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kmac20's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
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? No
4.75
This book was really good but towards the end was confusing. I think it's like you try to figure out what it meant towards the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Homophobia, Bullying, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Toxic relationship and Alcoholism
davidbythebay's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
I am truly in awe of SDH and all of his books I've so far read, including this one. Taking a shrinking universe concept, he has created a masterful work that I say is best to go into blindly. SDH is a genius whose praises I cannot sing more loudly. The elements of mental health are all over this book, as with his other works, and he handles them beautifully. The fact that Ozzie, our main character and narrator, is LGBTQ+ is never once the focus. I really appreciate how SDH tells a story with gay characters and not a story about gay characters. This one in particular could have worked with any main character - any race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. - and it would still be the same impactful story. Here we have Ozzie (gay) with a missing boyfriend, and a few other characters including his best friend Lua who uses he/she pronouns depending on their mood and dress. And it never is treated as an odditiy or dressed in a neon sign with sequins calling attention to the diversity and representation of the characters. Lua is just Lua in all his glory and I live for it.
I absolutely LOVE SDH's humor! I love it when a book makes me laugh or giggle and I did both with so many humorous lines and thoughts.
My one gripe with this novel is the ending was a bit quick. We get some explanation for the state of affairs - shall we say - but some things aren't fully explained. In the last chapter - and I'm being vague to avoid spoilers, but those who have read this will hopefully get what I'm saying - there is at least one character that has a large roll in the bulk of the novel and is dealt with rather quickly. I think I understand what happened there, but I just wanted a touch more explanaition of this circumstances we end on. I may add a spoiler to clarify this, or I may not. I'm omitting that for now.
SDH is absolutely a favorite author of mine - one I just discovered this year, 2022, and have devoured many of his works so far - and I look forward to reading his books more and more. I want to say this is like a 4.75 star, because of my gripe, however I have to speak my heart and say it's a lovely 5 star book I look forward to digesting and probably rereading in the future several times. Brilliance doesn't begin to even describe how I feel about this.
I absolutely LOVE SDH's humor! I love it when a book makes me laugh or giggle and I did both with so many humorous lines and thoughts.
My one gripe with this novel is the ending was a bit quick. We get some explanation for the state of affairs - shall we say - but some things aren't fully explained. In the last chapter - and I'm being vague to avoid spoilers, but those who have read this will hopefully get what I'm saying - there is at least one character that has a large roll in the bulk of the novel and is dealt with rather quickly. I think I understand what happened there, but I just wanted a touch more explanaition of this circumstances we end on. I may add a spoiler to clarify this, or I may not. I'm omitting that for now.
SDH is absolutely a favorite author of mine - one I just discovered this year, 2022, and have devoured many of his works so far - and I look forward to reading his books more and more. I want to say this is like a 4.75 star, because of my gripe, however I have to speak my heart and say it's a lovely 5 star book I look forward to digesting and probably rereading in the future several times. Brilliance doesn't begin to even describe how I feel about this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Self harm, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Rape
Moderate: Homophobia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, and Medical trauma
Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, and Gore
sarah2438's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
2.0
Review contains spoilers.
I went in with low expectations. I was intrigued and started to really enjoy it. But then I noticed the issues...
Here is a list of problems I had with this book:
-- It was far longer than it needed to be, with plenty of unnecessary conflict that didn't add to the story.
-- Lua was a very toxic character, and it makes me feel weird that the only genderqueer character was so mentally unstable. Maybe that's supposed to be okay, since no one calls out how batshit crazy and toxic Lua is, but all of that just left a bad taste in my mouth. And regardless of how bad Lua is, the end of their story is not the positive one it's made out to be. They are dating an abusive douchebag, and their relationship will 100% be just abuse back and forth.
-- The SA storyline made me feel really uncomfortable because of the "love interest needs a backstory to explain why they're so moody so let's say they experienced SA" trope, which I really don't like.
-- The faux-science. I didn't think any of it made sense, and seeing the actual void at the end and having all of these unanswered questions that Ozzy never even attempts to understand was very frustrating. Ants had an open ending that I really enjoyed. This one had a closed ending with a million unsatisfied questions.
-- Finally, this book was too similar to We Are the Ants. We have a young gay boy in Florida who may or may not be crazy with his beliefs that he knows something about the universe that no one else does. He also has a mentor teacher. Because of this similarity, comparison is impossible to avoid, and Ants without a doubt comes out on top. (Something Hutchinson should've reused-- brief article chapters. Imagine articles talking about advancements in our understanding of the universe... as it's shrinking with each chapter! Would've been awesome.)
Things I liked:
-- The writing style. Even when I didn't like the plot, the writing was strong in it's mixture of sentimentality + dry humor.
-- The concept. I would've liked to have seen more done with it, but I do like this idea that the universe is shrinking and most of us have no clue we're forgetting things.
I think this is a two-star read, unfortunately. The cons just can't come close to balancing out the pros.
I went in with low expectations. I was intrigued and started to really enjoy it. But then I noticed the issues...
Here is a list of problems I had with this book:
-- It was far longer than it needed to be, with plenty of unnecessary conflict that didn't add to the story.
-- Lua was a very toxic character, and it makes me feel weird that the only genderqueer character was so mentally unstable. Maybe that's supposed to be okay, since no one calls out how batshit crazy and toxic Lua is, but all of that just left a bad taste in my mouth. And regardless of how bad Lua is, the end of their story is not the positive one it's made out to be. They are dating an abusive douchebag, and their relationship will 100% be just abuse back and forth.
-- The SA storyline made me feel really uncomfortable because of the "love interest needs a backstory to explain why they're so moody so let's say they experienced SA" trope, which I really don't like.
-- The faux-science. I didn't think any of it made sense, and seeing the actual void at the end and having all of these unanswered questions that Ozzy never even attempts to understand was very frustrating. Ants had an open ending that I really enjoyed. This one had a closed ending with a million unsatisfied questions.
-- Finally, this book was too similar to We Are the Ants. We have a young gay boy in Florida who may or may not be crazy with his beliefs that he knows something about the universe that no one else does. He also has a mentor teacher. Because of this similarity, comparison is impossible to avoid, and Ants without a doubt comes out on top. (Something Hutchinson should've reused-- brief article chapters. Imagine articles talking about advancements in our understanding of the universe... as it's shrinking with each chapter! Would've been awesome.)
Things I liked:
-- The writing style. Even when I didn't like the plot, the writing was strong in it's mixture of sentimentality + dry humor.
-- The concept. I would've liked to have seen more done with it, but I do like this idea that the universe is shrinking and most of us have no clue we're forgetting things.
I think this is a two-star read, unfortunately. The cons just can't come close to balancing out the pros.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Rape, Domestic abuse, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying
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