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futurama1979's review against another edition
4.0
I decided to read this book along with [b:Speak|39280444|Speak|Laurie Halse Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529044298l/39280444._SY75_.jpg|118521] and [b:Me Myself & Him|29752011|Me Myself & Him|Chris Tebbetts|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545964930l/29752011._SY75_.jpg|50109741] as preparation for a YA analysis course I'm taking this year. I had only been reading adult fiction for a while and wanted to get myself back into the style and flow of YA. I really liked this book. As someone who is an eldest sibling and also diagnosed with what Cookie's sister struggles with in the book reading what is arguably the other half of that experience was emotional for me.
Like with many verse novels I found the actual poems really unable to hold a candle to poems that don't have to sustain a continual story. They were simple, they were small, there wasn't a lot of wordplay. But in a way, it elevated the placemaking of the story. Cookie is thirteen years old, untrained in poetry, and going through a shattering experience. Of course she wouldn't be writing super technically skilled poetry.
In very few pages, and very few words per page, Sones hooks you completely on the emotional unrest Cookie's family endures, to the point where you're yearning as badly as Cookie is for things to be okay. Outstanding in the realm of YA verse novels. The only thing I can think of that compares is [b:The Poet X|33294200|The Poet X|Elizabeth Acevedo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498766234l/33294200._SY75_.jpg|54024746], and that's madly high praise.
Like with many verse novels I found the actual poems really unable to hold a candle to poems that don't have to sustain a continual story. They were simple, they were small, there wasn't a lot of wordplay. But in a way, it elevated the placemaking of the story. Cookie is thirteen years old, untrained in poetry, and going through a shattering experience. Of course she wouldn't be writing super technically skilled poetry.
In very few pages, and very few words per page, Sones hooks you completely on the emotional unrest Cookie's family endures, to the point where you're yearning as badly as Cookie is for things to be okay. Outstanding in the realm of YA verse novels. The only thing I can think of that compares is [b:The Poet X|33294200|The Poet X|Elizabeth Acevedo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498766234l/33294200._SY75_.jpg|54024746], and that's madly high praise.
lilyduren's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
martinej's review
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
lmjones's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I don’t love YA books written as a series of poems and/or vignettes. Still trying to put my finger on why. I guess I just want more substance and less… melodrama? All in all, I thought it was really cool that this was based on her own experience and how understandable her reactions to everything were. And I love a book that fights stigma. So even if the writing wasn’t my cup of tea, I’m glad I read it and would recommend.
afletche's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
amme's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
kmcneil's review against another edition
5.0
One Christmas Eve, 13-year-old Cookie's big sister has a nervous breakdown: "A wild-eyed Jewish girl wearing only a nightgown," she rushes out the door to Midnight Mass. Following this manic moment, the sister is institutionalized. This haunting novel, told entirely in Cookie's first-person poems, is the story of what happens in the wake of this emotional disaster. Some of it is heartbreakingly predictable--Cookie is terrified that she will have a breakdown, her former friends shun her, her parents' marriage begins unraveling. But there are wonderful surprises, too: Cookie is introduced to photography and finds in it an opportunity to heal herself and her sister; a new boy comes to school, and he and Cookie fall in love. The poems--some as short as five lines, none longer than three pages--have a cumulative emotional power that creeps up on the reader, culminating in a moving, unexpected line or phrase: "I blink / and there you suddenly are / inhabiting your eyes again. . . and I'm feeling all lit up / like a jar filled / with a thousand fireflies." Such small moments become large in the context of their promise of healing and their demonstration of life's power to continue. Based on Sones' own family experience, this debut novel shows the capacity of poetry to record the personal and translate it into the universal‰Ы_--Michael Cart
dogeared88's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this. It was easy to read and I liked the nice ending, as well as the author's note at the end explaining this was something close to her heart. I'm working on getting my degree to be a librarian, just like the sister. :)
katscribefever's review against another edition
3.0
I chose to read this particular verse novel because it gives a perspective not often seen, that of the people living in close proximity to someone struggling with mental illness. When author Sonya Sones was only twelve years old, her older sister had a total nervous breakdown that led to her placement in a psychiatric ward. She was diagnosed as manic-depressive, though she had never exhibited any signs before the incident. This novel is the author's bold attempt to reach out and open up discussions about mental illness that will foster compassion for those who live with mental illness every day.