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pollyroth's review
2.0
2.5 Stars
I think most of my issues with the book are because I just don't vibe with most YA anymore. Especially at the beginning, the characters were too eye-roll inducing. That being said, I do think this book can be critiqued for its ending. The author wraps everything up too nicely for the subject matter. But it's still an emotional story that gets its message across.
Also...maybe my high school experience was different, but the way these teens used social media was laughable to me. Seemed very out of touch.
I think most of my issues with the book are because I just don't vibe with most YA anymore. Especially at the beginning, the characters were too eye-roll inducing. That being said, I do think this book can be critiqued for its ending. The author wraps everything up too nicely for the subject matter. But it's still an emotional story that gets its message across.
Also...maybe my high school experience was different, but the way these teens used social media was laughable to me. Seemed very out of touch.
erinlynn1989's review
3.0
Originally reviewed on The Hardcover Lover.
When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez is an ambitious YA novel with a very intriguing concept. As an English teacher and lover of literature, I was immediately drawn to this book at the mention of Emily Dickinson. Then I made the E.D. connection. Two girls - Emily Delgado and Elizabeth Davis - share their initials with Emily Dickinson. Cool, right? Of course it's cool!
I enjoyed this book, but I didn't love this book. I loved the concept, but I felt like there was too much going on for it to be a complete, graspable book. In a way, it makes sense for Rodriguez to do that because Emily Dickinson had quite an interesting and complicated life, but it makes for a very complicated and intricate book. There was one thing that happened in this book that created grief and aggravation for me; Rodriguez spoils her audience at the beginning of the book! She doesn't completely spoil it, but for readers like me, who read in between the lines, the one detail that is given away at the beginning of the book makes it so much easier to figure out what really happens.
I was expecting a little more character development from Rodriguez. In the beginning of the book, I confused Emily and Elizabeth a lot. Differentiating the two becomes easier as the book moves along, but it is annoying to confuse characters. I liked how Emily Delgado was characterized, but boy... I had problems with Elizabeth Davis. From the synopsis, I was expecting someone a little more rough around the edges, but she didn't really appear that way to me. I kind of thought of her anger as fluff instead of real anger. I really thought there would be more to her than what Rodriguez includes.
That being said, there are many great things about this novel, and I applaud Rodriguez for its creation. First of all, there are so many diverse characters in this book. Rodriguez includes Latino characters and culture in this book, which is something I've yet to come across in the YA books I've read. Secondly, I love the integration of Emily Dickinson's poetry. Emily Dickinson is an important piece of American history, and seeing how lines from her poems relate to the plot is awe-inspiring. I can only hope that teens will be more likely to go to the library and read Dickinson's poems after reading this book.
Overall, When Reason Breaks is an enjoyable read, especially if you are a fan of Emily Dickinson or retellings. There are some minor flaws, but there are also some really great moments that overshadow most of the flaws. I hope that readers will take something away from those great moments.
When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez is an ambitious YA novel with a very intriguing concept. As an English teacher and lover of literature, I was immediately drawn to this book at the mention of Emily Dickinson. Then I made the E.D. connection. Two girls - Emily Delgado and Elizabeth Davis - share their initials with Emily Dickinson. Cool, right? Of course it's cool!
I enjoyed this book, but I didn't love this book. I loved the concept, but I felt like there was too much going on for it to be a complete, graspable book. In a way, it makes sense for Rodriguez to do that because Emily Dickinson had quite an interesting and complicated life, but it makes for a very complicated and intricate book. There was one thing that happened in this book that created grief and aggravation for me; Rodriguez spoils her audience at the beginning of the book! She doesn't completely spoil it, but for readers like me, who read in between the lines, the one detail that is given away at the beginning of the book makes it so much easier to figure out what really happens.
I was expecting a little more character development from Rodriguez. In the beginning of the book, I confused Emily and Elizabeth a lot. Differentiating the two becomes easier as the book moves along, but it is annoying to confuse characters. I liked how Emily Delgado was characterized, but boy... I had problems with Elizabeth Davis. From the synopsis, I was expecting someone a little more rough around the edges, but she didn't really appear that way to me. I kind of thought of her anger as fluff instead of real anger. I really thought there would be more to her than what Rodriguez includes.
That being said, there are many great things about this novel, and I applaud Rodriguez for its creation. First of all, there are so many diverse characters in this book. Rodriguez includes Latino characters and culture in this book, which is something I've yet to come across in the YA books I've read. Secondly, I love the integration of Emily Dickinson's poetry. Emily Dickinson is an important piece of American history, and seeing how lines from her poems relate to the plot is awe-inspiring. I can only hope that teens will be more likely to go to the library and read Dickinson's poems after reading this book.
Overall, When Reason Breaks is an enjoyable read, especially if you are a fan of Emily Dickinson or retellings. There are some minor flaws, but there are also some really great moments that overshadow most of the flaws. I hope that readers will take something away from those great moments.
whatsarahread's review
5.0
Please visit What Sarah Read for this review and more!
I went into this book expecting to be thoroughly depressed and ,to be honest, this kind of story is not normally one I read. But something about the summary spoke to me and I decide to give it a try. Iâm so happy that I did because this book was so beautiful. Yes, it was sad and definitely had its moments where I felt so upset for the characters, but when I finished the last page I was left with such a sense of hope. Hope for life, that it can be beautiful, if only we reach out to those around us. When Reason Breaks proves, through such heart-wrenching emotion, that the power of love is unstoppable, if only we allow it.
What I enjoyed most about this book was the relationship between the two main characters. Elizabeth and Emily come from two totally different worlds, but their struggles are so similar, and throughout the story their lives become more and more intertwined. So much so, that sometimes itâs hard to truly know which POV some of the passages are coming from. This is a good thing though, as the vagueness of whose view weâre experiencing only serves to develop the book even further. Both of these girls are hurting and the words could be from either one of them. For the most part the dual POV switches back and forth between the two girls, but every once in a while you get one that isnât so clearly defined and the mystery deepens.
Thatâs not to say the two girls arenât fully developed and distinct characters. They each have their own personalities and their own ways of handling emotion that makes them unique from each other. Itâs the way in which the author pulled these two girls together through their shared experiences that was so authentic and moving.
The use of Emily Dickinsonâs poetry as a plot device was genius! From using lines of her work as chapter titles to the use of it as a lesson plan in the main characterâs classroom, it just mirrored the experiences of Elizabeth and Emily so perfectly. By having these girls connect so deeply to Dickinsonâs poetry, allowed me as a reader to connect even deeper to their experiences.
When Reason Breaks is beautiful, suspenseful and thought-provoking. It was an emotional rollercoaster that made me feel a lot of things and by the end of the book I was in tears. If youâre a fan of Gayle Formanâs books If I Stay or I Was Here, then this debut novel by Cindy L. Rodriguez would be a perfect choice for you.
I went into this book expecting to be thoroughly depressed and ,to be honest, this kind of story is not normally one I read. But something about the summary spoke to me and I decide to give it a try. Iâm so happy that I did because this book was so beautiful. Yes, it was sad and definitely had its moments where I felt so upset for the characters, but when I finished the last page I was left with such a sense of hope. Hope for life, that it can be beautiful, if only we reach out to those around us. When Reason Breaks proves, through such heart-wrenching emotion, that the power of love is unstoppable, if only we allow it.
What I enjoyed most about this book was the relationship between the two main characters. Elizabeth and Emily come from two totally different worlds, but their struggles are so similar, and throughout the story their lives become more and more intertwined. So much so, that sometimes itâs hard to truly know which POV some of the passages are coming from. This is a good thing though, as the vagueness of whose view weâre experiencing only serves to develop the book even further. Both of these girls are hurting and the words could be from either one of them. For the most part the dual POV switches back and forth between the two girls, but every once in a while you get one that isnât so clearly defined and the mystery deepens.
Thatâs not to say the two girls arenât fully developed and distinct characters. They each have their own personalities and their own ways of handling emotion that makes them unique from each other. Itâs the way in which the author pulled these two girls together through their shared experiences that was so authentic and moving.
The use of Emily Dickinsonâs poetry as a plot device was genius! From using lines of her work as chapter titles to the use of it as a lesson plan in the main characterâs classroom, it just mirrored the experiences of Elizabeth and Emily so perfectly. By having these girls connect so deeply to Dickinsonâs poetry, allowed me as a reader to connect even deeper to their experiences.
When Reason Breaks is beautiful, suspenseful and thought-provoking. It was an emotional rollercoaster that made me feel a lot of things and by the end of the book I was in tears. If youâre a fan of Gayle Formanâs books If I Stay or I Was Here, then this debut novel by Cindy L. Rodriguez would be a perfect choice for you.
allisonsroses's review
2.0
2019- I donât remember reading this whatsoever so I changed the rating to 2 stars
booksandbark's review
4.0
Source: ARC from the publisher :D
Hello blogglings! I know I havenât been present in the blogosphere for the past couple weeks, and I PROMISE it is for good reason! But now that I have a little more time, I am back. I was recently out with the flu and couldnât even bring myself to check Goodreads because the light hurt my eyes so much (quelle horreur!), but when I finally did check it I realized that When Reason Breaks came out on February 10th!
Because it is FABULOUS in this book. I think a lot of people push for âdiversityâ in YA, because it is so influential over the lives of young people⌠but sometimes that only focuses on having black or Asian or LGBTQ+ characters. I found WRB quite different from the traditional âdiverse bookâ because it featured a group that is often overlooked in English literature: people of Mexican descent. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. Emilyâs father is the MAYOR. Emily gets good grades. I think that there are a lot of stereotypes about Hispanics, at least in the area in which I live. There are lots of stereotypes along the vein of âMexicans arenât good at schoolâ and âAll Hispanics are gang members,â but WRB goes to show that that is simply not true. Emily is arguably the character with the best grades in the entirety of this novel. Which is great. It sends a hugely empowering message to young Hispanic girls in America: they can do it. Diversity doesnât stop there, either. Emilyâs boyfriendâs parents are gay, meaning that he has two dads. And whatâs fantastic is that Emily doesnât treat them any differently than she would treat her boyfriendâs parents if they were straight. The two dads were not portrayed as âoverly feminine,â as many gay men in media are, but were just presented as people, without their orientation defining them.
While both of the girls had different, relatable traits, I overall liked Elizabeth better than Emily simply because I feel she was more fleshed-out. Her psychology and reasoning behind why she would do something or the other was so much clearer. Plus, she liked Abby from NCIS. And Caf-Pow. I appreciate this greatly.
While in some aspects this is a very empowering book, in other aspects, it is not. Kevin, Emilyâs boyfriend, is not very well characterized at all. I felt that he was really flat and two-dimensional, and Emily risking her fatherâs âterrifying wrathâ to be with him was simply not realistic. Abby⌠was just not a great friend. A good friend is supposed to be there for you, point you in the right direction when you go astray, and help you through your issuesânot make you terrified and depressed like Abby makes Emily. Throughout the book, Abby just pushes Emily to date Kevin against her fatherâs wishes, drink, go to parties, and basically do anything and everything her father forbids. She wants to dictate Emilyâs life so that theyâre practically the same person, which would've been okay if that was resolved. What frustrated me was that even though Emily realized this and acknowledged it openly, she just states that she hopes they can be really good friends again. Like, really?
I loved Ms. Diaz. She had her own character growth, and although she was a side character, she was still important in her own right. For example, although we see much of the book from Emilyâs and Elizabethâs perspectives, we get to see the âmysteryâ of who will attempt suicide through Ms. Diazâs eyes. Ms. Diaz, Emily, and Elizabeth each represented a separate part of Emily Dickinson. In fact, every single character in the book corresponded to a significant part of Dickinsonâs life, and her poetry is used a lot. (Thereâs a really cool authorâs note at the back of the book which explains who represents what.)
Okay, well, Iâll admit itâyou have a 50/50 chance of guessing whoâs going to commit suicide before you even read the first page. BUT STILL. It sort of took some of the thrill out of the book, and the idea behind it. I still liked how the suicidal thoughts were treated as a process, or a monster: ED (whichever one committed the suicide) had a slowly-developing thought process that kept going from bad to worse. And we never really get to see her get over that at all, which, from what Iâve heard from those who are suicidal, is a pretty accurate depiction.
Overall, I think this is a great diverse book, and it has some really nice themes. I liked the incorporation of Emily Dickinson's poetry, but some of the writing style got to me, as a lot of it was told and not shown, and I didn't like how Emily treats her unhealthy relationships in the book. I really loved Elizabeth's characterization throughout the book, but I felt that Emily and her boyfriend Kevin were both a little two-dimensional.
Read more awesome book reviews at Books and Bark
Hello blogglings! I know I havenât been present in the blogosphere for the past couple weeks, and I PROMISE it is for good reason! But now that I have a little more time, I am back. I was recently out with the flu and couldnât even bring myself to check Goodreads because the light hurt my eyes so much (quelle horreur!), but when I finally did check it I realized that When Reason Breaks came out on February 10th!
HAS ANYONE TALKED ABOUT DIVERSITY LATELY??
Because it is FABULOUS in this book. I think a lot of people push for âdiversityâ in YA, because it is so influential over the lives of young people⌠but sometimes that only focuses on having black or Asian or LGBTQ+ characters. I found WRB quite different from the traditional âdiverse bookâ because it featured a group that is often overlooked in English literature: people of Mexican descent. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. Emilyâs father is the MAYOR. Emily gets good grades. I think that there are a lot of stereotypes about Hispanics, at least in the area in which I live. There are lots of stereotypes along the vein of âMexicans arenât good at schoolâ and âAll Hispanics are gang members,â but WRB goes to show that that is simply not true. Emily is arguably the character with the best grades in the entirety of this novel. Which is great. It sends a hugely empowering message to young Hispanic girls in America: they can do it. Diversity doesnât stop there, either. Emilyâs boyfriendâs parents are gay, meaning that he has two dads. And whatâs fantastic is that Emily doesnât treat them any differently than she would treat her boyfriendâs parents if they were straight. The two dads were not portrayed as âoverly feminine,â as many gay men in media are, but were just presented as people, without their orientation defining them.
Overall, I think I connected with Elizabeth better than Emily.
While both of the girls had different, relatable traits, I overall liked Elizabeth better than Emily simply because I feel she was more fleshed-out. Her psychology and reasoning behind why she would do something or the other was so much clearer. Plus, she liked Abby from NCIS. And Caf-Pow. I appreciate this greatly.
All of that being said, I really didnât like Emilyâs relationship with her boyfriend and friends.
While in some aspects this is a very empowering book, in other aspects, it is not. Kevin, Emilyâs boyfriend, is not very well characterized at all. I felt that he was really flat and two-dimensional, and Emily risking her fatherâs âterrifying wrathâ to be with him was simply not realistic. Abby⌠was just not a great friend. A good friend is supposed to be there for you, point you in the right direction when you go astray, and help you through your issuesânot make you terrified and depressed like Abby makes Emily. Throughout the book, Abby just pushes Emily to date Kevin against her fatherâs wishes, drink, go to parties, and basically do anything and everything her father forbids. She wants to dictate Emilyâs life so that theyâre practically the same person, which would've been okay if that was resolved. What frustrated me was that even though Emily realized this and acknowledged it openly, she just states that she hopes they can be really good friends again. Like, really?
The teacher.
I loved Ms. Diaz. She had her own character growth, and although she was a side character, she was still important in her own right. For example, although we see much of the book from Emilyâs and Elizabethâs perspectives, we get to see the âmysteryâ of who will attempt suicide through Ms. Diazâs eyes. Ms. Diaz, Emily, and Elizabeth each represented a separate part of Emily Dickinson. In fact, every single character in the book corresponded to a significant part of Dickinsonâs life, and her poetry is used a lot. (Thereâs a really cool authorâs note at the back of the book which explains who represents what.)
Also⌠I guessed the ending.
Okay, well, Iâll admit itâyou have a 50/50 chance of guessing whoâs going to commit suicide before you even read the first page. BUT STILL. It sort of took some of the thrill out of the book, and the idea behind it. I still liked how the suicidal thoughts were treated as a process, or a monster: ED (whichever one committed the suicide) had a slowly-developing thought process that kept going from bad to worse. And we never really get to see her get over that at all, which, from what Iâve heard from those who are suicidal, is a pretty accurate depiction.
Overall, I think this is a great diverse book, and it has some really nice themes. I liked the incorporation of Emily Dickinson's poetry, but some of the writing style got to me, as a lot of it was told and not shown, and I didn't like how Emily treats her unhealthy relationships in the book. I really loved Elizabeth's characterization throughout the book, but I felt that Emily and her boyfriend Kevin were both a little two-dimensional.
3.5/5 Wagging Tails
Read more awesome book reviews at Books and Bark
islandgeekgirl's review
3.0
Elizabeth Davis has an attitude problem. She has a lot of anger inside her that she must learn to control before it breaks her. Emily Delgado is a sweet, obedient girl on the outside but inside her depression is consuming her. Both girls are in Ms Diaz's literature class and through the poetry of Emily Dickinson, they find themselves connecting to their assignments. Both are struggling and before the end of the school year, one will attempt suicide.
I knew going in to this book that there would be a suicide attempt. It was right there in the synopsis. I wasn't expecting the book to start with a nameless girl making that attempt and then flashing back to the beginning of the year. I really liked all the references to Emily Dickinson, her poetry, and the mentions of other literary greats. It was also nice to see actual assignments getting done while the characters were in school.
Both Emily and Elizabeth were characters I really liked. Elizabeth seemed angry at life and held everyone at arm's length. She did have friends and they seemed like really good friends who would listen to her if given the chance, but she just couldn't bring herself to do that. The relationship she had with her little sister was great and her sister was adorable. Emily was under a lot of pressure from her father being a public figure so she had to make sure not to cause trouble, which made it hard to be a regular teen. She hid her depression from everyone.
Their teacher, Ms Diaz, was also a great character. She was passionate about teaching and she really cared for her students. She could engage them and make them think.
I thought Elizabeth's anger and trust issues and Emily's depression were handled really well. It was done in a way so that I was pretty sure I knew which girl was in the beginning but there was lingering doubt in the back of my mind. It was painful to see how the two girls were isolating themselves from everyone but also hopeful when they started talking to each other.
I also thought the author did a great job showing how other people can react and not understand the depth of how hard it can be to live with a mental illness like depression. It's not something you can just snap out of and what can seem like 'no big deal' to most people is actually a huge deal to them.
One thing that did take me out of the story a little bit was that there was at times, some of the characters would say something in Spanish. I don't know Spanish and it was hit or miss if I could decipher what they were saying without looking it up.
Overall, I thought the subject matter was handled sensitively and that the poetry connection was used very well. The book definitely evoked some strong emotions while reading: anger and sadness being the main two.
I knew going in to this book that there would be a suicide attempt. It was right there in the synopsis. I wasn't expecting the book to start with a nameless girl making that attempt and then flashing back to the beginning of the year. I really liked all the references to Emily Dickinson, her poetry, and the mentions of other literary greats. It was also nice to see actual assignments getting done while the characters were in school.
Both Emily and Elizabeth were characters I really liked. Elizabeth seemed angry at life and held everyone at arm's length. She did have friends and they seemed like really good friends who would listen to her if given the chance, but she just couldn't bring herself to do that. The relationship she had with her little sister was great and her sister was adorable. Emily was under a lot of pressure from her father being a public figure so she had to make sure not to cause trouble, which made it hard to be a regular teen. She hid her depression from everyone.
Their teacher, Ms Diaz, was also a great character. She was passionate about teaching and she really cared for her students. She could engage them and make them think.
I thought Elizabeth's anger and trust issues and Emily's depression were handled really well. It was done in a way so that I was pretty sure I knew which girl was in the beginning but there was lingering doubt in the back of my mind. It was painful to see how the two girls were isolating themselves from everyone but also hopeful when they started talking to each other.
I also thought the author did a great job showing how other people can react and not understand the depth of how hard it can be to live with a mental illness like depression. It's not something you can just snap out of and what can seem like 'no big deal' to most people is actually a huge deal to them.
One thing that did take me out of the story a little bit was that there was at times, some of the characters would say something in Spanish. I don't know Spanish and it was hit or miss if I could decipher what they were saying without looking it up.
Overall, I thought the subject matter was handled sensitively and that the poetry connection was used very well. The book definitely evoked some strong emotions while reading: anger and sadness being the main two.
heykellyjensen's review
This one is complicated, especially because no matter what I say, it'll be spoiler-y. So be forwarned.
Pros:
This story features two Latina main characters struggling with depression. The biggest pro is their depression manifests SO differently, and it's utterly refreshing to see that. We have Elizabeth, who wears depression out loud and who people assume has an issue because of that. Then we have Emily, whose depression eats away at her from the inside. It's quiet and insidious, and people would never expect she's wrestling with such miserable demons.. I thought how Rodriguez leads readers through perceptions of depression from those outside the experience -- and how she renders it in third person style -- was smart and did huge service to how we think about depression in other people.
Cons:
There's a suicide attempt. It makes narrative sense, but it's bothersome because it happens so frequently in depression books. Especially recently.
The bigger con for me is the way medication is depicted as being a series of side effects and thus not worth using. Where I can see having these thoughts, I can't help thinking about why she wouldn't ask her doctor or why her doctor wouldn't be forthright about her actual chances of experiencing those things would be. When she attempts suicide, she's hospitalized and she's medicated. Things don't change immediately, but the tune about getting treatment did change a bit. I don't think it undermined the misperceptions of medication and I wish it had.
This one is definitely worth reading, especially because Emily and Elizabeth's stories are compelling. It's refreshing to read such a diverse cast of characters in a way that's normalized because it IS normal. More, seeing people of color struggling with mental illness -- and as Rodriguez notes in (an almost too long and explain-y) her author note, Latinas struggle with depression at extremely high rates and yet, we don't hear these stories. Some of the characters could have been better developed, but they're not problematic nor cardboard, so it works just fine. The mystery was never a mystery to me, but for many readers, I think it will be. But I don't think the mystery element, something that could so easily have been a distraction from the bigger issue of Depression here, doesn't take away from that issue at all.
Pros:
This story features two Latina main characters struggling with depression. The biggest pro is their depression manifests SO differently, and it's utterly refreshing to see that. We have Elizabeth, who wears depression out loud and who people assume has an issue because of that. Then we have Emily, whose depression eats away at her from the inside. It's quiet and insidious, and people would never expect she's wrestling with such miserable demons.
Spoiler
Maybe the BEST moment is one that's smallest -- Emily misses her period, and it's a big deal because she and her friend think she's pregnant, but it's not that. It's a physical manifestation of what depression is doing to her. We NEVER see this in YA and it's one of those things that's not talked about, either, how depression that's so restricted internally can cause complete havoc on your biology.Cons:
There's a suicide attempt. It makes narrative sense, but it's bothersome because it happens so frequently in depression books. Especially recently.
The bigger con for me is the way medication is depicted as being a series of side effects and thus not worth using. Where I can see
Spoiler
EmilyThis one is definitely worth reading, especially because Emily and Elizabeth's stories are compelling. It's refreshing to read such a diverse cast of characters in a way that's normalized because it IS normal. More, seeing people of color struggling with mental illness -- and as Rodriguez notes in (an almost too long and explain-y) her author note, Latinas struggle with depression at extremely high rates and yet, we don't hear these stories. Some of the characters could have been better developed, but they're not problematic nor cardboard, so it works just fine. The mystery was never a mystery to me, but for many readers, I think it will be. But I don't think the mystery element, something that could so easily have been a distraction from the bigger issue of Depression here, doesn't take away from that issue at all.