kaylila's review against another edition
5.0
Great quick read. Just a warning: It is sad, but also amazing! I love the quotes and view points in this book. It opened my eyes to the importance of everyone and everything. With out 0.00000000001 we would have the number 1. It is just an amazing concept of reality as well as a great author. This is a feel good, feel sad book.
abigailbat's review against another edition
4.0
Brianna's starting her senior year of high school. She's taking AP calculus and her dad really wants her to apply to MIT. Brianna thinks she could probably get in - math has always made sense to her in a way that the real world often does not. But even though her entire class is abuzz with college talk, Brianna's not sure she wants to apply. Brianna has cystic fibrosis. She's 18 years old. She knows that she probably will not live to see her college graduation. Forever Changes is about a girl coming to terms with not only her own mortality but her own infinity.
I loved this book! One of my favorite things is Brianna's great relationship with her dad. I would recommend it to fans of Before I Die by Jenny Downham.
Read more on my blog:
http://abbylibrarian.blogspot.com/2008/11/book-review-forever-changes.html
I loved this book! One of my favorite things is Brianna's great relationship with her dad. I would recommend it to fans of Before I Die by Jenny Downham.
Read more on my blog:
http://abbylibrarian.blogspot.com/2008/11/book-review-forever-changes.html
jessalynn_librarian's review against another edition
4.0
This sat on my shelf for ages because I suspected it would be a tough read. A teen with cystic fibrosis? But I was pleasantly surprised, because rather than taking advantage of every opportunity to wring a tear from his readers' eyes, Halpin treats the majority of the book as a smart, thoughtful YA story. Sure, Brianna spends time thinking about her own mortality and her illness, her role as a mentor to a younger girl with CF, and her own mentor who recently died - but it's also got all those classic high school moments, which serve to emphasize how Brianna's life is different without turning the whole thing into a pity party. Then there's her love of math, and the fascinating conversations she gets into with her math teacher - they don't require remembering anything you learned in high school, and my eyes didn't glaze over from the geekdom, but the story doesn't shy away from the fact that Bri is looking forward to going to MIT and being surrounded by math nerds. And this is really an important part of the story, not just a fact about Bri to make her seem unique. AND it didn't make me cry until right at the end, which I appreciated.
It's a quick, easy read without sacrificing any thoughtfulness - recommended to teens who like realistic stories.
One mild spoiler - I couldn't help but wonder what the story would've been like if it cut off before her death, leaving the reader knowing that she'll die before too long, but without actually writing the death scene. I don't think it would've made the story any less sad, and I'm not saying that a death scene is easy to write, but it would be refreshing to read an illness story that doesn't actually end with the death (or maybe I've just read too many books like this). Regardless, I think it's a great example of the genre.
It's a quick, easy read without sacrificing any thoughtfulness - recommended to teens who like realistic stories.
One mild spoiler - I couldn't help but wonder what the story would've been like if it cut off before her death, leaving the reader knowing that she'll die before too long, but without actually writing the death scene. I don't think it would've made the story any less sad, and I'm not saying that a death scene is easy to write, but it would be refreshing to read an illness story that doesn't actually end with the death (or maybe I've just read too many books like this). Regardless, I think it's a great example of the genre.
corncobwebs's review against another edition
Brianna Pelletier is gearing up to start her senior year of high school, but the customary feelings of excitement and hope are gone. Brianna is living with cystic fibrosis, and she senses she won’t last much longer. Why should she get into the drama of high school when she probably won’t even be around in a year’s time? Still, she puts up a good front, mostly for the sake of her doting single father. There are also things that she still enjoys - she’s a math genius, and she comes to love her AP calculus class with an eccentric ex-hippie named Mr. Eccles. And she has her best friends, Melissa and Stephanie, who understand how to be around Bri without coddling or pitying her. So, for the most part, Bri is able to do normal teenage things - homework, parties, and college applications.
The life expectancy for CF patients isn’t great, so even while she’s busy being a relatively normal teenage, Bri knows that she’s going to die sooner rather than later. This inspires a lot of introspection on Bri’s part, mostly about the value and meaning of a relatively short life. She shares some of her thoughts with Mr. Eccles (who is facing heart failure, thus knows what Bri is going through) and he’s able to give her some math-tinged words of comfort. Here’s my favorite:
“So, you see, it’s not what it can do that makes math beautiful. Its existence isn’t justified by the 747s or any of the big mechanical things that it makes possible. Its existence is something to be celebrated because it is a beautiful, wonderful, incredibly complicated marvel.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes. And so, Ms. Pelletier, are you.”
As an overachiever who feels like I have to do something great in order for my life to matter, I found a lot of comfort in this statement. Mr. Eccles is telling Bri that it’s enough that she IS - her existence is valuable and meaningful in and of itself. You don’t have to write a novel or find a cure for cancer (although it’s awesome if you do) - just being alive and sharing kindness with other people is enough.
As the novel progresses, Bri is steadily deteriorating, although it’s subtle - which is why it’s kind of a surprise when she ends up in the hospital, dying. She was at a keg party the night before, for Pete’s sake! But with all the wisdom she’s acquired - through her own ruminations and through her conversations with Mr. Eccles - she feels ready to die. She’s tired of the constant battle to breathe, and now she understands that it was enough that she existed. So she lets go.
Personally, I thought that Halpin didn't show her struggling enough before she died. She really seemed like a normal teenager for the most part. If she had really been struggling with the CF, her willingness to die would make more sense. But, like I said, she had just been at a party. She’d been accepting at MIT and was excited about attending. She went whale-watching with her best friends. It’s not like she was sitting at home, gasping for air - which WOULD make death seem like a relief.
Overall, I really appreciated the novel’s message of “You’re enough as you are” and I think it would be a great read-alike for anyone who loved “The Fault in Our Stars.”
mckinlay's review against another edition
3.0
apparently when i checked this out from the library i was thinking: hey, i haven't had a good cry in a while! i'm gonna check out a book about a girl with cystic fibrosis. that should do it! i lost a friend to CF a few years back so i cried a lot throughout the book but mostly at the end. my main issue with this book is the author never explains what cystic fibrosis IS. i know what it is, obviously, but i'm guessing his core audience doesn't. so that's why i only gave it 3 stars.
rachelcoconut's review against another edition
4.0
I loved Brendan Halpin's books and blog so I had to read this one. I was surprised at the cover though- a scantily clad girl on the beach? It is a book about a math genius with CF trying to decide if she should apply to MIT despite the fact that she will probably die before she gets there.
Anyway, I normally don't go in for tragic illness stories but I really appreciated how he depicted her as a normal girl who just happened to have a chronic illness not as a selfless saint like so many "sick girl" novels tend to depict the main character. Remember all those overblown sad sack '80s young adult novels where the character dies dramatically at the end? This is much better but still a bit of a downer. I do think the main character not wanting to fight her illness any more was very realistic.
Anyway, I normally don't go in for tragic illness stories but I really appreciated how he depicted her as a normal girl who just happened to have a chronic illness not as a selfless saint like so many "sick girl" novels tend to depict the main character. Remember all those overblown sad sack '80s young adult novels where the character dies dramatically at the end? This is much better but still a bit of a downer. I do think the main character not wanting to fight her illness any more was very realistic.
prairiedances's review against another edition
2.0
Eh. A very high school, paint-by-numbers, chronic illness tale. I'd like to kidnap Adam though. Fun character.
library_brandy's review against another edition
3.0
Brianna is just about to start her senior year of high school: all regular classes, plus AP Calc. But despite being a math whiz, she's not really gung-ho about applying to colleges, because she's not sure if her cystic fibrosis will allow her to even live long enough to bother. She knows her time is limited, and so she spends that time with her friends, her family, and yes, with calculus--people and ideas that make her happy. Brianna is more or less a regular teenager who goes to parties, helps her friends through boyfriend troubles and parents' divorces, and just happens to have a terminal illness. Her mortality is never far from her mind, but CF isn't her defining characteristic. She bonds with her calculus teacher (who is himself staring an early death in the face due to heart disease) as they discuss life, living, and the importance of infinitely small numbers--and people.
The writing is a little clunky in places, though: the line "Even the fact that guys were buzzing around Melissa like bees did to that honeysuckle bush near the beach in the summer didn't bother Brianna" was a particular delight to parse. On the whole, though, I liked this better than I'd expected to. It's not maudlin the way Lurlene McDaniel books are; Brianna is very relatable as a character. The novel does require some suspension of disbelief, particularly in that Brianna is not the only student with CF at her high school, but her friend Ashley has it, too. It is a tearjerker, of course, as we head toward the inevitable conclusion, but really this is about Brianna's relationships with the people around her.
The writing is a little clunky in places, though: the line "Even the fact that guys were buzzing around Melissa like bees did to that honeysuckle bush near the beach in the summer didn't bother Brianna" was a particular delight to parse. On the whole, though, I liked this better than I'd expected to. It's not maudlin the way Lurlene McDaniel books are; Brianna is very relatable as a character. The novel does require some suspension of disbelief, particularly in that Brianna is not the only student with CF at her high school, but her friend Ashley has it, too. It is a tearjerker, of course, as we head toward the inevitable conclusion, but really this is about Brianna's relationships with the people around her.
elianamargalit's review against another edition
Apparently this author missed the lesson in English class where they teach you that you should show instead of tell in your writing. This was a great idea for a story and definitely something I've never seen done before, but the writing was so tedious it was hard to get through the book.