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misajane79's review against another edition
1.0
You all know that I'm all about books that connect ordinary people to big events in history. And yet, I wanted to throw this book across the room on multiple occasions. If this hadn't been a book club book (and I hadn't of skipped the last few choices), I never would have finished it.
The first chunk of the book is a typical, growing up post-WWII story. And then, they start contrasting the story of his first love (rich girl, poor boy) against the Cuban Missile Crisis. And things get weird. There are long sections about the missile crisis from JFK's perspective that just don't work.
Explosions (see the title) are a recurring theme: he's born a few weeks early because of a bomb. Right after he loses his virginity, he and his girl get blown up by a bomb left over from WWII. He never talks to the girl again until she happens to call him on the morning of September 11. Yep, you guessed--she delays him just long enough to save his life. And that's the end. Seriously?
But what confused me the most was this: it's supposed to be a young adult novel. And I can't for the life of me figure out why teens would want to read a book in which an old man remembers how he lost his virginity and keeps wandering off to lectures on the Cuban Missile Crisis.
I'm changing my rating to one star. Ugghh.
The first chunk of the book is a typical, growing up post-WWII story. And then, they start contrasting the story of his first love (rich girl, poor boy) against the Cuban Missile Crisis. And things get weird. There are long sections about the missile crisis from JFK's perspective that just don't work.
Explosions (see the title) are a recurring theme: he's born a few weeks early because of a bomb. Right after he loses his virginity, he and his girl get blown up by a bomb left over from WWII. He never talks to the girl again until she happens to call him on the morning of September 11. Yep, you guessed--she delays him just long enough to save his life. And that's the end. Seriously?
But what confused me the most was this: it's supposed to be a young adult novel. And I can't for the life of me figure out why teens would want to read a book in which an old man remembers how he lost his virginity and keeps wandering off to lectures on the Cuban Missile Crisis.
I'm changing my rating to one star. Ugghh.
kricketa's review against another edition
5.0
another mindblowingly perfect novel from mal peet. history and romance crossing three generations. lovely, clever & funny. i love how peet managed to make me fascinated with the cuban missile crisis, a topic i have never particularly warmed to, interest-wise.
nattejones's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
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
sophieroses's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
fionac326's review
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
superduperefer's review against another edition
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I really love this book but the parts about the cuban missile crisis felt quite pointless to me, I skimmed over most of it. The ending leaves much to the imagination, there could’ve been more added there. Other than that it was great, it goes back and forth between third person and an older Clem’s perspective and the first few chapters are before he was born, about his parents and grandparents. I’m not quite sure it’s a teen book but I am a teen and I enjoyed reading it.
sarahward's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book. Mal Peet's writing style gets into my head and I found myself rereading certain parts just because they sounded so lovely. With that being said, the Cuban missile parts could have been shorter and towards the end I just started skimming them to get through it.
christiek's review against another edition
There's a lot here that wants to be liked. I enjoyed the characters, the plot is interesting. I didn't read far enough to know how the whole thing was connected to the Cuban Missile Crisis. I gave up on the book after the history lesson that tried to be written in Clem's voice about 188 pages in. For the whole of those 188 pages, I have no idea why a teenager would be interested in reading this book. I kept wondering, Why is this YA? What did me in (besides a fairly slow pace) was the narrative voice. About a 1/3 of the book is first person by an adult Clem and the rest third person. It didn't work for me even a little.
nedge's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5