personificar's review
4.0
Um livro sobre depressão e o que a vida de más escolhas pode causar. Amy Zhang fez uma obra literária muito completa em termos de detalhes, de enredo e das personagens. Uma das minhas coisas favoritas nos livros são personagens contraditórias em que se mostra a realidade do ser humano. Este livro mostra isso.
agustinap's review
3.0
I purchased this book a few years ago...I don't even know if I knew what it was about. Regardless, it was an enjoyable read. It reminded me a little of "Before I fall" by Lauren Oliver's novel.
offinherownmind's review against another edition
4.0
This book opened my eyes. Every action that I do has a reaction and it won't be positive.
mehsi's review
5.0
This was a book that hooked me from the first few pages, a book that I immediately bought after having only read like 10 pages. :) And the rest of the book is equally awesome and beautiful.
I really liked how the chapters were done, it was very creative, though I have to admit, also a bit confusing. I had my suspicions about who was talking, but it was only till the end that it was revealed. It was a nice touch (and original), but again confusing to let it be from her/him POV at times.
We have various characters who get a chance to speak. Kennie, Julia, Liz's mom, Liam. They all got their chance to speak and Amy Zhang really made us like them, made us understand them. I really like it when a book makes the side-characters as important as the main character.
Liz is not an easy main character. At the surface we see a girl who will do anything for popularity, she is an enormous bitch (to friends and family and everyone else), but deep down we see she isn't that shallow. That she is actually depressed, worried and doesn't know where she stands. She feels alone. At the first pages and also the first few times we heard about Liz, I didn't like her (and wanted to smack her), however, I grew to love her. In the end I was cheering for her, cheering for her to wake up, to live her life. To seek help when she needs it.
The book touches a lot of subjects, suicide, pregnancy, bullying, popularity and several other things. It was really interesting to see those subjects come together in one book.
Also, that ending, I just cried. It was sad, it was beautiful. So if you are planning to read this, bring tissues.
All in all, I would really recommend this book to everyone!
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I really liked how the chapters were done, it was very creative, though I have to admit, also a bit confusing. I had my suspicions about who was talking, but it was only till the end that it was revealed. It was a nice touch (and original), but again confusing to let it be from her/him POV at times.
We have various characters who get a chance to speak. Kennie, Julia, Liz's mom, Liam. They all got their chance to speak and Amy Zhang really made us like them, made us understand them. I really like it when a book makes the side-characters as important as the main character.
Liz is not an easy main character. At the surface we see a girl who will do anything for popularity, she is an enormous bitch (to friends and family and everyone else), but deep down we see she isn't that shallow. That she is actually depressed, worried and doesn't know where she stands. She feels alone. At the first pages and also the first few times we heard about Liz, I didn't like her (and wanted to smack her), however, I grew to love her. In the end I was cheering for her, cheering for her to wake up, to live her life. To seek help when she needs it.
The book touches a lot of subjects, suicide, pregnancy, bullying, popularity and several other things. It was really interesting to see those subjects come together in one book.
Also, that ending, I just cried. It was sad, it was beautiful. So if you are planning to read this, bring tissues.
All in all, I would really recommend this book to everyone!
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
courtneys__library's review against another edition
3.0
This was interesting. I have a hard time with this topic because I find it to be unrealistic. This book was definitely more realistic but I still had other problems with it. I can't stand books about the ~popular girl~. It's always cliched. And the narrator of this... Ugh. I jokingly guessed who it was early on and actually said "seriously?!" when it was confirmed at the end. This was generally enjoyable but I was very frustrated by many things.
alexandralh's review against another edition
4.0
First half of the book was pretty boring and I had a hard time understanding the storyline, but WEW good thing I don't give up on books until I reach the 50% mark!
burstnwithbooks's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
I’M STILL CRYING. And NO, I’m not exaggerating. There is ACTUAL SALT WATER happening over here. This book is addicting and captivating. The writing style is almost whimsical (due to the narrator, which was subtle but I kind of adored it). If you’ve ever been interested in the “morally grey” characters or books (or just life), THIS IS IT. I don’t know how to feel about ANY of these characters, ESPECIALLY Liz. I honestly can’t formulate proper words for my love of this book. I can’t wait to read more from this author. I can’t imagine what else she’ll come up with.
I’M STILL CRYING. And NO, I’m not exaggerating. There is ACTUAL SALT WATER happening over here. This book is addicting and captivating. The writing style is almost whimsical (due to the narrator, which was subtle but I kind of adored it). If you’ve ever been interested in the “morally grey” characters or books (or just life), THIS IS IT. I don’t know how to feel about ANY of these characters, ESPECIALLY Liz. I honestly can’t formulate proper words for my love of this book. I can’t wait to read more from this author. I can’t imagine what else she’ll come up with.
lindseymoore14's review against another edition
3.0
Possibly 2 1/2 stars.
I'm not really sure what to say about this book except that I wasn't thrilled with it. I found the narration to be problematic and the story itself to be a little cliched. It was still a decent read, but definitely not the best.
I'm not really sure what to say about this book except that I wasn't thrilled with it. I found the narration to be problematic and the story itself to be a little cliched. It was still a decent read, but definitely not the best.
sweddy65's review against another edition
2.0
I read the whole thing and didn't abandon it. It's an important subject, but I didn't connect with the prose, the organization, or the characters.
bookladysreviews's review against another edition
4.0
Reading Falling Into Place has been on my to-do list since I pre-ordered it four years ago! It's been sitting on my TBR shelves since then and it was part of a reading challenge for 2018! It's been a month since I read it and I seriously have no idea how I feel about it yet. So, this review will probably be a bit jumbled up and all over the place and I'd like to apologize in advance for it! I'm not going to talk about the plot because it's one of those books you just have to dive into without knowing much about its storyline.
I want to start with what stood out the most for me, as a reader! I absolutely loved the writing style of Falling Into Place! Some people couldn't really get used to it because it's very lyrical and full of metaphors but, that's what made me fall in love with it! It was beautiful, heartbreaking and full of all these conflicting emotions I had no idea what I was supposed to do with. They totally went against each other and I'll explain why in a bit! I found myself tearing up more than once and being frustrated by the majority of what was happening throughout the novel. Regardless, the writing style was my favorite thing about this book and I the way feelings were reflected in its sentences just blew my mind! The author managed to express so many feelings in such a short amount of pages!
Moving on to the main character! Liz is not a good person and it's made perfectly clear as soon as you start reading the book! She's an expert at destroying lives without second thought and has no positive qualities to redeem herself. The whole book, is told in past and present without any chronological order! Every single chapter is another reason why Liz Emerson is a terrible person and people either fear or hate her! She wasn't likable at all and even though I did feel sorry for her at times, I couldn't really sympathize with her or justify her atrocious behavior! She contradicted herself and was unlike any other heroine I've come across in Contemporary novels, which made this book even more fascinating and different than anything I've read in the past! You're supposed to hate her, there's no way around it! Her thoughts were so different from her actions and even though we got a glimpse of her regret, selfishness and cruelty won every single time! Until she realized that, there was no turning back and she ruined innocent peoples' lives without having a care in the world for the inevitable consequences that would undoubtedly follow her actions!
Through the flashbacks that the book consists of, we get to know the characters affected by Liz's cruelty and eventually, get to the point where things are supposed to come to an end for her. She's mean to everyone around her, including herself and the pieces of this complicated puzzle that makes up her life, slowly begins to build itself! The truth comes into focus throughout the book and we are witnesses to her traumatic childhood and pointless existence. Depression is frightening, even if you're someone like Liz and we are witnessed of how it slowly tore her apart and made her want to kill herself. She feels completely alone and believes that she has nothing to live for. Her best friends' lives are affected by her decisions and her boyfriend is anything but. Her mother is away all the time and doesn't really care about her well being and she's forced to ridicule the only boy she's ever had feelings for because of this stupid need to prove herself, in the most negative way possible!
My biggest issue with the novel and the thing I feel uncertain about, is the narrator. I'm not going to reveal his/her identity but, even though there were signs that pointed towards said identity, I was still shocked when it was confirmed! I really don't know what I'd expected but, I sometimes found the narration to be quite unreliable and felt like something was missing from it. Depth was there and the three dimensional nature of the characters is cannot be doubted since you went from hating them to feeling sorry for them to fuming in anger with their choices but still, the narration didn't sit well with me. I don't know if it was because I would've liked it to be a bit more descriptive but still as lyrical, which is a difficult combination to achieve! I felt like some questions were left unanswered but, I still have no idea whether the ending left a positive or a negative impression. I needed some closure that I certainly did not get which left the ending open and me disappointed because I was desperate to see at least a glimpse of the After!
I have no idea if Liz changed her ways after what happened or whether she ended up back to where she started but, one thing's for sure! Falling Into Place left quite an impression of me and it's a book that won't be easy to forget! I'm still curious and would die for some more chapters but, I cannot recommend it enough! There are a lot of people who condemn its writing style and characters but, I feel like we need more stories like Liz's in Contemporary Fiction! How often have you gotten to read a book all about someone's bad decisions that led to disaster? How often have you come across a book about the evil queen bee who ruins lives just so hers is not the only one that's been destroyed? Not many, right?! She's still as relatable as a mean girl can get and she had a lot to share with the world! Why not come up with characters or write about people who've had the same experiences? Food for thought that might turn into so much more some day!
I want to start with what stood out the most for me, as a reader! I absolutely loved the writing style of Falling Into Place! Some people couldn't really get used to it because it's very lyrical and full of metaphors but, that's what made me fall in love with it! It was beautiful, heartbreaking and full of all these conflicting emotions I had no idea what I was supposed to do with. They totally went against each other and I'll explain why in a bit! I found myself tearing up more than once and being frustrated by the majority of what was happening throughout the novel. Regardless, the writing style was my favorite thing about this book and I the way feelings were reflected in its sentences just blew my mind! The author managed to express so many feelings in such a short amount of pages!
Moving on to the main character! Liz is not a good person and it's made perfectly clear as soon as you start reading the book! She's an expert at destroying lives without second thought and has no positive qualities to redeem herself. The whole book, is told in past and present without any chronological order! Every single chapter is another reason why Liz Emerson is a terrible person and people either fear or hate her! She wasn't likable at all and even though I did feel sorry for her at times, I couldn't really sympathize with her or justify her atrocious behavior! She contradicted herself and was unlike any other heroine I've come across in Contemporary novels, which made this book even more fascinating and different than anything I've read in the past! You're supposed to hate her, there's no way around it! Her thoughts were so different from her actions and even though we got a glimpse of her regret, selfishness and cruelty won every single time! Until she realized that, there was no turning back and she ruined innocent peoples' lives without having a care in the world for the inevitable consequences that would undoubtedly follow her actions!
Through the flashbacks that the book consists of, we get to know the characters affected by Liz's cruelty and eventually, get to the point where things are supposed to come to an end for her. She's mean to everyone around her, including herself and the pieces of this complicated puzzle that makes up her life, slowly begins to build itself! The truth comes into focus throughout the book and we are witnesses to her traumatic childhood and pointless existence. Depression is frightening, even if you're someone like Liz and we are witnessed of how it slowly tore her apart and made her want to kill herself. She feels completely alone and believes that she has nothing to live for. Her best friends' lives are affected by her decisions and her boyfriend is anything but. Her mother is away all the time and doesn't really care about her well being and she's forced to ridicule the only boy she's ever had feelings for because of this stupid need to prove herself, in the most negative way possible!
My biggest issue with the novel and the thing I feel uncertain about, is the narrator. I'm not going to reveal his/her identity but, even though there were signs that pointed towards said identity, I was still shocked when it was confirmed! I really don't know what I'd expected but, I sometimes found the narration to be quite unreliable and felt like something was missing from it. Depth was there and the three dimensional nature of the characters is cannot be doubted since you went from hating them to feeling sorry for them to fuming in anger with their choices but still, the narration didn't sit well with me. I don't know if it was because I would've liked it to be a bit more descriptive but still as lyrical, which is a difficult combination to achieve! I felt like some questions were left unanswered but, I still have no idea whether the ending left a positive or a negative impression. I needed some closure that I certainly did not get which left the ending open and me disappointed because I was desperate to see at least a glimpse of the After!
I have no idea if Liz changed her ways after what happened or whether she ended up back to where she started but, one thing's for sure! Falling Into Place left quite an impression of me and it's a book that won't be easy to forget! I'm still curious and would die for some more chapters but, I cannot recommend it enough! There are a lot of people who condemn its writing style and characters but, I feel like we need more stories like Liz's in Contemporary Fiction! How often have you gotten to read a book all about someone's bad decisions that led to disaster? How often have you come across a book about the evil queen bee who ruins lives just so hers is not the only one that's been destroyed? Not many, right?! She's still as relatable as a mean girl can get and she had a lot to share with the world! Why not come up with characters or write about people who've had the same experiences? Food for thought that might turn into so much more some day!