Scan barcode
jainabee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Biphobia, Cursing, Kidnapping, Cultural appropriation, and Abandonment
Remarkably realistic and accurate portrayal of rape, dissociation, gaslighting, addiction, and moving through various stages of trauma. The challenging material is handled with great care and shows healthy, functional family and community responses to trauma._nem_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book went through a lot (definitely check the trigger warnings before you read it). It has an amazing found family feeling and the two main characters feeling safe to be their true self and reveal hobbies that they have without thinking they will be judged. It's about hopes and dreams and ambitions and discovering that you can be good at something or enjoy something if you just give it a go. I loved this book.
Graphic: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Cultural appropriation
ricardo_sb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Rape and Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Violence and Vomit
davidbythebay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
TW: parent death, grief, addiction, gambling, rape, sexual assault, gaslighting, bullying
Graphic: Addiction, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia and Vomit
ranjanireviewsreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The Music of What Happens is what I would recommend if you want the answer to that question. Bill Konigsberg uses witty, snappy language with hidden heartfelt moments to authentically portray the joy, misery, loneliness, and connection felt in the late teen years. Growing up gay, biracial, lonely; it's not something everyone can understand, much less wonder about.
Heartfelt, real, and incredibly beautiful; The Music of What Happens is a reflection of the teenage experience of coming of age, falling in love, and figuring out how to be your own person. A must read for the young adult contemporary reader.
Graphic: Addiction, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Rape
Minor: Body shaming, Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit, and Grief
sophiewho's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Rape and Gaslighting
Moderate: Addiction, Racism, and Vomit
Minor: Homophobia
rebecca_t's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
phew, I'm really disappointed in this book. I thought I was going to like it a lot but the opposite is the case. If it hadn't been so easy to read (writing style-wise, not content-wise) I would've stopped after the first 50 pages. I absolutely disliked the writing style. It wasn't necessarily bad, but every conversation made me cringe and didn't feel authentic at all. The relationship felt rushed and there were so many instances where Max and Jordan made certain comments or had thoughts about each other that gave the impression that Max and Jordan didn't even like each other.
On the topic of liking, I absolutely hated both Jordan's and Max's friends. Some people might be okay with their behavior but I think you should dump friends who don't listen to you, don’t take you seriously and who just generally make you feel like shit. Like seriously, the girls only befriended Jordan because they wanted to help him out himself, like they have any say in this as some random classmates and then only really wanted Jordan to be their stereotypical gay best friend. And then Betts, Max's friend, was just the worst straight, white and not even subtly racist guy ever. I get that the person who is subjected to racism has to decide if they're hurt by it or not, but I feel like it’s such a bad representation to not have him be actually confronted about his disgusting behavior.
Also, all the heavy topics discussed in this book felt like they were just thrown in there to make the story more dramatic. I do absolutely not want to take away from the importance of discussing things such as rape, addiction and racism, however from my point of view it was executed so so poorly. I felt like the author just wrote in the rape for the purpose of giving Max a difficult background too, as if Jordan's problems were enough. Obviously bad things in life don‘t come to you one by one, and sometimes you get hit by several ones at the same time, but this is a fictional story with only so much time to discuss the consequences and difficulties of such things, so if you're gonna mention these, do it properly.
In short: I would've skipped this book if I could go back in time. This is not some cute enemies-to-lovers story, it is annoying to read and discusses way to many heavy topics to do be able to do them justice.
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Gaslighting
Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
lavender_lake's review against another edition
- 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
2.25
I really liked the characters and enjoyed how openly they communicated (not every romance needs to be rooted in misunderstandings!). The darker topics, which I appreciate were included, were dealt with in a thorough and empathetic way.
Sadly, the pacing and overall style fell flat for me.
There were quite a lot of redundancies and scenes with no apparent point, which made it hard for me to get through the novel. I feel like the story could have been told in a more concise way and should have taken up no more than 200 pages.
Also: The many brand names throughout the novel bothered me. They were probably integrated to make the story feel more realistic, but to me, they felt more like pop-up-ads: distracting.
Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Death of parent