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20sidedbi's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, and Alcohol
marmaladereads's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
So I will start this off by saying this is not a romance. Despite the synopsis and the strong romantic subplot, I think romance readers would be exceptionally frustrated with this book. I do recommend reading it as a coming of age book instead, and found it very enjoyable from that point of view.
The book follows Tommy (all the names in this book are pretty terrible, in my personal opinion) as he tries to navigate the college admissions process, figure out the rest of his life, and maybe finally get a boyfriend. In typical teenage fashion, he's maybe a bit more concerned with the last one rather than the first two, and generally seems completely overwhelmed by... well, everything.
Tommy has a pretty concrete life plan for himself, and can't imagine himself deviating from it. When he suddenly finds himself working with Gabe, his first crush from when he was 11, and finds out that Gabe's dream school is in the same city as Tommy's dream school, he imagines a future where they realize they're soulmates, fall in love, go to college together, build a life with a dog and three kids, etc. etc. Of course, life has other plans. Throughout the book, Tommy learns that deviating from the set plan can be freeing, not limiting, and that hyper-focusing on one option can make you blind to others that might be better for you. The book also features a great cast of accompanying characters, including residents at the retirement community where Tommy works and the other teenaged employees.
I think this book does a great job of capturing that feeling of overwhelm that accompanies trying to figure out the rest of your life as a young adult. No one has anything perfectly figured out, even when it seems like they do, and it turns out that everyone in the book is kind of a hot mess in the end. I enjoyed it immensely.
More spoilery thoughts ahead -->
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide
callidoralblack's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
linnea1801's review
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Infidelity, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
jpleitez1's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Blood, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol
piperclover's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
For a large portion of the book I was wishing it was 3rd person and dual POV but by the end of it I was actually very glad that it was a first person solo POV because I think you get more out of the story that way. I also absolutely love that Tommy is super blunt and honest but not in a mean way. He calls out people's bad behavior and to their faces but also accepts when hes done wrong and apologizes for it appropriately. YA novels tend to make the main character very one-note and overly accepting of other people's bad behavior but not this one. I'm so pleased withe end couple and would love a sequel about them. The narrator is good too.
I do wish that certain points were emphasized more like
I really disliked that the timeline is fairly vague so I was confused when suddenly a character would say "that was 4 months ago" bc I had no idea a week had even passed. And if you have a fear/dislike of blood like I do, you want to be really careful around chapters 34 and 35. The blood and injury description is very graphic and made me physically ill.
Graphic: Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
phoebesnow's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail