joyannmac's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
4.5
itsmytuberculosis's review against another edition
1.0
Everyone in this book is an asshole who went on a road trip to become not an asshole but just ended up exposing their asshole nature and decided to be assholes together.
leanmealone's review against another edition
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
jhahn's review against another edition
3.0
It was ok. Parts I really liked and some not so much. Quick read.
ashyoung555's review against another edition
4.0
There are many things to like about this book. For starters, it legitimately hosts a wide array of diverse characters, but that's not what the book is about--mostly. Rather, it's about human people who have human problems and human flaws and human relationships, which is refreshing, because those THIS BOOK IS DIVERSE DID YOU SEE HOW DIVERSE IT IS narratives are getting old now that I'm old enough to see what diversity should be like.
Things I Liked:
- The characters were complete, fully realised individuals. They all changed as people throughout the story, too. They actually reacted to the things that were happening to them.
- The prose. I can see where people could find it too simple, but there was a smooth flow to it, and it never reached trying-too-hard areas in that department. When I read it, I found that it was easy, enjoyable and effective to read.
- The chapter titles. They were kind of poetic, and I love poetry, so go figure.
Things I'm Not Sure Of:
- The prose. It's a double-edged sword, I suppose, but the nature of the prose did leave me, not quite at a whole arm's length, but maybe a hand's length away from being affected by the characters. The only time I felt a true pang was when Dante was involved--when his grandparents confront him, at the end, etc (saying any more would make it a spoiler). I was nearly always partially removed from the story, but that wasn't a bad thing. When I read this, I didn't really want to be thrown into tears. I wanted to crawl into a story about real people that weren't where I was at that moment. And that's what I got; some relief, a timeout, and a good story of four friends who don't really know each other or themselves properly learning some stuff about each other and themselves.
Things I Didn't Like:
- When the guys Sunshine gives the group contact details for do their intimidation thing at the house (any more would make it a spoiler). The abrupt character change afterwards and just the whole logic of that situation didn't really follow for me. I didn't really understand the point of it.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It's well-written and the plot is well-structured. The order the author presents the four characters in really worked for me, and when they come together in the last part, it wasn't awkwardly executed like these transitions sometimes are. The romance was somewhat irritating in spots, but I'd definitely give this book a re-read, which gives it a big tick of approval from me.
Things I Liked:
- The characters were complete, fully realised individuals. They all changed as people throughout the story, too. They actually reacted to the things that were happening to them.
- The prose. I can see where people could find it too simple, but there was a smooth flow to it, and it never reached trying-too-hard areas in that department. When I read it, I found that it was easy, enjoyable and effective to read.
- The chapter titles. They were kind of poetic, and I love poetry, so go figure.
Things I'm Not Sure Of:
- The prose. It's a double-edged sword, I suppose, but the nature of the prose did leave me, not quite at a whole arm's length, but maybe a hand's length away from being affected by the characters. The only time I felt a true pang was when Dante was involved--when his grandparents confront him, at the end, etc (saying any more would make it a spoiler). I was nearly always partially removed from the story, but that wasn't a bad thing. When I read this, I didn't really want to be thrown into tears. I wanted to crawl into a story about real people that weren't where I was at that moment. And that's what I got; some relief, a timeout, and a good story of four friends who don't really know each other or themselves properly learning some stuff about each other and themselves.
Things I Didn't Like:
- When the guys Sunshine gives the group contact details for do their intimidation thing at the house (any more would make it a spoiler). The abrupt character change afterwards and just the whole logic of that situation didn't really follow for me. I didn't really understand the point of it.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It's well-written and the plot is well-structured. The order the author presents the four characters in really worked for me, and when they come together in the last part, it wasn't awkwardly executed like these transitions sometimes are. The romance was somewhat irritating in spots, but I'd definitely give this book a re-read, which gives it a big tick of approval from me.
hazelstaybookish's review against another edition
3.0
Three things I really enjoyed: diverse characters, crazy road trip, and the focus on friendship! <3
emmieclassix's review against another edition
3.0
The second half of the book was better, and I would have preferred if the book was more of that and less of the stuff in the beginning. The second part was almost enough to make me give it four stars then HE ADDED A GAY BASHING FOR NO REASON. Dante already knew it’s sucked, and that his parents didn’t love him, he didn’t need to BE ALMOST KILLED BY HOMOPHOBES. We deserve better than this. Dante deserved better than this. Mari deserves better than those assholes as friends. Sam and Archie were not great characters, Archie was homophobic and mean to his best friend and dad because homophobia is scary? Like what sort of story is this? Mari was this book’s saving grace but still... this could have been a much better book.
paulineerika's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this so much more than I did. It had the ingredients for a really good story: a minority author, diversity in the main characters, just enough angst to set up an interesting plot. And yet I couldn't help but feel let down. The plot never developed as I expected and the characters (with the exception of Dante) were hard to connect to after their introductory chapters. (Archie, in particular, ended up being completely unlikeable for me and I wasn't pleased that his major faults seemed to just get glossed over.) Other characters came, provided tidbits of wisdom, and then wandered off again. And the ending felt ultimately anticlimactic, like it was meant to be some sort of great teen adventure--except it really wasn't. I was, sadly, left wanting more and not in a good way.
grimreader_agatha's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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
3.0