Reviews

The Places I've Cried in Public by Holly Bourne

kameral's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

5.0

pantoleia's review

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

llamaburger32's review

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5.0

This book is amazing. It would be such a good book to give to a young teenager to teach them about the dangers of abuse and what can happen in abusive relationships. It’s got such beautiful messages about the different meanings of love (and how it’s better to just feel safe in a relationship) and I love how the author reinforces the necessity of friendship on top of healthy relationships.

marijes_boekenhoekje's review

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.5

anusiee's review

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2.0

I don’t remember much about this book I read it when I was like 11-12 so I didn’t enjoy it magr I think if I reread I might magr yeah

katykelly's review

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5.0

Difficult topic, difficult to read. But forcefully impressive and hugely upsetting.

Within a few pages I could see the stunning realism of this story. I thought briefly that this would be a simple tale of a teenage girl getting over a first love. But I was so, so wrong.

Romance, flattery, exhilaration. Manipulation, abuse, obsession. Amelie bares her heart to us, looking back over the first months she spent in London after moving away from her Sheffield home, friends and sweetheart. A talented singer/singwriter, she is almost instantly swept off her feet by the cool Reese, whose constant attentions and protestations of adoration can't fail to make their mark on her. Soon in love, she tells us about what went wrong later.

And it's devastating. Reminding me of Thirteen Reasons Why in some ways, the darkness involved, Bourne takes us about as deep as a YA novel is going to delve, into something honest but brutal. Relationship hell.

I wept reading the second half of this, more than once. It was painful, made me angry, and almost hurt physically to read certain chapters. I would have liked a little resolution as to how certain characters moved on after the end of events, there were questions in my mind. But Bourne did give her story appropriate closure.

WARNING: VERY graphic sexual content, often suggested but some made fairly explicit. Themes incredibly mature and likely to upset.

I would place this on my library shelf in the 'age 14 and above' section. And recommend both young adults and those adults interested in YA fiction to pick this up. It won't be one you forget.

nabigoneaway's review

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bsolarz's review

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3.0

2.75 stars

caitlinsyearinbooks's review

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dark sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Well this book was really not what I was expecting but in a good way! So many hard hitting topics but they were covered so well and with such grace. 

I really like the map concept and I think that it was a good way to work through the trauma alongside therapy. I’m glad that Amalie got back to what she loved and with the people she loves, it what she deserved after what she had been through. 

anacat_t's review

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4.0

4.5 stars!! one of my favorite books from now on. the reason i didn’t give it a 5 stars is because i found some things really unnecessary to be included but overall oh boy…it touched me in such a way. i’m thankful this book exists, i needed this, i needed to feel this close to a character