caledonia's review
4.0
Okay so that one part where Lottie can feel the panic attack just creeping over her shoulder and she just excuses herself, drives to her friends house and then is like okay but I could also be having a heart attack its not that bad? That part? I loved it. I very clearly remembering being in Lottie's shoes, overthinking to the point of just not sleeping, just randomly excusing oneself from overwhelming situations, that was so nice to read. What made it even better was the boy wasnt the magical cure all, he didn't 'help her realize she was just being half of a person and her whole self actually loved doing things that scared her'. No she still did things, but she would also be like, okay woah, we didn't die, but we could, give me a moment.
Also I DID NOT see the immortal boy coming and I can say it was a lively suprise, tore my heart to shreds thinking about him being alone but it was a good plot twist.
The writing was just beautiful to read, I underlined so many parts to copy into my journal later because they make very heavy topics (ie death) seem very easy to approach and at times comforting.
Also I DID NOT see the immortal boy coming and I can say it was a lively suprise, tore my heart to shreds thinking about him being alone but it was a good plot twist.
The writing was just beautiful to read, I underlined so many parts to copy into my journal later because they make very heavy topics (ie death) seem very easy to approach and at times comforting.
kaitp617's review
4.0
There seems to be a variety of opinions on this book, but I absolutely loved it. I found myself greatly relating to Lottie--the way Katrina wrote Lottie's fear of death and her anxiety felt like I was reading about myself. I loved how this realistically portrayed grief, the cyclic bargaining of it, the fear, the sadness, the bittersweet happiness. It was beautifully done. I enjoyed all of the characters and although a lot of people didn't enjoy the way the book incorporated fantasy, I actually didn't mind. Sometimes we have to remember what we would lose if we never had to lose anything at all.
4.5/5 stars
4.5/5 stars
simone_marie's review against another edition
1.0
I literally think this book could've been so much better if the plot wasn't so bland. To me, the whole concept of reading letters with instructions from a dead relative sounded interesting. But to me there wasn't anything groundbreaking about them-express your anger, live on the edge,etc. are all very cliché terms that adults give you for life advice. Lottie the main character is grieving over her Aunt Helen, a famous children's book author's death. This book took me 6 days to read(a long time for me) because I found it SO boring. There was no one to root for, no one to hate, no suspenseful reveal. You find out Aunt Helen is keeping some weird secret which turns out to be pretty stupid. Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this book because of the weak plot, poor character development, and a lack of a bigger message. I think there are much better YA books covering grief and/or anxiety such as Now Is Everything, The Hate U Give, Every Last Word, and The Last Time We Said Goodbye.
beatrixhaase's review against another edition
3.0
interesting book. I don't have a final rating yet... but... it was interesting...
somekindofmiriam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I usually find it very annoying when books are this predictable, but Katrina Leno's writing is so good, it didn't bother me at all.
miranda__'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
colourmeread's review
5.0
I don’t know if you’ve ever had a book call to you, but when I was thinking about what I might want to read next one day, my eyes landed on this book and I knew it was time. Everything All at Once was everything I didn’t know I wanted and needed.
It was funny. It was relatable. And it was vulnerable.
Katrina Leno was able to write Lottie’s story in a way that felt like she was also writing to the reader. It never comes off preachy or pretentious, but always like having an Aunt Helen who’s there to challenge and guide, all while being gentle, funny, and sassy.
Everything All at Once was about a high school girl who recently lost her Aunt to cancer. She is grieving and isn’t quite sure how to let go, and she is anxious about life and death, and things that come in between.
This book is about her journey and how she grows, stumbles, and gets back up to face another day. Yes, it’s about loss and mental health, and it’s also about family, friendships, adventures, and living.
Everything All at Once may never affect you the same way it touched me, but it’s a book I’d gift a friend, the same way my friend gave it to me, because I think she knew everyone needs something like it.
It was funny. It was relatable. And it was vulnerable.
Katrina Leno was able to write Lottie’s story in a way that felt like she was also writing to the reader. It never comes off preachy or pretentious, but always like having an Aunt Helen who’s there to challenge and guide, all while being gentle, funny, and sassy.
Everything All at Once was about a high school girl who recently lost her Aunt to cancer. She is grieving and isn’t quite sure how to let go, and she is anxious about life and death, and things that come in between.
This book is about her journey and how she grows, stumbles, and gets back up to face another day. Yes, it’s about loss and mental health, and it’s also about family, friendships, adventures, and living.
Everything All at Once may never affect you the same way it touched me, but it’s a book I’d gift a friend, the same way my friend gave it to me, because I think she knew everyone needs something like it.
mehsi's review
5.0
A beautiful book about family, anxiety, friendship, mourning, letting go, and sadly also a magical element.
So this book was, up tot the revelation of the magical element, 5+ stars. I just couldn't, wouldn't, didn't want, to stop reading (sadly, one has to stop at times for sleep or for boyfriends), but you get my drift. Then the magical element was added, and my rating dropped to 5 stars. At this point I am still wondering if I should have this book to be 4.5 instead, and you know what, 4.5 stars it is. As that magical element really ruined my enjoyment and the beauty of the book.
I will put this part under spoiler.
Instead of any of the realistic possibilities or any others that I didn't think of, the author went with a totally weird and unbelievable one. Eternal youth. Sam has drank some sort of potion and has lived for ages, he has tried, back when Helen was younger, to also have her drink it. Since she died due to cancer, I guess you all know what she choose.
Sure, I could have seen the hints (looking back), but again, I just didn't think we would go for some stupid magical element. Since the whole book was so realistic, so painfully beautiful, so well written, with the anxiety, the panic attacks, grieving, why would I possibly think that there would be something like magic added to the mix.
Phew, now that is out of the way, let's talk about the rest of the book. The book starts off when Lottie and her family are throwing out the ashes of her aunt (poor dad btw), and then we go back in time to when her aunt just died. When her family was hearing Aunt Helen's will, and the letters that came with it. The letters which Aunt Helen wrote for Lottie, as she knew that Lottie needed some extra love and care, knew she would be the most affected and the one most likely to collapse. Lottie has anxiety, and we see her go from light panic attacks to full blown panic attacks that feel like heart attacks. We see her cry, we see her world collapse, and we see her think of death (a lot). The letters are definitely helping her a bit more, bringing her closer to her aunt, and also easing the way for her to let her aunt go.
The letters vary from talking about Helen's life to how her life felt after the diagnosis, she reminiscences about how Lottie and Abe were back when they were younger, but they also contain dares, assignments, little or big things to do for Lottie. Like going out and meeting new people, letting things go, or picking up things or bringing things to people. It seems all very simple but for Lottie it is a big deal, and I loved how the author wrote about Lottie's reactions to the letters to when she had to do certain things for her aunt.
I have to say that for a while I thought Lottie was way younger than that she actually was. For a bit of the book I thought she was 14, maybe 15, but later on I could see she was definitely not that, it was as if something had shifted and Lottie acted more like her age or older.
I could talk for a lot longer about Lottie, but I will just end this section with that I loved Lottie and she was just fabulous, sweet, real.
Of course there are tons of other characters featured in this book. All of them are mourning the loss of Aunt Helen in their way, but we also see them try to continue with life.
Em was my favourite girl, followed by Lottie's parents, Aunt Helen (from what we could see of her in the letters she seemed like a wonderful person), Abe, and lastly Sam. I never did quite like Abe and Sam, but if I had to pick who was last, it would be Sam. He was just too perfect, too much there, right in the moment when he was needed, and again what I mentioned in the spoiler, that is what ruined his character further for me.
What more? Oh, yes, could we have a real Alvin Hatter series? Because I adored those excerpts from the books, those little parts that made me fall in love with Alvin and Margo and I wanted to see more of their story, of them, I wanted to read the whole thing, and not just parts of it.
Oh, and it took me up to the moment to realise the cover wasn't her jumping of a boat. :P
All in all, 5+ stars for most of the book, and sadly going downwards nearer to the end. *sighs* I would still recommend it, but if you don't like a magical element in a serious book, then don't read this one or drop it at the right moment.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
So this book was, up tot the revelation of the magical element, 5+ stars. I just couldn't, wouldn't, didn't want, to stop reading (sadly, one has to stop at times for sleep or for boyfriends), but you get my drift. Then the magical element was added, and my rating dropped to 5 stars. At this point I am still wondering if I should have this book to be 4.5 instead, and you know what, 4.5 stars it is. As that magical element really ruined my enjoyment and the beauty of the book.
I will put this part under spoiler.
Spoiler
I had many ideas to what could have happened that was such a big secret for Aunt Helen. Why she left one whole week. Why she seemed different. My guesses varied from Lottie is actually her daughter (which would have been an interesting twist), to an abortion, to a pregnancy and the birth of the S.W (Sam Williams) who she had put up for adoption. As you can see, I had theories that are realistic that I was thinking about. Of course I knew instantly who S. Williams was when we met Sam. Sorry, it was just too obvious.Instead of any of the realistic possibilities or any others that I didn't think of, the author went with a totally weird and unbelievable one. Eternal youth. Sam has drank some sort of potion and has lived for ages, he has tried, back when Helen was younger, to also have her drink it. Since she died due to cancer, I guess you all know what she choose.
Sure, I could have seen the hints (looking back), but again, I just didn't think we would go for some stupid magical element. Since the whole book was so realistic, so painfully beautiful, so well written, with the anxiety, the panic attacks, grieving, why would I possibly think that there would be something like magic added to the mix.
Phew, now that is out of the way, let's talk about the rest of the book. The book starts off when Lottie and her family are throwing out the ashes of her aunt (poor dad btw), and then we go back in time to when her aunt just died. When her family was hearing Aunt Helen's will, and the letters that came with it. The letters which Aunt Helen wrote for Lottie, as she knew that Lottie needed some extra love and care, knew she would be the most affected and the one most likely to collapse. Lottie has anxiety, and we see her go from light panic attacks to full blown panic attacks that feel like heart attacks. We see her cry, we see her world collapse, and we see her think of death (a lot). The letters are definitely helping her a bit more, bringing her closer to her aunt, and also easing the way for her to let her aunt go.
The letters vary from talking about Helen's life to how her life felt after the diagnosis, she reminiscences about how Lottie and Abe were back when they were younger, but they also contain dares, assignments, little or big things to do for Lottie. Like going out and meeting new people, letting things go, or picking up things or bringing things to people. It seems all very simple but for Lottie it is a big deal, and I loved how the author wrote about Lottie's reactions to the letters to when she had to do certain things for her aunt.
I have to say that for a while I thought Lottie was way younger than that she actually was. For a bit of the book I thought she was 14, maybe 15, but later on I could see she was definitely not that, it was as if something had shifted and Lottie acted more like her age or older.
I could talk for a lot longer about Lottie, but I will just end this section with that I loved Lottie and she was just fabulous, sweet, real.
Of course there are tons of other characters featured in this book. All of them are mourning the loss of Aunt Helen in their way, but we also see them try to continue with life.
Em was my favourite girl, followed by Lottie's parents, Aunt Helen (from what we could see of her in the letters she seemed like a wonderful person), Abe, and lastly Sam. I never did quite like Abe and Sam, but if I had to pick who was last, it would be Sam. He was just too perfect, too much there, right in the moment when he was needed, and again what I mentioned in the spoiler, that is what ruined his character further for me.
What more? Oh, yes, could we have a real Alvin Hatter series? Because I adored those excerpts from the books, those little parts that made me fall in love with Alvin and Margo and I wanted to see more of their story, of them, I wanted to read the whole thing, and not just parts of it.
Oh, and it took me up to the moment to realise the cover wasn't her jumping of a boat. :P
All in all, 5+ stars for most of the book, and sadly going downwards nearer to the end. *sighs* I would still recommend it, but if you don't like a magical element in a serious book, then don't read this one or drop it at the right moment.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
burstnwithbooks's review against another edition
5.0
JEEZ was that good. It had its flaws, for sure, but that's what made it so good. The entire idea for this story was amazing. Katrina Leno is amazing. I need another book by her!
* * * * *
I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
The whole reason I requested this book is because I had read Katrina Leno’s previous book, The Lost and the Found. (And loved it, of course!) But I completely did not know what to expect from this book, and I was extremely pleasantly surprised.
I love books with dares, challenges, bucket lists, games, etc. I find them entertaining and I always want to know what happens next. I requested this book ages ago, so when I went into it, I had basically zero idea what the book was about. Which made the whole thing that much more exciting and fun!
All of my thoughts are so scrambled, so let’s just make some lists, shall we?
Characters:
Image result for my babies gif
Lottie- What a precious little cinnamon roll. Lottie loved her aunt so much and clearly had a really difficult time dealing with her death. I mean, anxiety. Hello. And I thought she had really realistic relationships and thoughts throughout the book! Her POV was interesting and often hilarious.
The inside of the store was dark and dusty and kind of perfect, exactly the sort of place I could imagine spending hours sorting through old musty records. I mean- I would have preferred if they were books. But still.
Abe- Lottie’s brother loves books. A lot. Actually, all of the characters love books. And frequently mention this. And his girlfriend Amy was rather awesome. How can I not love him? I mean:
(four things he hated the most: hugs, confrontation, hurting people’s feelings, and people who dog-eared the pages of books)
Helen- Helen was such an amazing character to read about. She was an awesome aunt, a cool person, and an extremely interesting writer. Her writing letters was such a neat idea, and I totally understood what a loss it would have been to lose her. But even so, she wasn’t perfect. In fact, Lottie actually specifically mentions at one point in the book that Helen was sometimes self-centered. I appreciated that she was flawed, even though both she and her books were on such a high pedestal. And she had an immense love for books.
Aunt Helen always said if you really wanted to get to know someone, take them to a bookstore. You can tell a lot about a person based on how they behave around books.
Image result for preach woman gif
Lottie’s parents- They existed. And appeared to actually do parent things. Which I SO appreciated. They cared and truly only wanted the best for their kids, even though they were both grieving for Helen as well.
Em- OMG Em is like my favorite person ever. She’s Lottie’s best friend, has blue hair, is in the cutest relationship with Jackie (a girl), and is hilarious. Where can I get me one of those?
Image result for all of my favorite things gif
Alvin and Margo Hatter:
Alvin and Margo were the main characters in Helen’s famous book series.
Which was like… Harry Potter meets Magic Tree House meets A Series of Unfortunate Events.
WHICH I LOVE.
They had little quotes in between each chapter.
FANGIRL ANYONE.
Katrina Leno needs to pull a Rainbow Rowell and write this series. I would read it. Promise.
There was so much insight from Margo and Alvin! The way they tied in to the whole story was #perfectikidyounot.
Magical realism:
Image result for it's magical gif
Um IT EXISTED.
I totally didn’t expect it.
But I LOVE MAGICAL REALISM. It’s interesting and unexpected and GAH.
Granted, at first I wasn’t sure I was okay with it, but I thought she handled it quite well, and by the end of the book, I came around.
But the ending:
Everything wrapped up quite nicely! I liked how all of the relationships ended, how Lottie progressed as a character, how the letters ended, IT WAS ALL QUITE LOVELY. It made me grin like a fool.
Image result for i'm just so happy gif
What I didn’t like:
As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t realize there was going to be magical realism. Which was maybe the intent. But since I thought it was realistic fiction, I was rather irritated at the first reveal. It felt like a cop-out. HOWEVER, I think she really resolved it quite nicely and it came together very well.
I guessed a little bit of the major reveal. Only part, though. Thankfully.
Sometimes I wanted to throw the Hatter portions out the window. WHERE’S MY NEXT LETTER I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS.
Sometimes I just wanted to read the whole Hatter series.
Image result for give it to me gif
Others things I loved and forgot to mention:
That thing Aunt Helen did with the Hatter books. You know, the thing. (It’s a spoiler. But I was so excited when I learned about it.)
The anxiety representation. I can’t speak from personal experience, but as far as I can tell, it was portrayed very well, and I really felt for Lottie.
Em was in a relationship with a girl. But THAT WASN’T A BIG THING. I mean, they talked about it like once. As much as I love them, I get tired of books with LGBTQ+ characters that are ABOUT the fact that they are LGBTQ+. Em and Jackie just were. And adorable while being so.
THERE IS A GILMORE GIRLS REFERENCE AHHH.
I went downstairs to see if there was any coffee made. There was- I poured myself some into a mug that said Luke’s Diner (my brother’s purchase) and went to the back porch.
This:
You should never apologize for fries.
The whole thing. This book was beautiful and heartbreaking and hilarious and sweet and fun and ALL OF THE ABOVE. I thought it was incredibly well put together and I can’t wait to read The Half Life of Molly Pierce (the only book of hers I haven’t read already). Way to go, Katrina Leno!
Image result for applause gif
Overall:
This has become a very long review. Whoops?
I’m eating a strawberry cupcake right now that has actual strawberries in the frosting AND cake and I’m literally in heaven.
This is a total five star read.
You should read this book.
Why haven’t you read this book?
Go buy it. Or lend it from the library. I love those.
If you’re not convinced yet, I guess I’ll just have to leave you with this quote from Lottie and Abe (you know you need this book in your life):
“Are you happy about getting her books?” I asked him, trying to stop the downward spiral of my brain.
“Are you kidding? Of course I’m happy. She probably has thousands of books.”
“I don’t know where you’re going to put them all.”
“Guest bedroom,” he said immediately. Clearly he’d already thought about it. “All those built-in bookcases just collecting dust. Maybe I’ll move into it, switch rooms. maybe I’ll take it as my second bedroom. You know she has first editions of every single Roald Dahl book, right? I can’t wait to…” He blushed, turned away from me, and cleared his throat.
“Were you about to say smell them?” I said.
“Obviously no,” he mumbled.
“You know it’s mildew, right? That’s what you’re smelling.”
“It’s not mildew,” he said, raising his voice slightly, then lowering it when he realized he was getting defensive about books. “It’s the chemical breakdown of… You know what? It’s none of your business.”
Originally posted on Bursting with Books.
* * * * *
I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
The whole reason I requested this book is because I had read Katrina Leno’s previous book, The Lost and the Found. (And loved it, of course!) But I completely did not know what to expect from this book, and I was extremely pleasantly surprised.
I love books with dares, challenges, bucket lists, games, etc. I find them entertaining and I always want to know what happens next. I requested this book ages ago, so when I went into it, I had basically zero idea what the book was about. Which made the whole thing that much more exciting and fun!
All of my thoughts are so scrambled, so let’s just make some lists, shall we?
Characters:
Image result for my babies gif
Lottie- What a precious little cinnamon roll. Lottie loved her aunt so much and clearly had a really difficult time dealing with her death. I mean, anxiety. Hello. And I thought she had really realistic relationships and thoughts throughout the book! Her POV was interesting and often hilarious.
The inside of the store was dark and dusty and kind of perfect, exactly the sort of place I could imagine spending hours sorting through old musty records. I mean- I would have preferred if they were books. But still.
Abe- Lottie’s brother loves books. A lot. Actually, all of the characters love books. And frequently mention this. And his girlfriend Amy was rather awesome. How can I not love him? I mean:
(four things he hated the most: hugs, confrontation, hurting people’s feelings, and people who dog-eared the pages of books)
Helen- Helen was such an amazing character to read about. She was an awesome aunt, a cool person, and an extremely interesting writer. Her writing letters was such a neat idea, and I totally understood what a loss it would have been to lose her. But even so, she wasn’t perfect. In fact, Lottie actually specifically mentions at one point in the book that Helen was sometimes self-centered. I appreciated that she was flawed, even though both she and her books were on such a high pedestal. And she had an immense love for books.
Aunt Helen always said if you really wanted to get to know someone, take them to a bookstore. You can tell a lot about a person based on how they behave around books.
Image result for preach woman gif
Lottie’s parents- They existed. And appeared to actually do parent things. Which I SO appreciated. They cared and truly only wanted the best for their kids, even though they were both grieving for Helen as well.
Em- OMG Em is like my favorite person ever. She’s Lottie’s best friend, has blue hair, is in the cutest relationship with Jackie (a girl), and is hilarious. Where can I get me one of those?
Image result for all of my favorite things gif
Alvin and Margo Hatter:
Alvin and Margo were the main characters in Helen’s famous book series.
Which was like… Harry Potter meets Magic Tree House meets A Series of Unfortunate Events.
WHICH I LOVE.
They had little quotes in between each chapter.
FANGIRL ANYONE.
Katrina Leno needs to pull a Rainbow Rowell and write this series. I would read it. Promise.
There was so much insight from Margo and Alvin! The way they tied in to the whole story was #perfectikidyounot.
Magical realism:
Image result for it's magical gif
Um IT EXISTED.
I totally didn’t expect it.
But I LOVE MAGICAL REALISM. It’s interesting and unexpected and GAH.
Granted, at first I wasn’t sure I was okay with it, but I thought she handled it quite well, and by the end of the book, I came around.
But the ending:
Everything wrapped up quite nicely! I liked how all of the relationships ended, how Lottie progressed as a character, how the letters ended, IT WAS ALL QUITE LOVELY. It made me grin like a fool.
Image result for i'm just so happy gif
What I didn’t like:
As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t realize there was going to be magical realism. Which was maybe the intent. But since I thought it was realistic fiction, I was rather irritated at the first reveal. It felt like a cop-out. HOWEVER, I think she really resolved it quite nicely and it came together very well.
I guessed a little bit of the major reveal. Only part, though. Thankfully.
Sometimes I wanted to throw the Hatter portions out the window. WHERE’S MY NEXT LETTER I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS.
Sometimes I just wanted to read the whole Hatter series.
Image result for give it to me gif
Others things I loved and forgot to mention:
That thing Aunt Helen did with the Hatter books. You know, the thing. (It’s a spoiler. But I was so excited when I learned about it.)
The anxiety representation. I can’t speak from personal experience, but as far as I can tell, it was portrayed very well, and I really felt for Lottie.
Em was in a relationship with a girl. But THAT WASN’T A BIG THING. I mean, they talked about it like once. As much as I love them, I get tired of books with LGBTQ+ characters that are ABOUT the fact that they are LGBTQ+. Em and Jackie just were. And adorable while being so.
THERE IS A GILMORE GIRLS REFERENCE AHHH.
I went downstairs to see if there was any coffee made. There was- I poured myself some into a mug that said Luke’s Diner (my brother’s purchase) and went to the back porch.
This:
You should never apologize for fries.
The whole thing. This book was beautiful and heartbreaking and hilarious and sweet and fun and ALL OF THE ABOVE. I thought it was incredibly well put together and I can’t wait to read The Half Life of Molly Pierce (the only book of hers I haven’t read already). Way to go, Katrina Leno!
Image result for applause gif
Overall:
This has become a very long review. Whoops?
I’m eating a strawberry cupcake right now that has actual strawberries in the frosting AND cake and I’m literally in heaven.
This is a total five star read.
You should read this book.
Why haven’t you read this book?
Go buy it. Or lend it from the library. I love those.
If you’re not convinced yet, I guess I’ll just have to leave you with this quote from Lottie and Abe (you know you need this book in your life):
“Are you happy about getting her books?” I asked him, trying to stop the downward spiral of my brain.
“Are you kidding? Of course I’m happy. She probably has thousands of books.”
“I don’t know where you’re going to put them all.”
“Guest bedroom,” he said immediately. Clearly he’d already thought about it. “All those built-in bookcases just collecting dust. Maybe I’ll move into it, switch rooms. maybe I’ll take it as my second bedroom. You know she has first editions of every single Roald Dahl book, right? I can’t wait to…” He blushed, turned away from me, and cleared his throat.
“Were you about to say smell them?” I said.
“Obviously no,” he mumbled.
“You know it’s mildew, right? That’s what you’re smelling.”
“It’s not mildew,” he said, raising his voice slightly, then lowering it when he realized he was getting defensive about books. “It’s the chemical breakdown of… You know what? It’s none of your business.”
Originally posted on Bursting with Books.