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missprint_'s review against another edition
5.0
Kristi Carmichael thinks she has all the answers, which is part of why she stopped caring about just about everything two years ago. She knows all about her workaholic mother, absent father, and why the incredibly cute Gusty Peterson would never want to have anything to do with her. She can even understand the romantic thoughts and strange fantasies her friends Mallory and Jacob have for her. Of course, being psychic can have that effect on a person.
Part of having all the answers is being chronically unimpressed (definitely how Kristi feels about her free-spirited high school) and always playing by her own rules (that's covered by the padlock on her bedroom door and the cat she hides inside it, not to mention the found wardrobe).
But as the school year progresses, Kristi finds a lot of things happening that she didn't see coming--even with all the answers. The sudden return of her father, attentions from not one but two boy at school, and other surprises leave Kristi in a tailspin as she wonders if, maybe, the vibes she's been getting were more bogus than psychic all along.
Such is the premise of Vibes, Amy Kathleen Ryan's second novel (and the subject of a rumored movie adaptation according to Cinema Blend--although the fundamental inaccuracies of the basic summary there do leave me wondering about the accuracy of the rumor).
I realy liked this book. The fact that Kristi is psychic is treated as a normal event--not a big deal, no worrying about why she can read minds--which I enjoyed since mind reading usually supersedes plot when it crops up in non-fantasy books.
At 249 pages, the book goes by fast but the story is still deep. A strong point of Ryan's writing are the characters she has created. In the beginning of the novel Kristi and also the new boy at school, Mallory, are deeply troubled, something both teens try to deal with through anger. Kristi doesn't mince words when she tells readers all of the reasons she has to be angry (there are a few). However, as the story moves forward and Kristi realizes that reading minds isn't the same as understanding what people are thinking, she also learns that there is more to life (both good and bad) than she had first thought.
Because of her anger at, well, everything Kristi is initially not a sympathetic character. She is mean to her friends, her mom, and even strangers. Fortunately, because of the character development Kristi realizes this about herself and tries to do better.
One theme that the novel deals with well is self-esteem in that Kristi does have much at the start of the novel. Seeing herself as fat and ugly, Kristi doesn't find herself very surprised when she hears the word "sick" in Gusty Peterson's head whenever he thinks of her. Kristi's low opinion of herself is hard to shake even in the face of positive attentions from Mallory and, of course, her family. To some readers it could seem over the top, but the truth is I was right there with Kristi and when those things came up in the novel, it felt like Ryan was quoting a page from my own life.
The other theme that was handled really well in Vibes is the absent father issue. There was a point in time where books about single mothers would always idolize the absent father ("Dad is so much cooler than Mom. It's Mom's fault he left. If Dad came back everything would be better . . .") and that would be it.
Recently, however, I've noticed a trend where children of divorce or the like begin to see their family situation in a more realistic way (A Thousand Splendid Suns and Absolutely Maybe are just two books in this trend). Kristi misses her father terribly, and in many ways does idolize him, but only until he shows up again. Then it becomes apparent that there was more to her father's leaving that even a psychic could have guessed.
In summary, Ryan blends a lot of different themes and genres to create a new kind of story that readers (teen and otherwise) are sure to enjoy.
Part of having all the answers is being chronically unimpressed (definitely how Kristi feels about her free-spirited high school) and always playing by her own rules (that's covered by the padlock on her bedroom door and the cat she hides inside it, not to mention the found wardrobe).
But as the school year progresses, Kristi finds a lot of things happening that she didn't see coming--even with all the answers. The sudden return of her father, attentions from not one but two boy at school, and other surprises leave Kristi in a tailspin as she wonders if, maybe, the vibes she's been getting were more bogus than psychic all along.
Such is the premise of Vibes, Amy Kathleen Ryan's second novel (and the subject of a rumored movie adaptation according to Cinema Blend--although the fundamental inaccuracies of the basic summary there do leave me wondering about the accuracy of the rumor).
I realy liked this book. The fact that Kristi is psychic is treated as a normal event--not a big deal, no worrying about why she can read minds--which I enjoyed since mind reading usually supersedes plot when it crops up in non-fantasy books.
At 249 pages, the book goes by fast but the story is still deep. A strong point of Ryan's writing are the characters she has created. In the beginning of the novel Kristi and also the new boy at school, Mallory, are deeply troubled, something both teens try to deal with through anger. Kristi doesn't mince words when she tells readers all of the reasons she has to be angry (there are a few). However, as the story moves forward and Kristi realizes that reading minds isn't the same as understanding what people are thinking, she also learns that there is more to life (both good and bad) than she had first thought.
Because of her anger at, well, everything Kristi is initially not a sympathetic character. She is mean to her friends, her mom, and even strangers. Fortunately, because of the character development Kristi realizes this about herself and tries to do better.
One theme that the novel deals with well is self-esteem in that Kristi does have much at the start of the novel. Seeing herself as fat and ugly, Kristi doesn't find herself very surprised when she hears the word "sick" in Gusty Peterson's head whenever he thinks of her. Kristi's low opinion of herself is hard to shake even in the face of positive attentions from Mallory and, of course, her family. To some readers it could seem over the top, but the truth is I was right there with Kristi and when those things came up in the novel, it felt like Ryan was quoting a page from my own life.
The other theme that was handled really well in Vibes is the absent father issue. There was a point in time where books about single mothers would always idolize the absent father ("Dad is so much cooler than Mom. It's Mom's fault he left. If Dad came back everything would be better . . .") and that would be it.
Recently, however, I've noticed a trend where children of divorce or the like begin to see their family situation in a more realistic way (A Thousand Splendid Suns and Absolutely Maybe are just two books in this trend). Kristi misses her father terribly, and in many ways does idolize him, but only until he shows up again. Then it becomes apparent that there was more to her father's leaving that even a psychic could have guessed.
In summary, Ryan blends a lot of different themes and genres to create a new kind of story that readers (teen and otherwise) are sure to enjoy.
thatweirdlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
This is someone's favorite book but not mine. But it's a quick read if you have time to kill and nothing else to read.
juliaslibrary21's review against another edition
3.0
Peak 2000s humour. The plot was mostly bad yes but also somewhat entertaining. I love Gusty. I do not care how big the main character "gazungas" are, let's get some character development instead!
abigailbat's review against another edition
4.0
Kristi is not exactly a nice person. But she has good reasons for that. Her best friend turned on her around the same time her dad left. She's forced to go to this hippy-dippy alternative school where instead of biology and English she takes "Explorations of Nature" and "Story as Cultural Artifact".
Oh yeah, and she hears what people are thinking.
And most of the time, they're not thinking very nice things.
I really liked Vibes. Kristi's a complicated character and a bit of an unreliable narrator. She thinks she has everything all figured out, but when she's faced with a situation like, say, her dad coming home for a visit for the first time in two years, it's obvious that she doesn't have anything figured out at all. Readers learn more about Kristi and grow with her as she faces some startling revelations and begins to find her place in the world.
Oh yeah, and she hears what people are thinking.
And most of the time, they're not thinking very nice things.
I really liked Vibes. Kristi's a complicated character and a bit of an unreliable narrator. She thinks she has everything all figured out, but when she's faced with a situation like, say, her dad coming home for a visit for the first time in two years, it's obvious that she doesn't have anything figured out at all. Readers learn more about Kristi and grow with her as she faces some startling revelations and begins to find her place in the world.
randomheart's review against another edition
2.0
When I saw the cover to this book all I could think that it was SO familiar. And then I read the summary and thought the same thing. I think I must have read it when I was in high school, but it was a bit hard to tell because I could barely remember anything else about it, which made reading it again feel like the first time I had ever done it.
So this book wasn't exactly terrible, but it wasn't exactly great either. I understand the point of making Kristi snarky and guarded, and kind of just an awful person at the beginning of the novel because of the climax and her finally realising it at the end, but since she was so awful, I never felt like I was with her? I just found myself rolling my eyes a lot when she criticised everyone of being terrible human beings, when she made judgements about them in exactly the same way. It was to the point where at the end, even though she'd been somewhat redeemed, I didn't care enough about her. Especially considering how terrible she was to her mother, when she could clearly see how much her mother had been working and how tired she was all the time. I know that she blamed her mother for her father leaving, but there seemed to be barely any pity at all for her for the first half of the novel, and I just didn't understand how she could treat her mother like that when she was trying her best. It was annoying how she kept feeling like she was edgy and alternative and therefore better than everyone else (my pet peeve is characters like that). But, like I said, I realise the necessity of that. I was like of rejoicing somewhat when both Mallory and Gusty tore her down for it. I just think that you need to make a protagonist at least somewhat likeable if you're trying to get an audience to root for them. And Kristi played awful pranks on people (for seemingly no reason whatsoever) and made cracks on another classmate of hers because she had anorexia (and for some reason didn't know how life debilitating a disease having an eating disorder is?). I mean, I understand that she's incredibly insecure, but that doesn't make many of her actions ok at all.
Mallory's character kind of confused me because I thought he was going to be a lot more sinister, since the writing seemed to allude to that a lot, but then Brian talks him down and he's suddenly a good guy? It just worked way too easily for me. Also the whole Mallory/Kristi/Gusty drama was just way too convoluted to me. Like something out of a soap opera. And it just felt kind of ham-fisted in there for more drama. The romance between Kristi and Gusty was ok, it just seems strange to me that if he ever thought she was so cool in the first place, why it took him so long...or rather what made him finally want to tell her the truth after chickening out for so long? The whole psychic thing had me thrown at first because her powers seemed really shifty, but once it was cleared up more that it was intuition mixed with her own insecurities, it made a lot more sense to me. And I'm glad about that because the inconsistency of her so-called power had been throwing me off.
The thing I liked the most in this novel was the development of Kristi and her mother's relationship. I feel like that was the one that stood out to me and held the most resonance. I really liked how that was handled, and how in the end, they came to understand one another better. Her dad was a lowlife (which was the tone set from the start, I think), and maybe that's why in part I felt so sad for her mum. That her daughter didn't want to try to understand how she was feeling. So when things started unfolding, and they started finding comfort in one another, it was this relationship that I connected with the most. Probably my favourite parts of this novel were all the ones involving Kristi and her mother.
Anyway, this wasn't a bad read. It wasn't the best thing I've ever read, but it was somewhat enjoyable.
2.5/5
So this book wasn't exactly terrible, but it wasn't exactly great either. I understand the point of making Kristi snarky and guarded, and kind of just an awful person at the beginning of the novel because of the climax and her finally realising it at the end, but since she was so awful, I never felt like I was with her? I just found myself rolling my eyes a lot when she criticised everyone of being terrible human beings, when she made judgements about them in exactly the same way. It was to the point where at the end, even though she'd been somewhat redeemed, I didn't care enough about her. Especially considering how terrible she was to her mother, when she could clearly see how much her mother had been working and how tired she was all the time. I know that she blamed her mother for her father leaving, but there seemed to be barely any pity at all for her for the first half of the novel, and I just didn't understand how she could treat her mother like that when she was trying her best. It was annoying how she kept feeling like she was edgy and alternative and therefore better than everyone else (my pet peeve is characters like that). But, like I said, I realise the necessity of that. I was like of rejoicing somewhat when both Mallory and Gusty tore her down for it. I just think that you need to make a protagonist at least somewhat likeable if you're trying to get an audience to root for them. And Kristi played awful pranks on people (for seemingly no reason whatsoever) and made cracks on another classmate of hers because she had anorexia (and for some reason didn't know how life debilitating a disease having an eating disorder is?). I mean, I understand that she's incredibly insecure, but that doesn't make many of her actions ok at all.
Mallory's character kind of confused me because I thought he was going to be a lot more sinister, since the writing seemed to allude to that a lot, but then Brian talks him down and he's suddenly a good guy? It just worked way too easily for me. Also the whole Mallory/Kristi/Gusty drama was just way too convoluted to me. Like something out of a soap opera. And it just felt kind of ham-fisted in there for more drama. The romance between Kristi and Gusty was ok, it just seems strange to me that if he ever thought she was so cool in the first place, why it took him so long...or rather what made him finally want to tell her the truth after chickening out for so long? The whole psychic thing had me thrown at first because her powers seemed really shifty, but once it was cleared up more that it was intuition mixed with her own insecurities, it made a lot more sense to me. And I'm glad about that because the inconsistency of her so-called power had been throwing me off.
The thing I liked the most in this novel was the development of Kristi and her mother's relationship. I feel like that was the one that stood out to me and held the most resonance. I really liked how that was handled, and how in the end, they came to understand one another better. Her dad was a lowlife (which was the tone set from the start, I think), and maybe that's why in part I felt so sad for her mum. That her daughter didn't want to try to understand how she was feeling. So when things started unfolding, and they started finding comfort in one another, it was this relationship that I connected with the most. Probably my favourite parts of this novel were all the ones involving Kristi and her mother.
Anyway, this wasn't a bad read. It wasn't the best thing I've ever read, but it was somewhat enjoyable.
2.5/5
nerfherder86's review against another edition
3.0
Kristi, a sophomore in an alternative high school, thinks she can hear other's thoughts when they're thinking about her. She is very sensitive about her body image, especially her large bust, and is an outcast for her weird homemade artsy clothes. Interesting story about her interactions with guys, esp. the one she has a crush on, and how she gets through school with her special "ability."
tarryncurrentlyreading's review against another edition
5.0
I fell in love with this book after the first page. My copy is full of highlights. The main character was just so quirky and offbeat, I felt a kindred spirit. The entire book is easy and hilarious and just a lovely surprise.
freshbaloney's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Eating disorder