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sarahreading2648592's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
minas_elessar's review against another edition
2.0
I wish I had liked this book more. but wow, there were just so many things going on and none of it really got resolved so it was just kind of upsetting. I am glad that someone is writing about bisexuality in YA, but I do think many parents won't want to let their teen children read this because there is so much sex going on in it.
jvillatuya's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
wolveyfox's review
3.0
DNF
got the book for a project and couldnt finish it. so much is happening during the book that i would get whiplash, i started to actually dislike the main character, and the nsfw moments seemed to be put in to appeal to a specific audience. a wonderful idea for a book, just not really executed in the right way..
got the book for a project and couldnt finish it. so much is happening during the book that i would get whiplash, i started to actually dislike the main character, and the nsfw moments seemed to be put in to appeal to a specific audience. a wonderful idea for a book, just not really executed in the right way..
lmriese's review
4.0
So I really do not understand why this book has such a low rating, I quite enjoyed this novel. When I first stumbled upon this book, I thought the description sounded absolutely wonderful so I was thrown by the bad reviews, I didn't want to read many because I didn't want them to taint how I would feel about the book.
I still really don't get it, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it gave me great joy to read, it made me feel things as I read it. It follows a 17 year-old guy for about a year of his life. It focuses on his relationships with his family and his friends, coworkers, we see his first romantic/sexual experiences, pretty standard, stuff I really enjoy reading about. There's plot points of divorce, alcohol/drug abuse, pregnancy, and sexuality, all things that pique my interest. And I thought they were talked about very well (well, maybe not perfectly, but enough to keep me reading). Very, very realistically IMO, which as I've myself grown out of the YA age bracket find not that common in YA novels. If you want to read about the day to day experiences and little struggles that a teen boy experiences, this did a very good job of that.
So the entire time I was reading this I was really just waiting for the other shoe to drop, for me to come across some really awful scene that just ruins the novel -but it never happened.
Here's my best guess as for why you might not like the book:
1. You hate hearing about teenage guy "stuff." - This book is realistic. which I LOVE, it talks about sex a lot, the protagonists curses like any 17 year old does. I thought it made for a very realistic portrayal of a teen who's a little insecure and trying not to show it, trying to act cooler than they are. This is not a fade-to-black novel. You get the details of his sexual encounters, not so much that this is a smut book, but also enough that maybe this book is best suited for older teens (which I do think it is, and there's more reasons why). But I liked hearing that, it was one of the reasons I kept reading the book.
2. You need your characters to be redeemed and/or perfect. - Again the best word for this book is realistic. I could picture all the characters in this book as real people, they made bad choices, they made choices influenced by their emotions, it felt real. That being said, people do some stupid stuff in this book, and it isn't necessarily called out by the author or fixed by the characters. If you need your characters to realize all there mistakes, this book will annoy you. This is why maybe this book isn't best for younger teens, it doesn't outright condemn the homophobic and other derogatory and "immoral" behavior that happens in this book. I suppose this book is for someone who is mature enough to think critically about the behavior that is portrayed. I actually had to double check that this was a YA novel, because frankly if it was intended for an adult audience, I wouldn't have been surprised.
3. You need a solid story arc, with a big old resolution at the end. - The one thing about this book is, it doesn't tie up any ends (but it also doesn't really creating any ends anyway). The description mentions Will's relationships with Brandy and Angus, which would make you assume that this book will end with him choosing one of them (or none, or both) - but making some final decision about his relationship with them. Yeah, it doesn't happen. Though there isn't some big realization that Will had about himself and Brandy and Will, I still really enjoyed those plot lines, like a lot.
4. The ending was a nonevent. - Coming off of point #3, since this book doesn't really have one solid storyline that builds up to anything, the book just kinda ends. I will admit, I got the last page and was like wait what? I expected at least one more chapter that was at least like, "I waved goodbye to Angus as he left for college, yada yada." Nothing crazy but I was disappointed a little. I truly would have read another 200 pages of Will's life, another 200 pages may have allowed their to be plot lines that got actually tied up. In some ways, it kinda felt like this book wasn't finished, like maybe I was missing the last half of the book or something. Although I say, the ending didn't tie anything up, it also didn't leave anything for you to question, at least I was okay with that since it's how the whole novel went.
Though for me those 4 reason didn't not outweigh the things I really liked about this book, which was namely how real the characters felt, how real their life experiences felt. There were little mundane, nuances that made me go YES! that's exactly how that feels! I really connected with this book. Perhaps it's because I'm no longer a teenager, it kinda was like a trip down memory lane to what being a teenager was all about, good and bad.
My real criticisms of this novel is that description should have focused more on Will's family life than his romantic life, it's a bit misleading. This a book where the protagonist happens to be bisexual, its not a book about the protagonists bisexuality, which it appears many people expected it to be. My other real gripe is that this almost isn't a novel. What I mean by that is, it feels more like a memoir, in fact, during the first few chapters I was kinda expecting the protagonist to say "And this is the story of how everything changed...", and directly reference the book. It doesn't do that though. Because there isn't an overarching plot, what you end up with what is just a look at this kids life, a year in a 17 year-old's life. It's a slice of life. Which I really love reading, but could understand could be disappointing to some. So maybe this book wouldn't have such low reviews if it was more clear about that.
I will say though, this book doesn't really feel like it was written/published in 2015. 2007, sure. The way the bisexuality is handled isn't great. I mean there's the author's note about never outright using the word "bisexual" because the world Will lives in wouldn't have necessarily used it, is fine, makes total sense, this isn't a novel about finding your identity and sticking a label on it. But taking a step back from the fact that, yeah I enjoyed this book, and critically looking at it, it's bisexual portrays was garbage, it could have and should have been better. For a gender studies course on queer literature, we read Harris's Invisible Life. It follows a queer man who has a romantic relationships with both a man and a woman concurrently. The consensus on that was, yeah it's justified but still not a great thing to do. That book is from the 90s. This book falls right into the that same trope, which is sad and honestly I do think the author could have dealt with it better. Now, don't get me wrong, I love characters who do questionable things, cause that real! So the idea of Will "cheating" I have no problem with as far as it makes sense for his character. But I do think the carrying on with two people at the same time just because they're different genders and he's bisexual is lame, and in 2015 deserves more criticism from the author. Will wasn't at real risk if he came out (unlike the protagonist in the 90s novel), he could have, fairly easily been out to some people, so I don't think his behavior gets a pass for that reason. In this case, this novel is perpetuating the stereotype of bisexual people being hypersexual people, and thats not fair. I think if the author wanted to do something about bisexual awareness, they missed the mark on that completely, and it's why I deducted one star. The author should have avoided that trope all together or introduced ethical non-monagamy/polyamory to actually be relevant.
All in all, I would totally recommend this book if you love realistic novels with flawed characters, and you don't need a big cheesy plot line where they all live happily ever after, my only caveat is to read this critically -especially the bisexuality aspect. I'd be into reading a sequel for this book, but I'd only support it if the author did some positive, non-stereortypical bisexual portrayal.
I still really don't get it, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it gave me great joy to read, it made me feel things as I read it. It follows a 17 year-old guy for about a year of his life. It focuses on his relationships with his family and his friends, coworkers, we see his first romantic/sexual experiences, pretty standard, stuff I really enjoy reading about. There's plot points of divorce, alcohol/drug abuse, pregnancy, and sexuality, all things that pique my interest. And I thought they were talked about very well (well, maybe not perfectly, but enough to keep me reading). Very, very realistically IMO, which as I've myself grown out of the YA age bracket find not that common in YA novels. If you want to read about the day to day experiences and little struggles that a teen boy experiences, this did a very good job of that.
So the entire time I was reading this I was really just waiting for the other shoe to drop, for me to come across some really awful scene that just ruins the novel -but it never happened.
Here's my best guess as for why you might not like the book:
1. You hate hearing about teenage guy "stuff." - This book is realistic. which I LOVE, it talks about sex a lot, the protagonists curses like any 17 year old does. I thought it made for a very realistic portrayal of a teen who's a little insecure and trying not to show it, trying to act cooler than they are. This is not a fade-to-black novel. You get the details of his sexual encounters, not so much that this is a smut book, but also enough that maybe this book is best suited for older teens (which I do think it is, and there's more reasons why). But I liked hearing that, it was one of the reasons I kept reading the book.
2. You need your characters to be redeemed and/or perfect. - Again the best word for this book is realistic. I could picture all the characters in this book as real people, they made bad choices, they made choices influenced by their emotions, it felt real. That being said, people do some stupid stuff in this book, and it isn't necessarily called out by the author or fixed by the characters. If you need your characters to realize all there mistakes, this book will annoy you. This is why maybe this book isn't best for younger teens, it doesn't outright condemn the homophobic and other derogatory and "immoral" behavior that happens in this book. I suppose this book is for someone who is mature enough to think critically about the behavior that is portrayed. I actually had to double check that this was a YA novel, because frankly if it was intended for an adult audience, I wouldn't have been surprised.
3. You need a solid story arc, with a big old resolution at the end. - The one thing about this book is, it doesn't tie up any ends (but it also doesn't really creating any ends anyway). The description mentions Will's relationships with Brandy and Angus, which would make you assume that this book will end with him choosing one of them (or none, or both) - but making some final decision about his relationship with them. Yeah, it doesn't happen. Though there isn't some big realization that Will had about himself and Brandy and Will, I still really enjoyed those plot lines, like a lot.
4. The ending was a nonevent. - Coming off of point #3, since this book doesn't really have one solid storyline that builds up to anything, the book just kinda ends. I will admit, I got the last page and was like wait what? I expected at least one more chapter that was at least like, "I waved goodbye to Angus as he left for college, yada yada." Nothing crazy but I was disappointed a little. I truly would have read another 200 pages of Will's life, another 200 pages may have allowed their to be plot lines that got actually tied up. In some ways, it kinda felt like this book wasn't finished, like maybe I was missing the last half of the book or something. Although I say, the ending didn't tie anything up, it also didn't leave anything for you to question, at least I was okay with that since it's how the whole novel went.
Though for me those 4 reason didn't not outweigh the things I really liked about this book, which was namely how real the characters felt, how real their life experiences felt. There were little mundane, nuances that made me go YES! that's exactly how that feels! I really connected with this book. Perhaps it's because I'm no longer a teenager, it kinda was like a trip down memory lane to what being a teenager was all about, good and bad.
My real criticisms of this novel is that description should have focused more on Will's family life than his romantic life, it's a bit misleading. This a book where the protagonist happens to be bisexual, its not a book about the protagonists bisexuality, which it appears many people expected it to be. My other real gripe is that this almost isn't a novel. What I mean by that is, it feels more like a memoir, in fact, during the first few chapters I was kinda expecting the protagonist to say "And this is the story of how everything changed...", and directly reference the book. It doesn't do that though. Because there isn't an overarching plot, what you end up with what is just a look at this kids life, a year in a 17 year-old's life. It's a slice of life. Which I really love reading, but could understand could be disappointing to some. So maybe this book wouldn't have such low reviews if it was more clear about that.
I will say though, this book doesn't really feel like it was written/published in 2015. 2007, sure. The way the bisexuality is handled isn't great. I mean there's the author's note about never outright using the word "bisexual" because the world Will lives in wouldn't have necessarily used it, is fine, makes total sense, this isn't a novel about finding your identity and sticking a label on it. But taking a step back from the fact that, yeah I enjoyed this book, and critically looking at it, it's bisexual portrays was garbage, it could have and should have been better. For a gender studies course on queer literature, we read Harris's Invisible Life. It follows a queer man who has a romantic relationships with both a man and a woman concurrently. The consensus on that was, yeah it's justified but still not a great thing to do. That book is from the 90s. This book falls right into the that same trope, which is sad and honestly I do think the author could have dealt with it better. Now, don't get me wrong, I love characters who do questionable things, cause that real! So the idea of Will "cheating" I have no problem with as far as it makes sense for his character. But I do think the carrying on with two people at the same time just because they're different genders and he's bisexual is lame, and in 2015 deserves more criticism from the author. Will wasn't at real risk if he came out (unlike the protagonist in the 90s novel), he could have, fairly easily been out to some people, so I don't think his behavior gets a pass for that reason. In this case, this novel is perpetuating the stereotype of bisexual people being hypersexual people, and thats not fair. I think if the author wanted to do something about bisexual awareness, they missed the mark on that completely, and it's why I deducted one star. The author should have avoided that trope all together or introduced ethical non-monagamy/polyamory to actually be relevant.
All in all, I would totally recommend this book if you love realistic novels with flawed characters, and you don't need a big cheesy plot line where they all live happily ever after, my only caveat is to read this critically -especially the bisexuality aspect. I'd be into reading a sequel for this book, but I'd only support it if the author did some positive, non-stereortypical bisexual portrayal.
ris_stitches's review against another edition
4.0
I can't get over all of the negative reviews and complaints about this book. Were you guys never teenagers?
dearestdorian's review against another edition
3.0
This book is bland. There's not much going on in it, and even the narrator seems bored.
It's just babble about his everyday life, and a mild identity crisis that doesn't even seem to bother him. He carries on with two people at once - his girlfriend and his male best friend - and even though you'd think it would be interesting, it's dull as dishwater.
The main character is thoroughly unlikable, but mostly because there's not much to him. His emotions range between bored and mildly amused.
I had high expectations when I picked this up, but I didn't find it worth the time.
If you're looking for an in-depth story about a teenager discovering his sexuality, in a way that complicates his life and provides drama, this isn't the one for you.
It's just babble about his everyday life, and a mild identity crisis that doesn't even seem to bother him. He carries on with two people at once - his girlfriend and his male best friend - and even though you'd think it would be interesting, it's dull as dishwater.
The main character is thoroughly unlikable, but mostly because there's not much to him. His emotions range between bored and mildly amused.
I had high expectations when I picked this up, but I didn't find it worth the time.
If you're looking for an in-depth story about a teenager discovering his sexuality, in a way that complicates his life and provides drama, this isn't the one for you.
professionalreader's review against another edition
I really liked this book but the ending... it just was lacking for me.
sidneyellwood's review
2.0
I was excited for this book because hey, we do need more portrayals of bisexuality in fiction, but unfortunately, the way the author chose to portray bisexuality was absolutely dismal and filled with stereotypes, and the author decides not to identify him as bisexual the entire book. I know that people want to avoid labels but this is not helpful for bisexual teens figuring out their sexuality. Mesrobian also stated, in her authors note, that she wanted to explore falling in love with a best friend and how bi teens come to the realization that they're bisexual - well, let me tell you this: you can explore both without resorting to the unfortunate stereotype of infidelity. Consent and communication would have made this book so much better; exploring a bi polyamorous relationship would have been interesting! But, no. He had to cheat.
Both relationships themselves didn't feel developed, nor did the characters in them. Through the entire book it felt like they were only in it for the sex. I don't mind that the book is explicit, but it's the utter lack of any chemistry between either Brandy and Will, or Angus and Will.
Both relationships themselves didn't feel developed, nor did the characters in them. Through the entire book it felt like they were only in it for the sex. I don't mind that the book is explicit, but it's the utter lack of any chemistry between either Brandy and Will, or Angus and Will.
Spoiler
It's the pregnancy subplot which lasts for all of two chapters to add drama. It's the fact that Will's implied to be cheating on both of them without a word to either for a while after the book. The ending was unsatisfying and cleared up exactly nothing. I felt like I was left hanging, like nothing was resolved, like the climax should have been fifty pages earlier.foksha_1996's review
1.0
Whoa who wrote this book? A 10 year old? I couldn't even read the first chapter. The cover is amazing tho... such a shame