lullednoreaster's review
I don't think this book is successful as a YA novel for the same reasons why I like it. It's a little inaccessible; the vocabulary is atypical for a YA novel, unapologetically so. The magic is unnecessary and unexplained. The writing is self-reflexive and edited in ways that are too precise to feel like authentic representations of teen life. The narrators are too clever and reflective and too lost in their own heads to read as remotely plausible teens. But as a book about being lost in your own head, and being too clever, and trying to know and be known, and honing and reflecting on life experiences in order to cobble them into a fragile identity that is ready for public use, this book excels.
blakehalsey's review
5.0
Beautifully written and dreamlike. While reading this, I kept coming back to that place, over and over again, where I remembered what it was like to feel incredibly lonely as a young person, incredibly trapped, and incredibly blown away that another person could see all of that and love you.
annebennett1957's review
3.0
I initially thought this was the book which would never end, like the silly song, but the second half of the book makes up for the first half. Rating 3.5
kimreadsthings's review
3.0
3.5
What a strange impossible dream of a story this book is. For the first ¾ of it I had no idea entirely what to make of it. Here is a girl who doesn’t sleep, but basically sleepwalks through her life. The (probably intentional) sense of numbness did nothing to make this an enjoyable reading experience. It was like reading through a haze of drear and gray. And then, in the final act, it was as if a flower had suddenly turned to bloom. My heart was aching, and I was gripping the pages turning them furiously while shouting at the heroine in my head. I went from feeling sort of meh to full on adoration. This is one of the hardest times I’ve ever had rating a book.
Find the rest of my review at The Midnight Garden.
What a strange impossible dream of a story this book is. For the first ¾ of it I had no idea entirely what to make of it. Here is a girl who doesn’t sleep, but basically sleepwalks through her life. The (probably intentional) sense of numbness did nothing to make this an enjoyable reading experience. It was like reading through a haze of drear and gray. And then, in the final act, it was as if a flower had suddenly turned to bloom. My heart was aching, and I was gripping the pages turning them furiously while shouting at the heroine in my head. I went from feeling sort of meh to full on adoration. This is one of the hardest times I’ve ever had rating a book.
Find the rest of my review at The Midnight Garden.
sammy234's review
5.0
Brenda Yovanoff is an author I would pre-order a book for , just so I didn't have to wait for her new release to come into the library.
There's something so... raw and emotional about her novels. I'm always deeply moved by her characters and their lonely lives.
She's a poetic genius and a master of subtly and characterization. I never find myself disappointed with how her book is progressing; in fact I realize that what she wrote is exactly what I wanted.
And her writing only improves with every book she writes.
I was fascinated by the characterization and oppressive , gloomy atmosphere of Paper Valentine.
Fiendish made me fall in love with tentative love affairs and slavering hell hounds.
The Space Between was two sides of one coin ; dark and light all at once and so so beautiful my heart was going to die. It sealed the deal. I would read anything she wrote.
So when I picked this up , I knew I was going to adore it.
It's very different from her previous works.
Waverly is part sociopath , part sweet existential poet. The boy she falls in love with is anything but. He destroys himself because he longs for kindness and beauty , but the life he leads does not provide these things.
Oh , gosh. This love story.
I can't even explain how lovely it is. It basically pulverized my heart.
It was so... tender. The way Waverly and Marshal interacted was soft and gentle , barb - wired and hesitant , like they were trying to hold on to their ugliest parts to spare the other but ended up just spilling out all their feelings and realizing that the other person not only could hold on to their unsavory bits but also treasured them incomparably.
At its heart , this novel is about two lonely , sad teenagers who live on their own isolated islands , Marshal because he feels too much and Waverly because she believes she doesn't feel the right way , and they come and they find each other one magical night when Waverly dreams herself to wherever Marshal is.
It's enchanting.
The paranormal aspect is very light in this one , as it serves more to support characterization and plot progression but I thought it was just the right amount.
This book also has a lot to say about toxic friendships , kindness and ugliness , loving people openly and brazenly , loneliness , family issues , love and success and treating others the way you want to be treated and self- acceptance and-
Yeah, It covers alot.
I absolutely love love loved it.
This is all without mentioning the writing! The writing is like eating a cloud and then floating away on a dismal fairy-tale until the light breaks through.
If you read this you'll understand what that gibberish means. lol
I only have three complaints :
Sometimes Autumn , an important character and actually a catalyst and eye - opener for Waverly and her closed off heart sometimes read not very much like a real person. She was too self - assured , too perfect , too manic pixie dream girl , I guess. I liked her but I couldn't connect with her and she was sort of pale and translucent compared to Waverly and Marshal , who played toss with my heart the whole book long.
Brenna Yovanoff's novels are always clean , and while this one didn't go beyond kissing , it got a little MUCH for me. Borderline pg -13 , and then it skips to another chapter.
Way too much cursing. Another downside.
Would I recommend this ?
You know , I would , but I think only after reading Paper Valentine , Fiendish , and The Space in Between. They are a bit more standard paranormal bur still hold the fantastic writing , amazing characters , and deep introspection this book does.
4.5 stars
" I have been lonely for so long that i have almost stopped breathing."
There's something so... raw and emotional about her novels. I'm always deeply moved by her characters and their lonely lives.
She's a poetic genius and a master of subtly and characterization. I never find myself disappointed with how her book is progressing; in fact I realize that what she wrote is exactly what I wanted.
And her writing only improves with every book she writes.
I was fascinated by the characterization and oppressive , gloomy atmosphere of Paper Valentine.
Fiendish made me fall in love with tentative love affairs and slavering hell hounds.
The Space Between was two sides of one coin ; dark and light all at once and so so beautiful my heart was going to die. It sealed the deal. I would read anything she wrote.
So when I picked this up , I knew I was going to adore it.
It's very different from her previous works.
Waverly is part sociopath , part sweet existential poet. The boy she falls in love with is anything but. He destroys himself because he longs for kindness and beauty , but the life he leads does not provide these things.
Oh , gosh. This love story.
I can't even explain how lovely it is. It basically pulverized my heart.
It was so... tender. The way Waverly and Marshal interacted was soft and gentle , barb - wired and hesitant , like they were trying to hold on to their ugliest parts to spare the other but ended up just spilling out all their feelings and realizing that the other person not only could hold on to their unsavory bits but also treasured them incomparably.
At its heart , this novel is about two lonely , sad teenagers who live on their own isolated islands , Marshal because he feels too much and Waverly because she believes she doesn't feel the right way , and they come and they find each other one magical night when Waverly dreams herself to wherever Marshal is.
It's enchanting.
The paranormal aspect is very light in this one , as it serves more to support characterization and plot progression but I thought it was just the right amount.
This book also has a lot to say about toxic friendships , kindness and ugliness , loving people openly and brazenly , loneliness , family issues , love and success and treating others the way you want to be treated and self- acceptance and-
Yeah, It covers alot.
I absolutely love love loved it.
This is all without mentioning the writing! The writing is like eating a cloud and then floating away on a dismal fairy-tale until the light breaks through.
If you read this you'll understand what that gibberish means. lol
I only have three complaints :
Sometimes Autumn , an important character and actually a catalyst and eye - opener for Waverly and her closed off heart sometimes read not very much like a real person. She was too self - assured , too perfect , too manic pixie dream girl , I guess. I liked her but I couldn't connect with her and she was sort of pale and translucent compared to Waverly and Marshal , who played toss with my heart the whole book long.
Brenna Yovanoff's novels are always clean , and while this one didn't go beyond kissing , it got a little MUCH for me. Borderline pg -13 , and then it skips to another chapter.
Way too much cursing. Another downside.
Would I recommend this ?
You know , I would , but I think only after reading Paper Valentine , Fiendish , and The Space in Between. They are a bit more standard paranormal bur still hold the fantastic writing , amazing characters , and deep introspection this book does.
4.5 stars
" I have been lonely for so long that i have almost stopped breathing."
kblincoln's review
5.0
I'm already a big-time Yovanoff fan-girl, but this....this....is so awesome I just ran downstairs to tell my cranky teen age daughter she should read it (she won't).
God! If only I had an Autumn in my high school life-- but she can't exist, she's the best friend you never knew you needed but always fiercely wished for. Cool, artistic, wise beyond her years, unafraid of exposing herself to social derision just to support you.
But this book isn't about Autumn, it's about Waverley Camdenmar and Marshall Holt. She's an A-student, track star, genius who has hidden a lifetime of inability to understand how social relations work (and a secret fear she's an emotional robot) under the facade of best friend to the school Queen Bee. He's a loser stoner who has given into depression and now tries to numb himself with drugs, alcohol and meaningless physical relationships.
But one night, Waverley, who has terrible insomnia, lights a special candle and counts backwards to try to fall asleep and what happens next is the impossible chance for connection between two teens who would never see the inside vulnerabilities of each other in any other way.
This is lovely. And sad. And about how its okay not to be perfect, and how trying to be perfect alienates people and how vulnerability is the most beautiful thing ever. I so, so, loved this book.
God! If only I had an Autumn in my high school life-- but she can't exist, she's the best friend you never knew you needed but always fiercely wished for. Cool, artistic, wise beyond her years, unafraid of exposing herself to social derision just to support you.
But this book isn't about Autumn, it's about Waverley Camdenmar and Marshall Holt. She's an A-student, track star, genius who has hidden a lifetime of inability to understand how social relations work (and a secret fear she's an emotional robot) under the facade of best friend to the school Queen Bee. He's a loser stoner who has given into depression and now tries to numb himself with drugs, alcohol and meaningless physical relationships.
But one night, Waverley, who has terrible insomnia, lights a special candle and counts backwards to try to fall asleep and what happens next is the impossible chance for connection between two teens who would never see the inside vulnerabilities of each other in any other way.
This is lovely. And sad. And about how its okay not to be perfect, and how trying to be perfect alienates people and how vulnerability is the most beautiful thing ever. I so, so, loved this book.
sheffner07's review
4.0
Breathtaking and heartbreaking. Beautiful prose and storytelling. Brenna Vovanoff is quickly becoming one of my new favorite authors.
melissapalmer404's review
4.0
Book #22 Read in 2016
Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff
Waverly is one of the popular, intelligent kids in high school; Marshall is a rough kid with some drug issues. The two connect....but is it real? Waverly, at night, ends up as a sort of ghostly presence where Marshall is...but both remember what happened in the light of day. This connection draw the two together but will they ever put their relationship out there to the social system in high school? This book was a decent mix of paranormal and romance and interesting characters. I enjoyed it. I received a copy of this book from Amazon Vine in exchange for a honest review.
Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff
Waverly is one of the popular, intelligent kids in high school; Marshall is a rough kid with some drug issues. The two connect....but is it real? Waverly, at night, ends up as a sort of ghostly presence where Marshall is...but both remember what happened in the light of day. This connection draw the two together but will they ever put their relationship out there to the social system in high school? This book was a decent mix of paranormal and romance and interesting characters. I enjoyed it. I received a copy of this book from Amazon Vine in exchange for a honest review.
malglories's review
Disclaimer: I received a free copy from Goodreads Giveaways.
DNF. Places No One Knows is a story that's been told so many times before, à la middle- and late-2000s YA. Frigid, distant, powerful girl falls in love with poor, unmotivated bad boy and figures out her friends are not really her friends and popularity doesn't matter. Even the visiting-each-other-in-dreams plot isn't new. The only notable difference is both characters are complete assholes, both of their voices so force-fed to the reader they become only assholes.
DNF. Places No One Knows is a story that's been told so many times before, à la middle- and late-2000s YA. Frigid, distant, powerful girl falls in love with poor, unmotivated bad boy and figures out her friends are not really her friends and popularity doesn't matter. Even the visiting-each-other-in-dreams plot isn't new. The only notable difference is both characters are complete assholes, both of their voices so force-fed to the reader they become only assholes.