Reviews

Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart

danoreading's review against another edition

4.0

This one was a quick read - I read it in an hour fifteen on Sunday morning. I love e. lockhart, and while this one wasn't quite as good as "The Boyfriend List", I still liked it quite a bit. I appreciated the parallels between Kafka's Metamorphosis and Spiderman, and enjoyed the artistic aspect of this book. The romantic scene at the end of the book (which shouldn't be a spoiler, because there's always a romance at the end of these books) was a bit rushed to me, but I still enjoyed how everything came together neatly at the end.

sarah_in_scotland's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

celiapowell's review against another edition

2.0

Gretchen gets transformed into a fly and spends a week or so on the wall of the boy's locker room. She learns that boys all look different, and that the boy she has a crush on thinks she's mysterious and cool. The end, basically. It's short and sweet, and not as amusing as I had thought based on a quick glance at the first chapter.

aa111's review against another edition

funny inspiring

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

margaretrose's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A modern retelling of the Metamorphosis with a teenage girl?? Sign me up!

Ok, so yes a little more Freaky Friday, YA energy than central European angst. It had thoughtful prose and a character arc I actually believed.

adrianlwaller's review

adventurous challenging funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

siobhancollierauthor's review against another edition

2.0

filing this under: what the hell did I just read?

eatwritereadrepeat's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Really cool concept but the delivery just felt flat

loiereads's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩," 𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙢𝙚. "𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩." 

"𝙄'𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚," 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙮. "𝙎𝙞𝙭𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚." 

"𝙉𝙤, 𝙣𝙤," 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜. "𝙎𝙞𝙭𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩."

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I’m honestly not too sure how to feel about this book. It was strange, kinda weird, pervy and uncomfortable. 

Having really enjoyed reading E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars and Family Of Liars, I did have high, high hopes, I have to admit. So coming from those and reading this, you can kinda see why I feel disappointed. 

I just feel as though there wasn’t that much change that came from Gretchen’s experience. Like yes, it allowed her to understand boys a bit better, but it never lead her to achieve much aside from talking to the boy she fancies. And I just feel like it gives off the message that the only thing a girl can truly accomplish is become confident enough to talk to her crush. Staying true to herself and standing up to her art teacher by protecting her preferred art style was only minority touched upon, and I think this would have been a much better, more valuable outcome to the story. 

I don’t know, I’m sure there’s a much larger picture that I’m probably missing, but I can’t lie and have to admit that I just found this one a bit bizarre. 

cuenx's review against another edition

4.0

This book is an easy read. The best recommendation for readers who like to start with a light, fun, and candid story. I love the metamorphosis of the main character, however, I’m not satisfied with the ending. What happened to the two guys-in-dance-class who were bullied inside the locker room? I feel sad for them. These side characters must have their ending, too.