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arcanewolf's review against another edition
5.0
I never expected for this book to give me a lot of feels but let me tell you, it did.
I loved the themes of forgiveness and second chances, about how the friendship between Becca and Alex was the main focus of the book, despite there being love interests. It really explored the ups and downs of being best friends with someone, even more drama added when Becca gets cancer. I also found Alex very relatable. She tries to hide the pain from the death of her dad and the news of Becca's cancer by being sarcastic and snarky and funny, when really she's dying inside. This sometimes makes her out to be a bit of a cold hearted bitch, but it just shows that it's just the way she copes with her pain.
At first, I thought I wasn't going to like Leo (Alex's love interest) as I thought he was going to be the typical jock that was just trying to get into Alex's pants, but there's so much more to him than meets the eye and I think that's what makes these characters relatable, in that your first judgements are almost always wrong because there's so much more hiding beneath the person.
This book also shows how everyone doesn't have forever to live. Stuff happens, sometimes tragic and your life can be taken away in the blink of an eye so live it to the fullest while you still can.
Or how others say it: YOLO
I loved the themes of forgiveness and second chances, about how the friendship between Becca and Alex was the main focus of the book, despite there being love interests. It really explored the ups and downs of being best friends with someone, even more drama added when Becca gets cancer. I also found Alex very relatable. She tries to hide the pain from the death of her dad and the news of Becca's cancer by being sarcastic and snarky and funny, when really she's dying inside. This sometimes makes her out to be a bit of a cold hearted bitch, but it just shows that it's just the way she copes with her pain.
At first, I thought I wasn't going to like Leo (Alex's love interest) as I thought he was going to be the typical jock that was just trying to get into Alex's pants, but there's so much more to him than meets the eye and I think that's what makes these characters relatable, in that your first judgements are almost always wrong because there's so much more hiding beneath the person.
This book also shows how everyone doesn't have forever to live. Stuff happens, sometimes tragic and your life can be taken away in the blink of an eye so live it to the fullest while you still can.
Or how others say it: YOLO
bluebeereads's review against another edition
5.0
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley for review. Thanks Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends!*
The F- It List is a heart warming, funny and sometimes disturbing story about love, friendship, loss, death and cancer. I expected it to be sad and I expected to cry a lot, mostly because of the topic. But I didn't. Honestly, I laughed. A lot.
The day of her father's funeral, Alex' best friend Becca sleeps with her boyfriend. It seems like an unforgivable something to do and for most of the summer that follows, Alex ignores Becca. She doesn't want to talk to her and doesn't want to see her. But when she's going back to school after the summer is over, ready to talk to Becca and forgive her, she hears from a girl at school that Becca has cancer. So she goes to visit her and Becca gives reveals her bucket list. They call it the F- It List and Alex is going to try to do as many things as she can for her best friend. And then Leo comes along and it promises to be one heck of a school year.
Like I said, I expected this story to be so sad and I thought I'd be a sobbing mess, but it wasn't and I wasn't. It was quite funny actually. And heart warming. I loved this book. Although nothing big actually happens. It doesn't have a lot of action or plot twists. It's just a story. And it reminded me of The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. The writing was really really good. It just flowed and I actually lived the story with the characters. I was sad with them, I was happy with them, I fell in love with them.
I loved the romances in this book. None of that insta-love stuff, no love-triangles. Just love. Two girls who met two guys and fell in love with them. The one is a sweet and sometimes fluffy romance between Becca and Caleb. Although we don't see much of him, I liked him and how he was with Becca while she's sick. The other one is between Alex and Leo and it's not your typical romance. But it was sweet none the less. Loved both of them!
So obviously I'm going to talk about the characters. I loved Becca. She's such a tough person. She deals with the whole sickness so well. She never gives up and I love her so much. Plus she's a perv, which is awesome. Then we have Caleb. He lives next door to Becca and I loved their romance, like I said. Although we don't see much of him, he was really sweet to Becca. Next in line is Alex. Becca's best friend. She's such a cool, slightly disturbing and weird character. She loves all things horror and yeah, she's weird. So awesome. And she's a great friend to Becca. Doing all that stuff on that list. I loved their conversations. Hilarious! Aaaand, last but certainly not least, Leo! He is like the male version of Alex and that's why they're so perfect together. Alex has had a crush on him for a while and I loved seeing their relationship grow and I loved how they were together. Plus Leo is so yummm.
Great story + great writing + great, relatable, awesome characters = The F- It List. Highly recommended! Especially if you loved books like The Fault In Our Stars.
hdbblog's review against another edition
3.0
I've been hemming and hawing over what to write about The F-It List for a few days now. The truth is that I actually enjoyed this book for the most part. I loved that it wasn't overly depressing. That Alex was witty, intelligent, and yet just flawed enough to make her feel like a real person. Julie Halpern wasn't afraid to create a character who can equal parts feel guilty about her friend's illness, and still embrace the happiness that comes her way. I so appreciated that. Illness sucks, and being helpless while a friend is ill sucks even more, but Halpern shows that you're still allowed to live your life.
The F-It List embraces the idea of living for the moment. Becca's list isn't one of those bucket lists that is filled with things like skydiving and swimming with dolphins. Hers contains all those little things that we never do because we always think we'll have time for them later. Like sleeping on the beach. Or making a move on that hot guy you've been watching since the beginning of the year. I was enamored with the fact that her list was full of things that, although they seem insignificant at first, are absolutely part of who she wanted to be. No dream is too small.
What else did I love? The fact that there is so much nerdy goodness in this book. Alex is obsessed with horror movies, and all you horror buffs out there will appreciate her taste in movies. These movies played a big roll in who she was, and how she got by. There's also a huge nod in the direction of Firefly fans, which contributed to a part of this book that actually made me laugh out loud. We all want to meet our idols. Becca does just that, and then some!
Sadly, we've now come to the part where I have to tell you what I didn't like about this book. I'll keep it short, I promise. The main problem I had with The F-It List was the way Alex and Becca were so oversexualized. I've been a teen, I know that talking about/having sex is a part of that stage of life. In this case though, it felt like overkill. I appreciated the fact that Julie Halpern acknowledged that yes, girls can be just as crass as guys at times. However the amount of times it came up actually started to pull me out of the story.
I think this had the potential to be a perfect read for me. Two best friends, who are brutally honest with one another, each trying to overcome their own struggles while being strong for one another. If the story had backed off on the sex and swearing just a little bit, just enough to let the sweetness of this friendship shine through, it would have been exactly what I was looking for. As it stands, I still think this deserves a three star rating. After all, I did have more than my fair share of chuckles at Alex's expense!
The F-It List embraces the idea of living for the moment. Becca's list isn't one of those bucket lists that is filled with things like skydiving and swimming with dolphins. Hers contains all those little things that we never do because we always think we'll have time for them later. Like sleeping on the beach. Or making a move on that hot guy you've been watching since the beginning of the year. I was enamored with the fact that her list was full of things that, although they seem insignificant at first, are absolutely part of who she wanted to be. No dream is too small.
What else did I love? The fact that there is so much nerdy goodness in this book. Alex is obsessed with horror movies, and all you horror buffs out there will appreciate her taste in movies. These movies played a big roll in who she was, and how she got by. There's also a huge nod in the direction of Firefly fans, which contributed to a part of this book that actually made me laugh out loud. We all want to meet our idols. Becca does just that, and then some!
Sadly, we've now come to the part where I have to tell you what I didn't like about this book. I'll keep it short, I promise. The main problem I had with The F-It List was the way Alex and Becca were so oversexualized. I've been a teen, I know that talking about/having sex is a part of that stage of life. In this case though, it felt like overkill. I appreciated the fact that Julie Halpern acknowledged that yes, girls can be just as crass as guys at times. However the amount of times it came up actually started to pull me out of the story.
I think this had the potential to be a perfect read for me. Two best friends, who are brutally honest with one another, each trying to overcome their own struggles while being strong for one another. If the story had backed off on the sex and swearing just a little bit, just enough to let the sweetness of this friendship shine through, it would have been exactly what I was looking for. As it stands, I still think this deserves a three star rating. After all, I did have more than my fair share of chuckles at Alex's expense!
taliatalksbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The F-it List by Julie Halpern was full of heavy topics, but the lens that Halpern told it through made this story much more enjoyable to read. This book, at its core, is about loving your life despite the bad things that happen, which is advice we all need to hear now and again. I liked the characters, but they felt a little one note throughout the book. I think part of this was due to their ages and not quite knowing who they were as people, but many of them lacked depth for a good portion of the book. I do, however, think that a lot of growth can be found for our main character, who learns a lot about herself throughout this story. The pacing felt a bit skewed (slow start, slow middle, fast ending) but I think it does a great job representing the way we process grief in a non-linear way, and how everyone processes sad and traumatic situations differently. At the end of the day, it the people we love who matter most, and I love how that unfolds throughout this story. Though this story wasn’t want I was anticipating, I still really enjoyed it from cover to cover.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
alisonhori's review against another edition
4.0
This book is very much along the lines of Fault in Our Stars though a bit less totally tragic. It took me a while to really get into this book...I thought it was a bit heavy on the sex and a bit light on the depth and wit but the second half of the book is almost all depth and wit and in the end, I really, really enjoyed this book. The characters and really much more appealing than they seem at first...and nicely not one dimensional which I appreciated and the love story between Alex and Leo really was lovely and moving. Fault in Our Stars is a book that has stayed with me and which I appreciate more and more over time...I suspect this might be a book that will as well but time will tell, I suppose.
jessicajessica101's review against another edition
3.0
Un livre que j'ai beaucoup aimé ! Quand je l'ai commencé je n'en attendais pas énormément, la couverture, magnifique, m'ayant plus attirée que le résumé mais je me suis finalement laissé tentée par cette lecture et j'ai bien fait !
Dans ce livre, on suit Alex qui a perdu son père récemment et qui découvre que sa meilleure amie a un cancer. Celle ci lui demande de l'aider à compléter sa liste de chose à faire avant de mourir.
L'idée de départ est simple, mais les personnages et le déroulement ont réussit à le rendre singulière et à me la faire vraiment aimé !
Dans ce livre, on suit Alex qui a perdu son père récemment et qui découvre que sa meilleure amie a un cancer. Celle ci lui demande de l'aider à compléter sa liste de chose à faire avant de mourir.
L'idée de départ est simple, mais les personnages et le déroulement ont réussit à le rendre singulière et à me la faire vraiment aimé !
christiana's review against another edition
2.0
Nope. I have no idea why I finished this book. I see what the author was trying to do (especially as the book wore on), but this book is just not special. Every theme within it has been done better by someone else. My preconceived notions were hoping for more on completing the list and repairing her friendship with Becca than all the other stuff. Also, what an unlikeable main character. I got why she was like that as it went on, but still, my God. Also, who has these secret storage closets at school and is getting fingered in said storage closet? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
kaylaaromigg's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
relaxing
sad
tense
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
4.0
kb_hg's review against another edition
4.0
My mom us going through cancer treatment right now, so I related to a lot of feelings that the main character is feeling. my boyfriend it a horror movie nerd so it was cute seeing that representation as well.