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papalbina's review against another edition
2.0
Quite chaotic book. It's told from the point of view of the main character, Jenna.
Jenna is a mess and very confused the most part of the book, so that the narration in first person is like the one you would find in a diary or directly in her head or at least a mix between thoughts and normal narration. At the beginning I liked that, but somewhere in the middle in the book I began to be annoyed by that style.
There are a lot of metaphors and subtle morals about life and teenager behaviour. The characters are quite flat, except for Jenna and Crow, which are rich, but stereotyped (although Oates says that Crow wasn't a stereotype).
Probably my problem with this novel is that I read it in English and I couldn't get the whole meaning of the words. Or that my expectations were just too high...
Jenna is a mess and very confused the most part of the book, so that the narration in first person is like the one you would find in a diary or directly in her head or at least a mix between thoughts and normal narration. At the beginning I liked that, but somewhere in the middle in the book I began to be annoyed by that style.
There are a lot of metaphors and subtle morals about life and teenager behaviour. The characters are quite flat, except for Jenna and Crow, which are rich, but stereotyped (although Oates says that Crow wasn't a stereotype).
Probably my problem with this novel is that I read it in English and I couldn't get the whole meaning of the words. Or that my expectations were just too high...
kricketa's review against another edition
3.0
Jenna can't remember exactly what caused the wreck that killed her mother, but she has an ugly feeling that it was her. The pain medicine during her immediate recovery made it so easy to drift away and forget, but the doctors have cut her off and now she's in New Hampshire, living with her aunt and uncle, going to a new school. Always she is trying to get back that ability to drift away "into the blue" (a phrase she uses ad nauseam, along with "before the wreck" and "after the wreck").
Jenna's narration comes in sort of an angry, dramatic stream-of-conscious. I did not particularly warm to it. Everything was so depressing and humorless and the second traumatic situation toward the end of the story was over the top. I can understand the purpose of the book and I definitely wanted to see how it would end, but probably won't showcase it at work or anything.
Jenna's narration comes in sort of an angry, dramatic stream-of-conscious. I did not particularly warm to it. Everything was so depressing and humorless and the second traumatic situation toward the end of the story was over the top. I can understand the purpose of the book and I definitely wanted to see how it would end, but probably won't showcase it at work or anything.
maigloeckchen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
naomi41's review against another edition
3.0
This book was kinda ok at first, but as I kept on reading, I realized that this is a really good book. Jenna Abbott is a teenager who was in a car accident with her mother, but unfortunately only she was the survivor. She separates her life in two categories: before the wreck and after the wreck. Her heart,body,mind and soul becomes hard with grief, distress, lonliness and a isolation that she cannot control. She feels like she cannot trust nor love anyone ever again and that her mom is the only person she should remain faithful to. It takes a long time until a mysterious handsome/"druggie"/caring looking person named Gabriel "Crow" Saint-Croix to help her realize that if you open your eyes, you will realize that you do have a purpose in life and don't ever take it for granted. If you read or heard of Oates books such as Big Mouth,Ugly Girl, you will want to read this book.
mjmettle's review against another edition
2.0
Not my favorite Joyce Carol Oates. I wonder if young adults have a hard time following this book. I did.
elzbietapet's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
librariann's review against another edition
Ages 12+
After surviving a car crash that kills her mother, Jenna tries to cope with guilt that she may have been the one who caused the accident. She moves in with her aunt and uncle, falls in with a wild crowd, and meets a biker boy named Crow who might just be able to help her deal with the truth.
After surviving a car crash that kills her mother, Jenna tries to cope with guilt that she may have been the one who caused the accident. She moves in with her aunt and uncle, falls in with a wild crowd, and meets a biker boy named Crow who might just be able to help her deal with the truth.
crabbygirl's review against another edition
1.0
I've read this author before - in the adult section, and with mixed thoughts - but I thought I'd try her out as a YA author. in a word: yuck. the drama is over-the-top, the psychiatric help is absent, and the surrogate parents are willfully blind. whereas I found her characters in her adult novel behaving realistically, I thought these characters were little more than stereotypes.
dgodek's review against another edition
3.0
While I totally think JCO is a whack-job, I do enjoy most of her YA fiction.
myra_here's review against another edition
3.75
I was in the mood for a book like this, it was relatively good
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape