingly loved it all. My heart ached for these white kids. I was so ready to give this clever book 5 stars, but the ending just wasn't QUITE satisfying enough. But a teenage Sam would have ate this up.
bbboeken's review against another edition
2.0
Mja. Ik kon er gewoon niet volledig in komen, in het boek en in de personages. Ik heb _Ask The Passengers_ heel graag gelezen, maar dit was te betuttelend.
yanners's review against another edition
4.0
My affinity with Charlies started on a bad streak.
Then it got worse.
Bucket Charlie. Brown Charlie. Wallflower Charlie. Now Smoker Charlie. If I had a dollar for every character called Charlie that I detested, I’d have four dollars. Not rich, but at least four dollars richer (and the collection keeps growing like some parasitic fungi)
With Smoker Charlie, I can’t help but notice a positive causal relationship between fictional characters named Charlie and their susceptibility to insecurity issues. Or depression. Or juvenile personalities.
I have no idea what possessed me to four star this in the first place but now that it happened, I’ll place my confidence in my past self to have made the right judgement.
4 stars
Then it got worse.
Bucket Charlie. Brown Charlie. Wallflower Charlie. Now Smoker Charlie. If I had a dollar for every character called Charlie that I detested, I’d have four dollars. Not rich, but at least four dollars richer (and the collection keeps growing like some parasitic fungi)
With Smoker Charlie, I can’t help but notice a positive causal relationship between fictional characters named Charlie and their susceptibility to insecurity issues. Or depression. Or juvenile personalities.
I have no idea what possessed me to four star this in the first place but now that it happened, I’ll place my confidence in my past self to have made the right judgement.
4 stars
ethib77's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book, I found it to be pretty well-written, however, I don't know exactly why I felt like the ending wasn't what I expected and it was a little bit of a let down for me. I think it wound up ending well and I don't really know why I was disappointed with it, just a feeling, but overall I thought it was a really compelling story.
lonelystar98's review against another edition
5.0
This book is so good. I feel really bad for Charlie though. But everything happens for a reason.