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mehsi's review against another edition
4.0
Lucy is a girl who made a mistake, a big mistake which gave her HIV.
I am still not sure what to think of Lucy, she is a nice girl, but also very stubborn, to a point where she almost denied treatment, and denied telling anyone about it. Not even her friends. Now I can imagine it... if your ex runs off when you tell him, acts like you are poisonous. :(
But in the end she gets through with everything, she gets medicines, she gets help, she meets new friends and her older friends stay with her.
I really hated the Principal, and the overall reaction to everyone when they heard she had HIV. Seriously, with the coming of internet, and even with no internet, there is enough info out there, enough things to know what it is, and that it isn't contagious. Yet everyone acts like she is some kind of contagious demon. Really sad. I would think that in this time and age people would understand things a bit more. :(
Also disliked the mother, she was totally irresponsible and immature.
I loved the ending of the book.
I am still not sure what to think of Lucy, she is a nice girl, but also very stubborn, to a point where she almost denied treatment, and denied telling anyone about it. Not even her friends. Now I can imagine it... if your ex runs off when you tell him, acts like you are poisonous. :(
But in the end she gets through with everything, she gets medicines, she gets help, she meets new friends and her older friends stay with her.
I really hated the Principal, and the overall reaction to everyone when they heard she had HIV. Seriously, with the coming of internet, and even with no internet, there is enough info out there, enough things to know what it is, and that it isn't contagious. Yet everyone acts like she is some kind of contagious demon. Really sad. I would think that in this time and age people would understand things a bit more. :(
Also disliked the mother, she was totally irresponsible and immature.
I loved the ending of the book.
mayris88's review
5.0
All I can say is wow, Jessica Verdi did a beautiful job writing this book.
This story was amazing, I loved it and I really think everyone should read it.
This story was amazing, I loved it and I really think everyone should read it.
aliaspaine's review against another edition
3.0
Wish Elyse got a good dose of Karma... herpes from ex and gave it to Ty to boot? LOL Or Daddy had to transfer to the Philippines? =P
marthamaereads's review against another edition
4.0
This book was absolutely heartbreaking. It was so realistic I found myself sharing in Lucy's pain and suffering as she struggles though one of the toughest things I think anyone could go through.
shhchar's review against another edition
2.0
2022 ⭐️ ⭐️ re-read (maybe a trigger warning? / mild spoilers / this book is lame):
As I near my 25th birthday, I felt a compulsion to re-read a book that's existed on my bookshelf as a favorite since I first read it at 16 years old. Well, I took the disappointment like a champ and though it may be fair to say many things have changed in our cultural perceptions of sex and its consequences since this book was written, it didn't have to be so darn perpetuating of the stigmas!!!!!!.
It was written like a Glee script that tried to moralize on highly complex, stigmatized issues. There is early-on unaddressed sexual assault, woven throughout the novel with the author not-so subtly placing the blame on Lucy for being dressed like "a vixen in all black" and underage drinking too much at a NYC bar. The character of Roxie felt a tad like a racist trope of the helpful Black side friend assisting the main white protagonist without getting agency of her own. She leads an adult group therapy, takes care of her 11 year-old-brother since their mother died of HIV and they got shuffled into foster care, works at NYU and invites Lucy to what's a very lucrative audition for her even though she admittedly did not deserve it because of her own childish actions, all while Roxie still somehow also goes to high school.
Lucy's revulsion to her own body and blood felt very shitty and real when I have experienced the same sort of feeling in response to personal illnesses but instead of Verdi offering a light at the end of all that, it was just unnecessarily hammered into the reader especially with the character of Evan. Lucy abhorred therapy though it continued to help her which is a tinsy bit relatable but also probably was not helpful for impressionable younger me to soak in. Regardless, the outcome of this story ought to have been that everything will be okay because sexually transmitted diseases are things that people live with daily and reflect NOTHING of who you are as a person. Instead it was, Lucy will be offered all these awesome chances and have all the resources that other people with HIV do not get because she is Lucy, a great actor and soulful musician.
I do give Verdi credit for talking about stuff that very few other YA authors were covering at this time. I just wish it didn't feel so outdated.
original 2013 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ review:
Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting out of this book. The blurb leaves the plot ambiguous, and I expected it to just be a simple romance. Let me tell you, the cute cover and light synopsis are just very favorable ploys. One of the reasons I read the book right after getting it, even though I'd never even heard of it before purchasing it and usually books sit on my shelf forever before they get read, was that it was so mysterious I just needed to figure out what was hidden within. All of these factors played out very well into the book's hands, and I don't want to ruin it for anyone else by discussing too much of the plot in this review.
I think everyone should read this book. I think everyone needs to read this book. The writing is simple but at the same time extremely compelling. While little things were predictable, the main plot lines weren't. I connected to Lucy and all the other characters and empathized with them. This is a book I'll definitely recommend to family and friends.
As I near my 25th birthday, I felt a compulsion to re-read a book that's existed on my bookshelf as a favorite since I first read it at 16 years old. Well, I took the disappointment like a champ and though it may be fair to say many things have changed in our cultural perceptions of sex and its consequences since this book was written, it didn't have to be so darn perpetuating of the stigmas!!!!!!.
It was written like a Glee script that tried to moralize on highly complex, stigmatized issues. There is early-on unaddressed sexual assault, woven throughout the novel with the author not-so subtly placing the blame on Lucy for being dressed like "a vixen in all black" and underage drinking too much at a NYC bar. The character of Roxie felt a tad like a racist trope of the helpful Black side friend assisting the main white protagonist without getting agency of her own. She leads an adult group therapy, takes care of her 11 year-old-brother since their mother died of HIV and they got shuffled into foster care, works at NYU and invites Lucy to what's a very lucrative audition for her even though she admittedly did not deserve it because of her own childish actions, all while Roxie still somehow also goes to high school.
Lucy's revulsion to her own body and blood felt very shitty and real when I have experienced the same sort of feeling in response to personal illnesses but instead of Verdi offering a light at the end of all that, it was just unnecessarily hammered into the reader especially with the character of Evan. Lucy abhorred therapy though it continued to help her which is a tinsy bit relatable but also probably was not helpful for impressionable younger me to soak in. Regardless, the outcome of this story ought to have been that everything will be okay because sexually transmitted diseases are things that people live with daily and reflect NOTHING of who you are as a person. Instead it was, Lucy will be offered all these awesome chances and have all the resources that other people with HIV do not get because she is Lucy, a great actor and soulful musician.
I do give Verdi credit for talking about stuff that very few other YA authors were covering at this time. I just wish it didn't feel so outdated.
original 2013 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ review:
Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting out of this book. The blurb leaves the plot ambiguous, and I expected it to just be a simple romance. Let me tell you, the cute cover and light synopsis are just very favorable ploys. One of the reasons I read the book right after getting it, even though I'd never even heard of it before purchasing it and usually books sit on my shelf forever before they get read, was that it was so mysterious I just needed to figure out what was hidden within. All of these factors played out very well into the book's hands, and I don't want to ruin it for anyone else by discussing too much of the plot in this review.
I think everyone should read this book. I think everyone needs to read this book. The writing is simple but at the same time extremely compelling. While little things were predictable, the main plot lines weren't. I connected to Lucy and all the other characters and empathized with them. This is a book I'll definitely recommend to family and friends.
jodielizabeth85's review against another edition
5.0
by far one of the best books i have ever read. such a fantastic, heart wrenching, eye-opening read.
its not too often i pick up a book and become so involved in it that i cant think of anything else but to read it. and this has done it to me. i finished it in a day. i laughed and cried and was mad and sympathetic, the whole works.
ppl are so blind and discriminating to what they dont know and dont want to know. HIV is such a scary disease. and scary enough dealing with the disease itself to have to deal with worrying what ppl might say or how they will treat you or say about you. i think this book is going to be such an eye opener for ppl. hopefully anyway. i loved it!
its not too often i pick up a book and become so involved in it that i cant think of anything else but to read it. and this has done it to me. i finished it in a day. i laughed and cried and was mad and sympathetic, the whole works.
ppl are so blind and discriminating to what they dont know and dont want to know. HIV is such a scary disease. and scary enough dealing with the disease itself to have to deal with worrying what ppl might say or how they will treat you or say about you. i think this book is going to be such an eye opener for ppl. hopefully anyway. i loved it!
barefootmegz's review against another edition
3.0
Three stars is not a bad rating! I thought this book was great and did what it set out to do. It was a bit juvenile at times, and the dialogue didn't always seem genuine, but in general, it was so worth the read! I'll do a discussion post soon-ish.
missbookiverse's review against another edition
3.0
In My Life After Now geht es um etwas, das dein Leben komplett umkrempelt und aus der Bahn wirft. Theoretisch kann es jedem passieren, praktisch verrate ich euch nicht, was genau es ist. Das erfährt man im Buch nämlich auch nicht sofort.
Auf jeden Fall ist das Thema unverbraucht. Ich habe noch nie ein Buch gelesen, das sich damit beschäftigt. Gerade bei Jugendliteratur dürfte es nicht besonders verbreitet sein. Schön ist, dass in Lucys Geschichte nicht alles sofort glatt läuft. Ihre Mitmenschen reagieren nicht immer mit Verständnis auf ihren “neuen Zustand” und der erste Doktor, den sie aufsucht, entpuppt sich nicht als perfekter Sympathieträger.
Außerdem fand ich es super, dass Lucy zwei Dads hat :)
Leider bleibt von My Life After Now nicht mehr viel übrig, wenn man sich den Hauptkonflikt wegdenkt. Der Roman lebt von seinen ungewöhnlichen Umständen. Die Figuren allein kommen blass daher und verhalten sich hier und da selten dämlich. Lucys Exfreund, mit dem sie 1 1/2 Jahre zusammen war, wirkt beispielsweise wie eine Karikatur. Erst macht er aus heiterem Himmel mit ihr Schluss, dann ist sie nach einer Woche schon darüber hinweg und bereit für neue Dates, nur um ein paar Wochen später wieder auf ihn hereinzufallen (auch noch auf die gleiche Tour wegen der er eigentlich mit ihr Schluss gemacht hat). Augenrollen deluxe.
Ach und kann mal jemand ein Verbot für die Schultheateraufführung von Romeo und Julia aussprechen? Ich kann das nicht mehr lesen/sehen/hören.
Im Endeffekt liest das Buch sich weg wie nichts und spricht als eines von wenigen ein wichtiges Thema an. Hätte die Autorin doch bloß genauso viel Herzblut in die Figuren und den Schreibstil gesteckt.
Auf jeden Fall ist das Thema unverbraucht. Ich habe noch nie ein Buch gelesen, das sich damit beschäftigt. Gerade bei Jugendliteratur dürfte es nicht besonders verbreitet sein. Schön ist, dass in Lucys Geschichte nicht alles sofort glatt läuft. Ihre Mitmenschen reagieren nicht immer mit Verständnis auf ihren “neuen Zustand” und der erste Doktor, den sie aufsucht, entpuppt sich nicht als perfekter Sympathieträger.
Außerdem fand ich es super, dass Lucy zwei Dads hat :)
Leider bleibt von My Life After Now nicht mehr viel übrig, wenn man sich den Hauptkonflikt wegdenkt. Der Roman lebt von seinen ungewöhnlichen Umständen. Die Figuren allein kommen blass daher und verhalten sich hier und da selten dämlich. Lucys Exfreund, mit dem sie 1 1/2 Jahre zusammen war, wirkt beispielsweise wie eine Karikatur. Erst macht er aus heiterem Himmel mit ihr Schluss, dann ist sie nach einer Woche schon darüber hinweg und bereit für neue Dates, nur um ein paar Wochen später wieder auf ihn hereinzufallen (auch noch auf die gleiche Tour wegen der er eigentlich mit ihr Schluss gemacht hat). Augenrollen deluxe.
Ach und kann mal jemand ein Verbot für die Schultheateraufführung von Romeo und Julia aussprechen? Ich kann das nicht mehr lesen/sehen/hören.
Im Endeffekt liest das Buch sich weg wie nichts und spricht als eines von wenigen ein wichtiges Thema an. Hätte die Autorin doch bloß genauso viel Herzblut in die Figuren und den Schreibstil gesteckt.
dizzybell06's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed some parts of this book, but others really didn't do it for me. I found most of the characters to be annoying, and I don't get how someone who never goes out and drinks and makes choices they would consider bad goes and gets completely trashed and makes life-changing decisions because of some bad news. This book was overly dramatic and disappointing. Again, I feel like the author had a platform to teach about a very serious issue, but instead showed readers that everything works out great in the end. This would have been a great opportunity to show readers how Lucy suffered from the consequences of her decision and how the disease really started to effect her life.
andreathereader's review against another edition
4.0
Lucy and her boyfriend of a year and a half, Ty, are starring in the school’s performance of Romeo and Juliet. Lucy lost the part of Juliet to the school’s snobby prima donna, Elyse, but she’s embracing her role as Mercutio. Her two besties, Max and Courtney, are there for her no matter what. When Lucy sees that Elyse is flirting with Ty, she’s not worried. She and Ty are meant to be. Unfortunately, Ty doesn’t agree and dumps her for Elyse. And to top her crappy week off, her absentee mother shows up and Lucy’s dads let her move in with them. In an effort to forget about her life for a while, Lucy goes home with a drummer from the club she, Max and Courtney go to. After her humiliating walk of shame, she’s ready to put the whole incident behind her. When she learns she has HIV, Lucy is devastated. How will she tell everyone? Will anyone ever want to touch her again? And how long until she dies?
Lucy was a very relatable character. She was your average good girl who made a mistake. Who hasn’t done something out of character just to shake things up a bit? Usually, though, it doesn’t end as badly as it did for Lucy. And though I think the mistake she made was pretty stupid, and not one many other people would make, she was young and innocent and just didn’t know any better. But that was just one of the times, among several, I thought Lucy acted immature for her age.
She was very lucky to have the support of her two fathers, who were just about the perfect parents. They were supportive and kind and let their daughter lead her own life. And Lucy’s mom was pretty much the definition of “shitty mom.” Yikes. It’s amazing Lucy turned out as normal as she did, considering her mother. I was disappointed in the way Max and Courtney treated Lucy in the beginning. They were supposed to be such great friends, but as soon as Lucy got a little grumpy, they just gave up on her and left her behind. I loved Evan, he was so kind and truly her friend.
The dialogue was believable and honest. I especially liked how real Lucy and her fathers were once they started talking about her diagnosis. Her fathers, especially, went out of their way to talk about HIV like it wasn’t a devastating thing. They were careful not to make Lucy feel bad, or like she deserved it. Really, they were an awesome example of how parents should act in a situation like this.
I liked the writing, though I think a few things were glossed over. Lucy’s night out at the club, the time immediately after, and various situations after her diagnosis, I felt all could have used more. More discussion, more details or more depth. The plot was a unique one, I can’t recall reading one where the main character contracted HIV (not saying they aren’t out there, just that I haven’t read them). What a harsh lesson for someone to learn. The details and statistics worked into the story were scary and sad and made the book more realistic and relevant. Near the end, it got to be too preachy for my taste. It was almost like the story took on a completely different tone.
The sum up: This story has a great message wrapped up in an entertaining story.
Lucy was a very relatable character. She was your average good girl who made a mistake. Who hasn’t done something out of character just to shake things up a bit? Usually, though, it doesn’t end as badly as it did for Lucy. And though I think the mistake she made was pretty stupid, and not one many other people would make, she was young and innocent and just didn’t know any better. But that was just one of the times, among several, I thought Lucy acted immature for her age.
She was very lucky to have the support of her two fathers, who were just about the perfect parents. They were supportive and kind and let their daughter lead her own life. And Lucy’s mom was pretty much the definition of “shitty mom.” Yikes. It’s amazing Lucy turned out as normal as she did, considering her mother. I was disappointed in the way Max and Courtney treated Lucy in the beginning. They were supposed to be such great friends, but as soon as Lucy got a little grumpy, they just gave up on her and left her behind. I loved Evan, he was so kind and truly her friend.
The dialogue was believable and honest. I especially liked how real Lucy and her fathers were once they started talking about her diagnosis. Her fathers, especially, went out of their way to talk about HIV like it wasn’t a devastating thing. They were careful not to make Lucy feel bad, or like she deserved it. Really, they were an awesome example of how parents should act in a situation like this.
I liked the writing, though I think a few things were glossed over. Lucy’s night out at the club, the time immediately after, and various situations after her diagnosis, I felt all could have used more. More discussion, more details or more depth. The plot was a unique one, I can’t recall reading one where the main character contracted HIV (not saying they aren’t out there, just that I haven’t read them). What a harsh lesson for someone to learn. The details and statistics worked into the story were scary and sad and made the book more realistic and relevant. Near the end, it got to be too preachy for my taste. It was almost like the story took on a completely different tone.
The sum up: This story has a great message wrapped up in an entertaining story.