alouette's review
emotional
hopeful
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
4.25
can’t quite process this book enough for a proper review! but i will say that i liked a lot about this book, including the unique writing. i just had some problems with the pacing as a whole, and some of the characters’ development. now, here are my favourite quotes from it:
“it’s confusing- how your heart holds your love and your hurt in the same chamber.”
“it’s confusing- how your heart holds your love and your hurt in the same chamber.”
“if you wanna make poor choices, do it in your own name. not theirs. don’t dishonour them.”
“but aren’t we all dying slowly, painfully? why should the earth be exempt? but i don’t say these things. ask these questions. because they’re not real. they’re just by-products of heartache and regret, anger and disappointment. because i believe in her and her dreams, maybe, probably, even more than my own. because at least she dares to dream, and who was i to punch holes in them?”
“when you leave someone, even if you see the error of your ways, even if you apologize profusely, it doesn’t matter. they don’t owe you forgiveness. they don’t have to take you back.”
“i want to make up for lost time... prove i’m a good person, a better person than i would appear to be, because look, here i am doing something brave, taking a chance, keeping it real, doing the thing. but maybe i don’t get to throw up on the side of this road and feel better, light. maybe keeping this trash inside is the price for my mistakes.”
“and then she, like everyone before her, is gone. because, sooner than later, everyone leaves this house.”
“maybe the lesson from all of this is, sometimes what we see as broken, isn’t... you’re only helpful to someone if what you do actually helps.”
“because as it turns out, we do not have all the time in the world. we only get a finite amount. live each day like it’s your last four hours.”
“it’s hard to let go, even when you know it’s coming.”
“you can die and still live on. you can be alive but be consumed by death. the difference between living and being alive is: everything.”
“this is what it feels like to find something you’ve lost- happiness.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Death
effy's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was one hell of a book. I went into it with no clue what it was about which just made it all the more impactful.
Reynolds has managed to create a book that is simultaneously one of the most beautiful and saddest books that I have ever read. I loved every minute of reading this book even if I had tears streaming down my face for at least 75% of this book.
This books is a razor-sharp exploration of grief as well as focusing on living, truly living and nods to last moments.
The numbering of the chapters in reverse was so clever as we got a countdown but somehow you also manage to forget that is what's happening.
This book contained a lot of surprises considering it seemed to have a pretty clear direction.
Reynolds has managed to create a book that is simultaneously one of the most beautiful and saddest books that I have ever read. I loved every minute of reading this book even if I had tears streaming down my face for at least 75% of this book.
This books is a razor-sharp exploration of grief as well as focusing on living, truly living and nods to last moments.
The numbering of the chapters in reverse was so clever as we got a countdown but somehow you also manage to forget that is what's happening.
This book contained a lot of surprises considering it seemed to have a pretty clear direction.
Spoiler
It was clear from very early in this book that we wouldn't get a traditionally happy ending but I still really hoped that would be the case. Damn if I didn't want Mr Oklahoma to sweep in saying he had found a way to keep Q alive!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Grief, and Terminal illness
estherhfung's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Cancer, Medical content, and Terminal illness
amandalynnnb's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Early Departures is a 2020 release that I didn’t hear about until later in the year. If I’d heard about it earlier, it definitely would have been one of my most anticipated releases. I loved Reynolds’ debut, Opposite of Always. So, I hoped that Early Departures would delight and destroy me as much as that book did. I was not wrong. Reynolds manages to make me fall in love with the characters, to become so invested in them, and then kill them. But this is a contemporary novel with a science fiction twist, so he brings them back to life. In this book, the story follows Jamal. Jamal has dealt with some hardships in his life. His parents died and he lives with his older sister (who is very pregnant). He has a girlfriend, Autumn, who is one of my favorite characters in the book (alongside Jamal’s sister.) We meet Q very early on in the book. But we slowly learn exactly what happened that ended Jamal and Q’s friendship. We also get tidbits from Jamal and Q’s old YouTube videos. I liked this because it gave us a bit of insight into how their friendship was before their falling out.
Jamal is kind of a little shit. But in a sort of understandable way. I think I liked Autumn so much because she never failed to call Jamal out when he was being a shit. Jamal is still dealing with the death of both his parents and he doesn’t really deal with it very well. He blames Q for their death, but never communicates that. He’s a young man that doesn’t know how to share his feeling. He’s also definitely a bit selfish. But he had great character growth. He realized that his actions were wrong and forgiveness helps everyone. I didn’t always like him, but I was always invested in his story.
I listened to the audiobook and it was fantastically narrated. The narrators (I think there were two) really brought this story to life and I highly recommend the audio for anyone that wants to read this book. This was a heartbreaking story about love, friendship, and loss. It’s about forgiveness and grief and it’s beautifully written. I will say that I definitely cried quite a few times while listening to this story, so prepare yourself for this one. It was one of my favorite reads of 2020.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness
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