wildelwrcase's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
megnichols's review against another edition
3.0
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be”
I had to read this for university, so it obviously isn’t my personally taste but i enjoyed it more than i thought i would when i read a summary. I got stuck on the first 40-70 pages for days and just couldn’t seem to get out of the rut but managed to get from 70- finish within a night. Hal and Barry have an interesting dynamic, not dissimilar to Oliver and James from If We We’re Villains. Hal’s fascination with death and the way it is discussed in the same fashion as sex and love and “bosom pals” is intriguing and something i will probably look into!
I had to read this for university, so it obviously isn’t my personally taste but i enjoyed it more than i thought i would when i read a summary. I got stuck on the first 40-70 pages for days and just couldn’t seem to get out of the rut but managed to get from 70- finish within a night. Hal and Barry have an interesting dynamic, not dissimilar to Oliver and James from If We We’re Villains. Hal’s fascination with death and the way it is discussed in the same fashion as sex and love and “bosom pals” is intriguing and something i will probably look into!
hyeanason's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
unusualsoda's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
juliaviola's review against another edition
4.0
Littvet. Barnlitteratur läsning.
Jag hade aldrig hört talas om den här boken innan jag läste den, så jag hade inga förväntningar eller tankar kring den. Men så positivt överraskad jag blev! Jag tycker verkligen om den. Storyn, karaktärerna (dock frustrerande ibland hahah) och hur författaren/översättaren använder språket. Jag har skrivit ner flera citat i min mobil!
Jag är också glatt överraskad av hur pass bra skildring av homosexuell kärlek/relation författaren har lyckats med. Inte en massa stereotyper eller ”tropes” som ofta finns i den här typen av böcker, utan betydligt mer utvecklad, speciellt för en bok skriven på 80-talet.
Jag hade aldrig hört talas om den här boken innan jag läste den, så jag hade inga förväntningar eller tankar kring den. Men så positivt överraskad jag blev! Jag tycker verkligen om den. Storyn, karaktärerna (dock frustrerande ibland hahah) och hur författaren/översättaren använder språket. Jag har skrivit ner flera citat i min mobil!
Jag är också glatt överraskad av hur pass bra skildring av homosexuell kärlek/relation författaren har lyckats med. Inte en massa stereotyper eller ”tropes” som ofta finns i den här typen av böcker, utan betydligt mer utvecklad, speciellt för en bok skriven på 80-talet.
nicktomjoe's review against another edition
4.0
In telling this tragic love story of Hal and Barry, Aidan Chambers creates a set of documents - newspaper cuttings, social services reports and sixteen year old Hal’s anguished diary - and a very strange novella - for the reader to negotiate. The result is feverish, painful and amazing. Barry’s sudden Leader-of-the-Pack death - not a spoiler, but key to the plot from the start- is the main point at which Hal is forced to confront some very adult ideas about desire, love and possession. Hal manages it very badly, and his life disintegrates, caught between his parents’ misunderstandings and hostility and the mirror on his emotions he confronts in Kari, the ambivalent third member of Hal and Barry’s brief time together.
A moving story in a number of different registers, Chambers has the voices just right: the cool, puzzled court reports, the frenetic and overwrought diaries with their ramblings and their just-short-of-explicit sexuality. Not an easy read, but one in which Chambers has control of a powerful, emotional plot in which surviving bereavement is shown as a raw and difficult process.
A moving story in a number of different registers, Chambers has the voices just right: the cool, puzzled court reports, the frenetic and overwrought diaries with their ramblings and their just-short-of-explicit sexuality. Not an easy read, but one in which Chambers has control of a powerful, emotional plot in which surviving bereavement is shown as a raw and difficult process.
culbs1138's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
alan_asc's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
andybar1ow's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75