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hayli's review against another edition
inspiring
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Cursing, Death, and Car accident
onthesamepage's review
hopeful
inspiring
slow-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
3.5
Pick this up for:
* nuanced and complex depictions of female friendships
* teenagers that are living their lives, messy and otherwise, with all that entails
* a diverse group of characters
* a look at what life after addiction looks like
I don't often reach for YA contemporaries anymore, but I really enjoyed this one. The story of Dia, Jules, and Hanna, and how their friendship broke apart two years ago only for fate to throw them back together, is very compelling. These are all young girls who have made mistakes, but are dealing with the consequences. I never felt the urge to pick a side between Hanna and the others, because everyone's reasons for doing what they did kind of make sense, regardless of who they ended up hurting in the process. This is a story about healing; from grief, from addiction, and broken relationships, and I thought it was incredibly well-done.
I did have a few issues with the book, namely:
* I thought the book was too long, and the pacing too slow for the story the author was trying to tell
* Elliot's POV didn't feel like it brought anything to the table
* There's more telling than showing, which doesn't have to be a bad thing, but isn't usually my preference
* The way the romance between Jules and Autumn developed sometimes felt like wrenches were being thrown in there just so they could have conflict. I know teenagers can get angry at things that may seem negligible to outsiders (God knows I've done my fair share of getting mad over literally nothing), but the breakneck speed at which this romance both started and then hit its first wall felt strange to me.
* nuanced and complex depictions of female friendships
* teenagers that are living their lives, messy and otherwise, with all that entails
* a diverse group of characters
* a look at what life after addiction looks like
I don't often reach for YA contemporaries anymore, but I really enjoyed this one. The story of Dia, Jules, and Hanna, and how their friendship broke apart two years ago only for fate to throw them back together, is very compelling. These are all young girls who have made mistakes, but are dealing with the consequences. I never felt the urge to pick a side between Hanna and the others, because everyone's reasons for doing what they did kind of make sense, regardless of who they ended up hurting in the process. This is a story about healing; from grief, from addiction, and broken relationships, and I thought it was incredibly well-done.
I did have a few issues with the book, namely:
* I thought the book was too long, and the pacing too slow for the story the author was trying to tell
* Elliot's POV didn't feel like it brought anything to the table
* There's more telling than showing, which doesn't have to be a bad thing, but isn't usually my preference
* The way the romance between Jules and Autumn developed sometimes felt like wrenches were being thrown in there just so they could have conflict. I know teenagers can get angry at things that may seem negligible to outsiders (God knows I've done my fair share of getting mad over literally nothing), but the breakneck speed at which this romance both started and then hit its first wall felt strange to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism
Moderate: Grief