Scan barcode
krichardson's review against another edition
2.5
I didn't notice that this book was written by the same author as [b:Late to the Party|54151868|Late to the Party|Kelly Quindlen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594529383l/54151868._SX50_.jpg|67772899] until I had already started it, but it makes sense because both center around a group of people who are just generally unlikeable. The conflict in this one was more interesting, but it also seems like the author was trying to be extra poetic with her descriptions and it turned out badly in my opinion. As an example: "she watches how [the trees] move their leaves like piano keys" what? I think Quindlen might just not be for me.
blf14's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
aspen_reads's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Grief, and Lesbophobia
creativepoet's review against another edition
4.0
I read a lot of LGBT queer books this past month but I haven't found one yet that tops the list than this book. I am not from the catholic community so some references went over my head. I can, however, understand when religion is the forefront of your day to day life. The pure anguish Hannah goes through because she thinks she "isnt normal" according to her community, her religion, her parents, friends is soo gut wrenching. The whole story is about acceptance for who you are just the way you are. At the end of the day, are you honest with yourself? your friends? your family? your faith, belief, your God? How do you navigate the journey when you are dealing with acceptance of yourself and acceptance from the person you long to be with? Each of these questions are beautifully explored in this book.
One of my most favorite characters is Ms.Carpenter. She has some of the lovely quotes in the book.
"We have to take ownership for our words. Words are powerful. They can be devastating. If your words carry hate--if they shame others, if they make them doubt that they are loved--Hannah, you don't want to own words like that."
"And sometimes, when a party makes you feel especially liberated, you'll start acting from your deepest nature. The part of you thats still an invincible little kid - that does whatever you want to do, that takes the world as if its all yours. Its a return to your most basic nature, before you knew the rules. So you find yourself acting with either earliest innocence or earliest evil. And sometimes its hard. to tell them apart from each other. And that is what scares adults".
One reason I love YA content is the journey of self discovery. The idiotic mistakes characters make which they rightfully think is the best decision they ever made. It makes it so human, no character is ever perfect. The fact that they can make these mistakes, learn from them, discover themselves and have a whole life ahead of them makes it a fulfilling read for me. The second time read was still oh so satisfying!
One of my most favorite characters is Ms.Carpenter. She has some of the lovely quotes in the book.
"We have to take ownership for our words. Words are powerful. They can be devastating. If your words carry hate--if they shame others, if they make them doubt that they are loved--Hannah, you don't want to own words like that."
"And sometimes, when a party makes you feel especially liberated, you'll start acting from your deepest nature. The part of you thats still an invincible little kid - that does whatever you want to do, that takes the world as if its all yours. Its a return to your most basic nature, before you knew the rules. So you find yourself acting with either earliest innocence or earliest evil. And sometimes its hard. to tell them apart from each other. And that is what scares adults".
One reason I love YA content is the journey of self discovery. The idiotic mistakes characters make which they rightfully think is the best decision they ever made. It makes it so human, no character is ever perfect. The fact that they can make these mistakes, learn from them, discover themselves and have a whole life ahead of them makes it a fulfilling read for me. The second time read was still oh so satisfying!
bie's review against another edition
1.0
update: 1 star and thats because im generous
my friend was reading this and we got to discuss it, which made me remember even more things i dislike about the book. the writing is mediocre at best and, you'd think there's character development, but in reality, the author keeps changing their personalities to fit a certain narrative.
also adding a tigger warning for attempted hate crime because i wasn't sure at first if i should call it that or if i was exaggerating in my mind, but i got confirmation that's what it is.
—
initial review
i wont give it a rating for now because im very conflicted. this review contains spoilers but im not going to mark them because. because.
on one hand, i love some of these characters. i love hannah and joanie and luke and wally so much it almost hurts sometimes. but at the same time i hate clay and baker just as much. but not always, not at the beginning and not at the end. just during the everything in between, but that applies to this entire book.
the beginning was so cute that, even if i read some negative reviews, i still thought i will love the book. the ending was so sweet, it put a big smile on my face. but the middle was horrible. the author said she wanted to write a happy ending because all the wlw books she read had sad ending, and i get that. as someone who read far from you before starting this, i get it. but was the middle worth it?
throughout the book hannah keeps wondering if all the pain - and it's a lot of it - is worth it. i kept wondering that too. she suffered so much because of someone who was supposed to make her feel better, to make her feel safe. i understand baker's fear better than i would like, but that is literally no excuse, and she admits it too. the things she put hannah through, the pain... i might not read many books, but i've never seen a love interest that is so selfish... so so selfish. at first she reminded me of mina from far from you, but god. mina was a good person outside of whatever she was doing with sophie. then she reminded me of sebastian from autoboyography cause they deal with kind of the same thing, but again. sebastian never hurt tanner like that.
i'm not going to pretend hannah is perfect even though she is the love of my life, but i cannot for the sake of me wrap my head around the fact that she is the one who apologized the most in this book. she is the one who was hurt the most and still the one who tried to fix everything, with everyone. she deserves so much better than baker. maybe my opinion would be different if the book was from baker's pov. but guess what? it's not. so while i do understand her struggles and i'm not trying to imply she didn't get hurt, i also can't fully empathize with her, either.
so to answer my own question from before, no. the middle wasn't worth it. i know it most definitely wasn't the point of this book, but at times it even made me feel ashamed of myself and who i like. now, imagine how hannah must've felt. i don't usually cry while reading, but if i do it's either because of sadness or happiness. this time it was out of frustration. this time i cried for hannah, knowing how her story will end and how much more she deserves.
i'll end this - before i get mad again - by saying that it's on me, at the end of the day. i should've listened to my gut when it told me i won't like this, at the beginning. i should've listened to my own joke when i thought "a ship called bakerhannah is destined to suck". because i was right.
also clay sucks and a 5 minute heart to heart won't change my opinion, sorry.
trigger warnings: homophobia (especially internalized), religion (catholicism), vomiting, underage drinking, forced outing (kind of), divorce mention, attempted hate crime.
my friend was reading this and we got to discuss it, which made me remember even more things i dislike about the book. the writing is mediocre at best and, you'd think there's character development, but in reality, the author keeps changing their personalities to fit a certain narrative.
also adding a tigger warning for attempted hate crime because i wasn't sure at first if i should call it that or if i was exaggerating in my mind, but i got confirmation that's what it is.
—
initial review
i wont give it a rating for now because im very conflicted. this review contains spoilers but im not going to mark them because. because.
on one hand, i love some of these characters. i love hannah and joanie and luke and wally so much it almost hurts sometimes. but at the same time i hate clay and baker just as much. but not always, not at the beginning and not at the end. just during the everything in between, but that applies to this entire book.
the beginning was so cute that, even if i read some negative reviews, i still thought i will love the book. the ending was so sweet, it put a big smile on my face. but the middle was horrible. the author said she wanted to write a happy ending because all the wlw books she read had sad ending, and i get that. as someone who read far from you before starting this, i get it. but was the middle worth it?
throughout the book hannah keeps wondering if all the pain - and it's a lot of it - is worth it. i kept wondering that too. she suffered so much because of someone who was supposed to make her feel better, to make her feel safe. i understand baker's fear better than i would like, but that is literally no excuse, and she admits it too. the things she put hannah through, the pain... i might not read many books, but i've never seen a love interest that is so selfish... so so selfish. at first she reminded me of mina from far from you, but god. mina was a good person outside of whatever she was doing with sophie. then she reminded me of sebastian from autoboyography cause they deal with kind of the same thing, but again. sebastian never hurt tanner like that.
i'm not going to pretend hannah is perfect even though she is the love of my life, but i cannot for the sake of me wrap my head around the fact that she is the one who apologized the most in this book. she is the one who was hurt the most and still the one who tried to fix everything, with everyone. she deserves so much better than baker. maybe my opinion would be different if the book was from baker's pov. but guess what? it's not. so while i do understand her struggles and i'm not trying to imply she didn't get hurt, i also can't fully empathize with her, either.
so to answer my own question from before, no. the middle wasn't worth it. i know it most definitely wasn't the point of this book, but at times it even made me feel ashamed of myself and who i like. now, imagine how hannah must've felt. i don't usually cry while reading, but if i do it's either because of sadness or happiness. this time it was out of frustration. this time i cried for hannah, knowing how her story will end and how much more she deserves.
i'll end this - before i get mad again - by saying that it's on me, at the end of the day. i should've listened to my gut when it told me i won't like this, at the beginning. i should've listened to my own joke when i thought "a ship called bakerhannah is destined to suck". because i was right.
also clay sucks and a 5 minute heart to heart won't change my opinion, sorry.
trigger warnings: homophobia (especially internalized), religion (catholicism), vomiting, underage drinking, forced outing (kind of), divorce mention, attempted hate crime.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, and Vomit
Moderate: Outing
kittynovaaaa's review against another edition
4.0
4.7
slayed. literally traumatizing but slayed. i knew the first two chapters being normal was a bad sign
slayed. literally traumatizing but slayed. i knew the first two chapters being normal was a bad sign
pauljulian's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
emceeee's review against another edition
4.0
After reading She Drives Me Crazy, I was expecting another lighthearted romcom—and definitely wrong about that. Her Name in the Sky is what Christine by Lucy Dacus would be in book form, heartstring-pulling and gutwrenching at the same time. A beautiful read, but absolutely difficult to get through at points. Quindlen is definitely a star among contemporary YA authors.
hannahbrinckley's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
giannarodriguez's review against another edition
4.5
this book made me feel soo much. the religious imagery and the way religion is portrayed adds so much to the book, and the characters all felt so real to me. i understand hannah and baker on a personal level lol being in love with ur best friend is that dramatic 🙏🙏 anyway loved this book, it had some really good quotes as well.