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kara44212's review against another edition
4.0
This was a perfectly entertaining, sweet and fluffy romance with some of the best representation I've ever seen in a YA contemporary. The church conference and the debate subplots were also a brilliant way to bring up and discuss a lot of sensitive and important issues as well. I honestly wasn't expecting any of that from this book, so I'm pleasantly surprised.
thelibraryskeeper's review against another edition
4.0
I have read quite a few LGBTQ books over the past year or so and I can adequately say that none of them really addressed bisexual relationships or safe sex between women as this one did. In fact I'm pretty sure I've never read a book that covered dental dams at all. So definite pluses for that.
My only complaint was that But other than that I was very happy with this book and felt it did a great job showing a bisexual relationship with two girls just figuring out their sexuality and preferences.
My only complaint was that
Spoiler
Aki and Christa really should have been left over when they "broke up". It felt weird to me that the author threw them back together in the last two-ish chapters of the book.caffeineaddict980's review against another edition
5.0
Our Own Private Universe follows Aki, a girl who is going to a small group trip with her best friend to Mexico. Aki wants to test her theories about sex among other things, but what she didn't expect was to meet a slightly older girl called Christa, who she begins to fall for.
Wow.
This book was absolutely amazing and I loved every second of it.
All of the characters in the novel along with the storyline was extremely well-developed.
Ack!
So good!!!
-SPOILERS ALERT-
*****************
Aki and her best friend Lori decide to make a pact to have three hook-ups over the summer and Aki's Dad wants her to do a side project with the local kids.
Things are going well with Christa, until she realises that Christa has a boyfriend back home. Christa tells her that she's on a break with her boyfriend for the summer and they both decide to hook-up over the course of four weeks and share their first kiss.
After one of the people within the small group bring round a petition about same sex marriages, Aki signs automatically as well as her best friend, but Christa is hesitant.
Why?
Aki soon finds out the reason why from Christa.
Straying away from the group one day, Christa and Aki decide to spend a day with each other instead of the group and get to know each other better.
Drew (Her Brother) talks to her and brings up the subject of a rumour going around about Aki and Christa having a relationship, Aki confirms that the rumours are true and they keep it a secret.
Aki and Lori have a fight and she finds out that Lori has been seeing someone else too (which is later revealed not to be true)
Things begin to get intense between Christa and Aki, which changes things after they have an argument based around the rumour that is spreading.
Aki and her friends organise a debate on issues that are going to be part of a conference.
The boys that Aki ratted out for getting drunk and smashing a girl's guitar in a river obtain a photo of Aki and Christa kissing and threaten her with it.
Aki finally comes out as bisexual to her Dad and he is completely supportive and Christa makes a revelation that changes their entire relationship.
Wow.
This book was absolutely amazing and I loved every second of it.
All of the characters in the novel along with the storyline was extremely well-developed.
Ack!
So good!!!
-SPOILERS ALERT-
*****************
Aki and her best friend Lori decide to make a pact to have three hook-ups over the summer and Aki's Dad wants her to do a side project with the local kids.
Things are going well with Christa, until she realises that Christa has a boyfriend back home. Christa tells her that she's on a break with her boyfriend for the summer and they both decide to hook-up over the course of four weeks and share their first kiss.
After one of the people within the small group bring round a petition about same sex marriages, Aki signs automatically as well as her best friend, but Christa is hesitant.
Why?
Aki soon finds out the reason why from Christa.
Straying away from the group one day, Christa and Aki decide to spend a day with each other instead of the group and get to know each other better.
Drew (Her Brother) talks to her and brings up the subject of a rumour going around about Aki and Christa having a relationship, Aki confirms that the rumours are true and they keep it a secret.
Aki and Lori have a fight and she finds out that Lori has been seeing someone else too (which is later revealed not to be true)
Things begin to get intense between Christa and Aki, which changes things after they have an argument based around the rumour that is spreading.
Aki and her friends organise a debate on issues that are going to be part of a conference.
The boys that Aki ratted out for getting drunk and smashing a girl's guitar in a river obtain a photo of Aki and Christa kissing and threaten her with it.
Aki finally comes out as bisexual to her Dad and he is completely supportive and Christa makes a revelation that changes their entire relationship.
powisamy's review against another edition
4.0
Book Review:
After reading What We Left Behind, I had had a bad experience with Robin Talley but wanted to give her a second chance and I did really enjoy this book. Our Own Private Universe was a diverse read and had good characters and a story that kept me engaged.
I was first interested in Our Own Private Universe because it was an f/f romance story that was own voices that had a bisexual main character. I had not and still have not read many books that focus on this topic. This was something that I really enjoyed in the book and it was something that I definitely liked learning about in the story.
The story also focuses on sexual experiences of the characters and instead of ignoring the lack of contraception in the story like many writers do this does tackle it head-on. This was something that I really did like and I felt like I did learn from the book's discussion although it didn't affect me. This could be extremely helpful for anyone who needs this discussion in books.
One of the biggest debates in the book is that there is too much drama and that the characters do lie to each other a little too much which makes this worse. Although I do agree with this and I don't often like characters lying to each other, this was a way to make the story progress and I can't lie when I say that the drama did add to the story because let's face it who doesn't like a little drama anyway.
With the whole lying to each other, this does seem really unnecessary and I don't really see why it was needed. I am sure that this could be done in a different way. I also did really enjoy the characters and their relationships in the story and one thing that I can't fault in Talley's writing which I always enjoy.
The Verdict:
Our Own Private Universe is a drama-filled contemporary story which was highly entertaining and an enjoyable read from start to finish.
After reading What We Left Behind, I had had a bad experience with Robin Talley but wanted to give her a second chance and I did really enjoy this book. Our Own Private Universe was a diverse read and had good characters and a story that kept me engaged.
I was first interested in Our Own Private Universe because it was an f/f romance story that was own voices that had a bisexual main character. I had not and still have not read many books that focus on this topic. This was something that I really enjoyed in the book and it was something that I definitely liked learning about in the story.
The story also focuses on sexual experiences of the characters and instead of ignoring the lack of contraception in the story like many writers do this does tackle it head-on. This was something that I really did like and I felt like I did learn from the book's discussion although it didn't affect me. This could be extremely helpful for anyone who needs this discussion in books.
One of the biggest debates in the book is that there is too much drama and that the characters do lie to each other a little too much which makes this worse. Although I do agree with this and I don't often like characters lying to each other, this was a way to make the story progress and I can't lie when I say that the drama did add to the story because let's face it who doesn't like a little drama anyway.
With the whole lying to each other, this does seem really unnecessary and I don't really see why it was needed. I am sure that this could be done in a different way. I also did really enjoy the characters and their relationships in the story and one thing that I can't fault in Talley's writing which I always enjoy.
The Verdict:
Our Own Private Universe is a drama-filled contemporary story which was highly entertaining and an enjoyable read from start to finish.
professionalreader's review against another edition
4.0
Another awesome story from an amazing writer!
There needs to be more positive bisexual stories like this for teens. Also my FAVORITE part was Aki did her safe sex research!! Girls who sleep with girls need to know you can still get diseases, safety and communication is so important! Well done Robin!!
There needs to be more positive bisexual stories like this for teens. Also my FAVORITE part was Aki did her safe sex research!! Girls who sleep with girls need to know you can still get diseases, safety and communication is so important! Well done Robin!!
boja's review against another edition
3.0
This book, you guys...
mmmmm... I actually felt old while reading this... Am I *gasp* more mature than these 15 year old girls?
Probably would've helped me to understand a lot of things when I was 16... Sadly I'm not 16 anymore... Ya girl is 18 :PPP
Anyway.. good book... important book... just not for me...
mmmmm... I actually felt old while reading this... Am I *gasp* more mature than these 15 year old girls?
Probably would've helped me to understand a lot of things when I was 16... Sadly I'm not 16 anymore... Ya girl is 18 :PPP
Anyway.. good book... important book... just not for me...
sidneyellwood's review against another edition
3.0
In my opinion, Our Own Private Universe is Robin Talley's best since Lies We Tell Ourselves. I'm really glad there's another book in the YA canon that discusses faith and sexuality, and I think Talley did a good job of incorporating modern day political issues into the plot.
I really liked Aki as a character. She was determined and intelligent and well-rounded. Her love of music and subsequent fallout from her quitting music played into the plot a bit less than I would have liked. At times I forgot that she was a musician. Otherwise, she was quite well-written. I'm sure there's criticism about a white woman writing a black character, and since I'm not black I do not feel comfortable going too into it, but it definitely shows when I think of books I've read from black authors. I really loved Aki's family as well - they were probably my favourite characters in the book (and Jake, who was ... a complete badass I love him). They were all so supportive of each other, and I love families that are like that. The family drama was probably the least dramatic in the book. Aki and Drew's dad is like, a really good dad. Wow. I really liked him. I liked the modern-day political climate presented in the book - it didn't go too dramatically conservative or too dramatically liberal, which I found to be pretty accurate.
As a bi person, I found the portrayal of bisexuality to be really accurate - I don't know if this is an ownvoices book, but I really related to a lot of what the bi characters talked about - struggling with identity, wondering how you like different genders. Even though it was a bit pedantic towards the end, I'm really grateful that there's discussion around bisexuality and what it's like to be bisexual, and how bisexuality differs from pansexuality, and how different identity can be for people. (A pan character! This might be the first pan character I've seen!) Our Own Private Universe succeeds in bi representation very well, and I'm pleased.
The romance wasn't the stand-out to me, which was a bit disappointing. I felt like Aki and Christa lacked the chemistry I wanted them to have. But they do have a solid relationship by the end, and I'm happy that we're finally getting some nice f/f romances.
I really liked Aki as a character. She was determined and intelligent and well-rounded. Her love of music and subsequent fallout from her quitting music played into the plot a bit less than I would have liked. At times I forgot that she was a musician. Otherwise, she was quite well-written. I'm sure there's criticism about a white woman writing a black character, and since I'm not black I do not feel comfortable going too into it, but it definitely shows when I think of books I've read from black authors. I really loved Aki's family as well - they were probably my favourite characters in the book (and Jake, who was ... a complete badass I love him). They were all so supportive of each other, and I love families that are like that. The family drama was probably the least dramatic in the book. Aki and Drew's dad is like, a really good dad. Wow. I really liked him. I liked the modern-day political climate presented in the book - it didn't go too dramatically conservative or too dramatically liberal, which I found to be pretty accurate.
As a bi person, I found the portrayal of bisexuality to be really accurate - I don't know if this is an ownvoices book, but I really related to a lot of what the bi characters talked about - struggling with identity, wondering how you like different genders. Even though it was a bit pedantic towards the end, I'm really grateful that there's discussion around bisexuality and what it's like to be bisexual, and how bisexuality differs from pansexuality, and how different identity can be for people. (A pan character! This might be the first pan character I've seen!) Our Own Private Universe succeeds in bi representation very well, and I'm pleased.
The romance wasn't the stand-out to me, which was a bit disappointing. I felt like Aki and Christa lacked the chemistry I wanted them to have.