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finnfrye11's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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? Yes
5.0
lyakimov's review
3.0
this was okay, kinda meh.
I skimmed a good amount of it because I wasn’t super interested in the story, I felt like it was fast paced, but at the same time barely anything happened? I don’t know. The main romance didn’t seem like they really had a spark to me, I was just kind of bored.
I skimmed a good amount of it because I wasn’t super interested in the story, I felt like it was fast paced, but at the same time barely anything happened? I don’t know. The main romance didn’t seem like they really had a spark to me, I was just kind of bored.
lnbeauso's review
4.0
Great Story!
I liked how real the writing is. It was a compelling and enjoyable story. I would definitely recommend to anyone.
I liked how real the writing is. It was a compelling and enjoyable story. I would definitely recommend to anyone.
mimimilaa's review
5.0
*4.5 stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this. My only complaint is that it felt a bit long. Highly recommend, though!
I thoroughly enjoyed this. My only complaint is that it felt a bit long. Highly recommend, though!
togidemi's review
3.0
GOD AFTER FIVE MONTHS I FINALLY FINISHED IT
Listen... this book and I should've been great together. A queer girl with dyed hair who has financial problems, got her heart broken from a long-distance relationship, and feels trapped under all her responsibilities? There are few other fictional characters I could relate MORE to. And, trust me, I was pleasantly surprised how well this story navigated sexuality and queer friends - it was very realistic, especially the Doubt About The Labels, and I don't know how good the representation was for y'all but I can tell you a lot of the conversations between Ramona, Ruth, and Saul felt like they were copypasted from my interactions with my own gay-ass friends, and the portrayed casual homophobia taken from my own damn family dinner table. Also, Ruth and Ramona? SO cute. The Leroux family's living situation also felt extraordinsmarily real to me - the constant worrying to make the bills, the shabby tiny home, the grueling work.
But... well. There's a reason it took me so long to finish the novel, and it's that it just didn't click with me. IT SHOULD'VE. IT REALLY SHOULD'VE, BELIEVE ME, I AM STILL MAD I'M SO "MEH" ABOUT THIS BOOK WHEN ITS MADE UP OF SO MANY THINGS I LOVE. But what can I do? The beginning particularly drags and, while I do love Ramona's growth by the end - mostly because I relate pretty deeply to her problems - it doesn't feel... right. Like everyone else got a quick, neat little conclusion (if they even had one) just because the end of the novel was approaching.
Overall it's a nice read, but honestly it was just that. Just nice. If tales about queer girls navigating life with her small-town friends sounds like it's up your alley, you might have a blast! It's up mine, even though it didn't do much more than occupy a combined ten hours (over five months, oh no) of my time and make me yell "TRUE. SAME." at bits of dialogue between Ramona, Saul, and Ruth.
Listen... this book and I should've been great together. A queer girl with dyed hair who has financial problems, got her heart broken from a long-distance relationship, and feels trapped under all her responsibilities? There are few other fictional characters I could relate MORE to. And, trust me, I was pleasantly surprised how well this story navigated sexuality and queer friends - it was very realistic, especially the Doubt About The Labels, and I don't know how good the representation was for y'all but I can tell you a lot of the conversations between Ramona, Ruth, and Saul felt like they were copypasted from my interactions with my own gay-ass friends, and the portrayed casual homophobia taken from my own damn family dinner table. Also, Ruth and Ramona? SO cute. The Leroux family's living situation also felt extraordinsmarily real to me - the constant worrying to make the bills, the shabby tiny home, the grueling work.
But... well. There's a reason it took me so long to finish the novel, and it's that it just didn't click with me. IT SHOULD'VE. IT REALLY SHOULD'VE, BELIEVE ME, I AM STILL MAD I'M SO "MEH" ABOUT THIS BOOK WHEN ITS MADE UP OF SO MANY THINGS I LOVE. But what can I do? The beginning particularly drags and, while I do love Ramona's growth by the end - mostly because I relate pretty deeply to her problems - it doesn't feel... right. Like everyone else got a quick, neat little conclusion (if they even had one) just because the end of the novel was approaching.
Overall it's a nice read, but honestly it was just that. Just nice. If tales about queer girls navigating life with her small-town friends sounds like it's up your alley, you might have a blast! It's up mine, even though it didn't do much more than occupy a combined ten hours (over five months, oh no) of my time and make me yell "TRUE. SAME." at bits of dialogue between Ramona, Saul, and Ruth.
lbarsk's review
3.0
Really a 3.5 -- there were parts of this book that I very much enjoyed reading! Ramona and Freddie's relationship was absolutely sweet; the friendship between Ruth, Saul, and Ramona was lovely; and the "social justicey" aspects of the book felt fully integrated instead of like, randomly dropped throughout the story. (AS OPPOSED TO CERTAIN OTHER GAY YA NOVELS I HAVE READ RECENTLY!!!)
However, as a bi person it was actually really hard for me to read this book. It has that same Dress Codes for Small Towns "I don't know what I am but I'm not pressuring myself to figure it out and I'm somewhere in the queer zone but we'll see" message and... just... argh. While that is a SUPER necessary message that I'm sure resonates with or is helpful for a lot of readers, it was just damn hard to see the word bisexual included in the book (props to Julie Murphy for including the word! better than so many other types of media that gloss over the identity whole cloth) and then ultimately discarded. Maybe I'm just not reading enough books with bisexual protagonists -- if I were reading more perhaps this wouldn't feel like such a blow!!!
And again, I don't want to discount Ramona's identity, or ANYONE's identity who's going through a similar thing as Ramona. I don't want to force people to identify themselves in a specific way and I don't at all want to seem like I'm trying to limit the number of sexual identities out there. I just felt let down by this book -- I thought we were going to get one thing (a bisexual identity) and then that didn't happen.
However, as a bi person it was actually really hard for me to read this book. It has that same Dress Codes for Small Towns "I don't know what I am but I'm not pressuring myself to figure it out and I'm somewhere in the queer zone but we'll see" message and... just... argh. While that is a SUPER necessary message that I'm sure resonates with or is helpful for a lot of readers, it was just damn hard to see the word bisexual included in the book (props to Julie Murphy for including the word! better than so many other types of media that gloss over the identity whole cloth) and then ultimately discarded. Maybe I'm just not reading enough books with bisexual protagonists -- if I were reading more perhaps this wouldn't feel like such a blow!!!
And again, I don't want to discount Ramona's identity, or ANYONE's identity who's going through a similar thing as Ramona. I don't want to force people to identify themselves in a specific way and I don't at all want to seem like I'm trying to limit the number of sexual identities out there. I just felt let down by this book -- I thought we were going to get one thing (a bisexual identity) and then that didn't happen.
reeyabeegale's review
4.0
It's a 3.50 stars to be exact.
There were a lot of good points and aspects in this story that I loved, but I felt like towards the end, everything wasn't tied up neatly. It felt rushed and forced. I'm not gonna lie, I thought this will come second in my list of Most Favorite Books in the world but the ending disappointed me heavily. It affects me differently to how it will affect you.
A review for this will come up on Written Constellations, at www.archivesofenigma.com.
There were a lot of good points and aspects in this story that I loved, but I felt like towards the end, everything wasn't tied up neatly. It felt rushed and forced. I'm not gonna lie, I thought this will come second in my list of Most Favorite Books in the world but the ending disappointed me heavily. It affects me differently to how it will affect you.
A review for this will come up on Written Constellations, at www.archivesofenigma.com.
maritzah's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, definitivamente no esperaba esto de este libro. Comencé este audiolibro solo porque era uno de los pocos que estaban en español y además estaba en mis pendientes así que ni lo pensé, pero este libro siento que me cambió aunque sea un poco.
Hasta ahora, no había leído ningún libro donde la protagonista es bisexual y para alguien que descubrió hace poco que lo era, me sorprendió gratamente. Ramona es un protagonista que me cayó muy bien desde el principio desde como era con su familia hasta con sus amigos, relaciones, etc. Esta chica tenía mucha garra y sabía pelear por lo que quería. Ame su evolución, que debe enfocarse en sí misma antes que todo, obviamente la familia es importante pero tu misma lo eres más. Además el punto que tocaron sobre la bisexualidad fue algo bien hecho desde mi perspectiva, el no saber si solo es el o el que ahora le guste Freedie significaba que todo por lo que paso cuando salio del closet fue anulado, vi su strugle y aunque no pase ni remotamente por lo mismo la entendí y me sentí entendida.
Ahora Fredie es un amor de persona, desde que apareció supe que era un buen chico y que siempre estaría ahí para apoyar a Ramona, tanto el como su abuela fueron una gran ayuda para ella, un ejemplo es que gracias a ellos, ella encontró su pasión de nadar y su salida hacia el mundo. Entiendo el final que le dieron a su relación es algo real y que va con lo que nos muestra el libro, en mi mente ellos se vuelven a encontrar y terminan juntos :3
Con respecto a su familia, hubo veces donde renegaba, también donde sentía esa unión y me daba una ternura y también sentía ese jalón que no dejaba avanzar a Ramona. Lidiar con la familia siempre es difícil y con la situación de Ramona y su hermana se entendía perfectamente. Fui feliz al ver esa relación de hermanas donde siempre se tienen la una para la otra y entender que aunque no estén 24/7 con la otra no significa que no la apoyas o estas ahí para ella, significa que estás avanzando a tu propio ritmo, viviendo tu vida and that's ok.
Hasta ahora, no había leído ningún libro donde la protagonista es bisexual y para alguien que descubrió hace poco que lo era, me sorprendió gratamente. Ramona es un protagonista que me cayó muy bien desde el principio desde como era con su familia hasta con sus amigos, relaciones, etc. Esta chica tenía mucha garra y sabía pelear por lo que quería. Ame su evolución, que debe enfocarse en sí misma antes que todo, obviamente la familia es importante pero tu misma lo eres más. Además el punto que tocaron sobre la bisexualidad fue algo bien hecho desde mi perspectiva, el no saber si solo es el o el que ahora le guste Freedie significaba que todo por lo que paso cuando salio del closet fue anulado, vi su strugle y aunque no pase ni remotamente por lo mismo la entendí y me sentí entendida.
Ahora Fredie es un amor de persona, desde que apareció supe que era un buen chico y que siempre estaría ahí para apoyar a Ramona, tanto el como su abuela fueron una gran ayuda para ella, un ejemplo es que gracias a ellos, ella encontró su pasión de nadar y su salida hacia el mundo. Entiendo el final que le dieron a su relación es algo real y que va con lo que nos muestra el libro, en mi mente ellos se vuelven a encontrar y terminan juntos :3
Con respecto a su familia, hubo veces donde renegaba, también donde sentía esa unión y me daba una ternura y también sentía ese jalón que no dejaba avanzar a Ramona. Lidiar con la familia siempre es difícil y con la situación de Ramona y su hermana se entendía perfectamente. Fui feliz al ver esa relación de hermanas donde siempre se tienen la una para la otra y entender que aunque no estén 24/7 con la otra no significa que no la apoyas o estas ahí para ella, significa que estás avanzando a tu propio ritmo, viviendo tu vida and that's ok.
juanitad15's review
4.0
I liked how this book took this girl’s pretty ordinary life, and her ordinary struggles, and turned it into a pretty good book. It was slow paced but not in a way that exhausted the story. Actually, there were things I felt I missed out on in the story or didn’t really get to see fully develop. I like Ramona, she’s strong and honest and loyal and confused.
It also didn’t feel like the big glaring problems that were present at the beginning of the story were really resolved enough that it would give Ramona that final push to go to college. I guess that might be the pint, that you have to push yourself even when your circumstances are less than ideal.
It also didn’t feel like the big glaring problems that were present at the beginning of the story were really resolved enough that it would give Ramona that final push to go to college. I guess that might be the pint, that you have to push yourself even when your circumstances are less than ideal.
the_red_one's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
4.0