laura_179322's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
nika_nix's review against another edition
5.0
My mind is blown. Seriously, this book was fantastic and I absolutely loved it. I expected to love it, but it still managed to surprise me and amaze me. Main craracter, plot, story-telling, setting, style... amazing. It was very unusual for me to read a book like this, but afret The Shock of the Fall, I'll be definitely picking up more books about mental illness. I managed to get into the story and really connect with the main character, Matt, his story was very brave and just beautiful. Writing style was very...weird, but also very good. It was so unlike anything I read before, it was confusing sometimes, but it made that amazing atmosphere that made the book so great. I finished this book over the weekend, in breaks between studying, because it was very short but also very interesting and I just wanted to find out what happens next. I don't know in which age-genre to put this book because the main character is 19 years old, so it could be YA, but the theme and the whole idea is much more mature and serious so I'd rather put it in agult genre. However, I don't think you have to be certain age to enjoy this book. If you're mature enough and/or if you find this topic interesting, you are going to enjoy this book. So basicly, I recommend this book to everyone, it's so beautiful and heartbreaking but also shocking and just great. Definitely read it, you won't regret it, I promise!
SPOILER PART – if you haven’t read the book yet, I recommend not to read any further, go and read the book and then come back.
I already said how much I liked the writing style. And I really did. It was so confusing. Like, the chronology was so messed up and I never knew when had the thing that he was writing about happened, but I think it just made the whole story more realistic because, after all, our narrator has schizophrenia so he can get a bit lost sometimes. I think that his schizophrenia was portraited amazingly. Another thing, I really like the change in fonts every now and then in a book. These were used to show us the change between what he wrote on a computer and what he wrote on a typewriter. Such a great idea! So original. Also, even though we more or less knew what happened at the end, I loved the plot twist, but what amazed me the most was the appearence of Anabelle, the girl from the beginning of the book. So awesome, I never expected her to be important later in the book, but she was. Wow.
I absolutely loved the main character, Matt. His story was so sad and shocking but he managed to tell us his story with a bit of humor, on a very brave and interesting way. Matt was such a unique character and his life was everything except easy, but he made it through. I was constantly expecting him to kill himself at the end of the book, but I loved the fact that he didn't and that he was strong enough to live his life the way it is. I liked how he had a different relationship with each character in the book and all the characters he mentioned were important in some way. I especially liked his relationship with his grandma, those two just understood eachother and I really like the detail that only Matt knows that his grandma smokes and that she smokes only with him. If that's not close, I don't know what is.
The whole mental illness theme and the way schizophrenia was presented to us was very well done and it definitely got me interested in that topic. What I loved the most in this book was the fact it was written from a point of view of a person who actually suffers from mental illness and we got to see the way he sees the world. Just fantastic. I can't fathon how much I enjoyed reading this book and how much it made me think now. I wish I can hug this book now and never let it go. It's amazing, everyone should read it.
SPOILER PART – if you haven’t read the book yet, I recommend not to read any further, go and read the book and then come back.
I already said how much I liked the writing style. And I really did. It was so confusing. Like, the chronology was so messed up and I never knew when had the thing that he was writing about happened, but I think it just made the whole story more realistic because, after all, our narrator has schizophrenia so he can get a bit lost sometimes. I think that his schizophrenia was portraited amazingly. Another thing, I really like the change in fonts every now and then in a book. These were used to show us the change between what he wrote on a computer and what he wrote on a typewriter. Such a great idea! So original. Also, even though we more or less knew what happened at the end, I loved the plot twist, but what amazed me the most was the appearence of Anabelle, the girl from the beginning of the book. So awesome, I never expected her to be important later in the book, but she was. Wow.
I absolutely loved the main character, Matt. His story was so sad and shocking but he managed to tell us his story with a bit of humor, on a very brave and interesting way. Matt was such a unique character and his life was everything except easy, but he made it through. I was constantly expecting him to kill himself at the end of the book, but I loved the fact that he didn't and that he was strong enough to live his life the way it is. I liked how he had a different relationship with each character in the book and all the characters he mentioned were important in some way. I especially liked his relationship with his grandma, those two just understood eachother and I really like the detail that only Matt knows that his grandma smokes and that she smokes only with him. If that's not close, I don't know what is.
The whole mental illness theme and the way schizophrenia was presented to us was very well done and it definitely got me interested in that topic. What I loved the most in this book was the fact it was written from a point of view of a person who actually suffers from mental illness and we got to see the way he sees the world. Just fantastic. I can't fathon how much I enjoyed reading this book and how much it made me think now. I wish I can hug this book now and never let it go. It's amazing, everyone should read it.
jmnkala's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
jessieyyyy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
pinkierina's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
bps's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
3.75
_mscfl's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
obscuredbyclouds's review against another edition
1.0
This is a really badly written book with little to none redeeming factors. And it's not even in the "so bad it's entertaining" category. How anyone can think of this an engaging is a mystery to me. The "mystery" is no mystery at all, it is pretty obvious from the beginning. I didn't think the portrayal of mental illness or what it's like to be in treatment was very realistic either. None of the characters are interesting or feel real. The only think I vaguely liked was the deterioration of the childhood friendship.