But Does It End Well?

Conclusion: It’s Good, But.... The scenery described in this book paints beautiful, contrasting pictures of a strange new world. And it does a crazy good job of telling a love story between two people who never actually meet face to face.   But..... It’s a super long book that tells half a story. It gives the impression of resolve and the glimmer of conclusions to many questions. And then the rug comes out from under you in the last pages. This book is a tragedy in the truest sense, but it lacks the hopefulness or even finality that you are given in other tragedies. And it’s a freakin long book! So in the end I was disappointed. There’s an ugliness to the tale (mass murder, rape, to name a few) that I was willing to work with because I was committed to the handful of characters I learned to love. And then it ended so hopelessly. The second book just came out, and I haven’t heard much about it yet. Based on the length of the book, however, and the preview ...

Conclusion: Worth It I mean, how could this book not be worth it? It’s got mystery, it’s got angst (the appropriate amount, not the I’mgoingtodieofangst stuff you might find elsewhere in this genre), it’s got small town creepy horror film vibes, AND author Karen McManus keeps the grungy Nancy Drew feel that I loved so much in One of Us is Lying. Also did anyone else miss the subtitle? The title of this book, in its entirety, is Two Can Keep a Secret if One of Them is Dead . It’s so ominous and awesome. Interesting fact: this book deals with a lot of twin issues- if you’re a twin, I’d love to hear some feedback about how this book portrays twin relationships! Also, I was genuinely surprised by the ending. So unlike almost every Bones episode I’ve ever watched (and loved), there is not a formula that runs this plot. It’s a maze of suspects and facts that piece together a gripping story about a broken family in a small town that keeps too many secrets. ALSO, this book is t...

Conclusion: Worth It If you get to the end, Angie Thomas makes it worth your time in spades. But getting through this book was rough . We both felt it. Part of it was the way it picked at old sores for me—Bri's just trying to get through school okay, but she's worried about money. The rent's late. The electricity got turned off. There's no heat. They might get evicted. Her mom can't find a job. Thomas writes about this incredibly well, and if you've never experienced that kind of poverty as a child, you'll still get it. It feels like there's a vice grip around your chest. Like you can't breathe. If you've experienced some measure of childhood poverty, it'll strike much harder. So there's that. And then there's all the relationship drama. You'd think that a book about a girl wanting to be a rapper would be less intense than a book about a girl who saw her friend get killed by police, but  On the Come Up was so much mor...

Conclusion: It's Worth It This is a review of the musical, which I love. If you're looking for the review of the book, which I did not love, go here . The musical focuses a lot on suicide and how it effects those left behind. It also focuses a lot on loneliness and depression and how that effects you and how you see the world. As a person with depression and anxiety, I related very strongly to this and really enjoyed the story. There were so many sad emotions to wallow in! My favorite! And it does satisfy our most vital criteria: Does It End Well? Seriously, listen to "Words Fail," and if you ever felt alone in high school, I bet you will relate so hard. I was tempted to put this in It's Good, But... for two reasons: Patrick Ness, one of my all-time favorite authors, had to walk out of the musical because he didn't realize it was about suicide.  I found myself getting moody after obsessively listening to it. But at the end of the day....

My (signed!) copy of One of Us Is Lying . Cat for scale. Conclusion: Worth It Take the sleuthing of Nancy Drew and the angst that is high school , and you get a glimpse of this book. Picture a grungy Nancy Drew. Or, as Karen McManus herself described it... The Breakfast Club — with murder. This story does a phenomenal job of creating a mystery that’s worth reading in and of itself, but then it goes into the depths of the teenage struggle, too — parents, heartbreak, gossip, social media, and the pressure of grades and success. - Liss The story reads so well. It's a fast read that's fun, interesting, thrilling and, on top of all that, thought-provoking. No wonder it was on the New York Times Bestseller List for over a year . It's a great thriller with a great mystery, but what really makes itn are all the characters. A lot of books have a great plot, but every character in this story is incredible. Bronwyn is basically a muggle Hermione, Nate is an ou...

My copy of Starfish Conclusion: Worth It I picked this book up because an agent I really like highly recommended it, and I just fell in love with the character, Kiko. She has true anxiety--most likely brought on due to living with her narcissist mother. A lot of young adult books feature anxiety, but they portray it as kind of funny and very relatable. That is not what it is like for Kiko. It is not fun, and it impacts her life in a million different unfortunate ways. This was the first time I'd read a book where I thought, "This person gets it. This person knows what it's like to live with that kind of debilitating anxiety." If you follow Bowman on Twitter, you'll see just how true that is. She's pretty honest about how anxiety looks like for her. And I LOVE that about her. But while the book deals with some heavy subjects, it doesn't feel weighty or sad . One of the things that really lifts it is Kiko's art. She's an amazing artist who...