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sjeckert's review
4.0
I really loved this! It was fun, interesting, and addressed some interesting themes. My only struggle was connecting the emotional impact of the situation, I needed a little more buildup to really see how what happened affected the subject of the memes. I definitely recommend it, though!
constant2m's review
5.0
Imagine A Walk to Remember but with cyberbullying. And an entire family that lives out their faith. That is this book. And it's amazing.
Tommy and Kara have been competing academically since middle school. For Tommy, it's personal. He needs to be top of the class because his brother was and it's how he will get his parents to pay attention to him. But over time, they become friends. The problem though is that before they became friends, Tommy took an embarrassing picture of Kara. Instead of deleting it as she asked him to, he shared it with his best friend and they both began making up memes about it. These memes eventually go viral without Tommy's knowledge and Kara is hurt as a result.
While this is a very entertaining story, it also deals with so many real-world problems. The issue of cyberbullying is huge. And despite all the school assemblies, I think a lot of people have no idea what cyberbullying actually is or that they are complicit in it. Even though Tommy didn't post any of the memes, he contributed to the problem by making them in the first place. He also began making them before he was friends with Kara. If they were friends and she knew about the memes and they both thought the memes were funny, it might have been fine even if they did go viral at some point. But he was having fun at her expense and when they went public she was embarrassed and hurt. That is cyberbullying. Even if it's unintentional.
Another problem that the story addressed was the health of Kara's mom. The book doesn't shy away from mental illness or depression but faces them head-on. Kara talks openly about the struggles her mom has faced and the entire family has faced because of her mom. She shares about her own struggles with depression and how she feels when her mom can't remember things. And Tommy gets to see firsthand how the entire family cares for her needs, even making her french fries every day when that's the only food she will eat. Kara's mom's challenges become Kara's motivation to help others like her.
Finally, this is an incredible story of forgiveness. That was the part of the story that was hardest for me to believe. Most parents I know, even Christian parents, would refuse to forgive a person who hurt one of their children. This family offered Tommy hospitality, listened to his story, and then showed him compassion. It's a good reminder that our character shines through the hardest times. When the default response is to forgive, a strong character is demonstrated.
I recommend this to teens and young adults and adults and anyone who loves a good story. In addition to everything else I've mentioned, it's a story of resilience and a reminder that even at our lowest points in life, we're not finished yet.
I received a free copy of the audiobook from the author and reviewed it because I loved it. The narrator did an incredible job as well.
Tommy and Kara have been competing academically since middle school. For Tommy, it's personal. He needs to be top of the class because his brother was and it's how he will get his parents to pay attention to him. But over time, they become friends. The problem though is that before they became friends, Tommy took an embarrassing picture of Kara. Instead of deleting it as she asked him to, he shared it with his best friend and they both began making up memes about it. These memes eventually go viral without Tommy's knowledge and Kara is hurt as a result.
While this is a very entertaining story, it also deals with so many real-world problems. The issue of cyberbullying is huge. And despite all the school assemblies, I think a lot of people have no idea what cyberbullying actually is or that they are complicit in it. Even though Tommy didn't post any of the memes, he contributed to the problem by making them in the first place. He also began making them before he was friends with Kara. If they were friends and she knew about the memes and they both thought the memes were funny, it might have been fine even if they did go viral at some point. But he was having fun at her expense and when they went public she was embarrassed and hurt. That is cyberbullying. Even if it's unintentional.
Another problem that the story addressed was the health of Kara's mom. The book doesn't shy away from mental illness or depression but faces them head-on. Kara talks openly about the struggles her mom has faced and the entire family has faced because of her mom. She shares about her own struggles with depression and how she feels when her mom can't remember things. And Tommy gets to see firsthand how the entire family cares for her needs, even making her french fries every day when that's the only food she will eat. Kara's mom's challenges become Kara's motivation to help others like her.
Finally, this is an incredible story of forgiveness. That was the part of the story that was hardest for me to believe. Most parents I know, even Christian parents, would refuse to forgive a person who hurt one of their children. This family offered Tommy hospitality, listened to his story, and then showed him compassion. It's a good reminder that our character shines through the hardest times. When the default response is to forgive, a strong character is demonstrated.
I recommend this to teens and young adults and adults and anyone who loves a good story. In addition to everything else I've mentioned, it's a story of resilience and a reminder that even at our lowest points in life, we're not finished yet.
I received a free copy of the audiobook from the author and reviewed it because I loved it. The narrator did an incredible job as well.
blithesquesttoread's review
5.0
I won't be able to tire myself by giving it infinite stars!!
I absolutely loved it! And the thing which made me even more excited to read it was the way it was narrated. It's something else entirely when every thought, every inch of the character is described to you. The narration made me hate the main character in the first pages but in the end made me love him a lot. Through the pages I was able to analyze the different characters, the setting, the plot etc. But the one thing I loved the most was analyzing Tommy. His nature, his feelings, his thoughts were dissected to the very inch where I thought I knew the character personally. I couldn't help but think that it has happened somewhere or this story was a real incident which was being narrated for the readers. The narration and the reality of the characters had so powerful.
I connected to the topics that 'The Girl Of All My Memes' discussed so significantly. The issues of cyber bullying, especially now with the various memes, is a subject that needs to be paid more attention. Being in school, I have seen this going around quite a bit and despite knowing the consequences, many of my peers are unable realize the intensity of the situation. And this is not the only topic that hit me.
The feelings of an individual while presenting oneself in society is something that this novel addressed prominently. Both Tommy and Kara were trying to present themselves in a manner that others will appreciate irrespective of the fact whether it is something that they really want or not. Though Kara did have an insight of what she actually want, Tommy did not have any clue. The only thing that he was sure of was time gain his parents affection and teachers attention by proving himself to be better than his brother. This is something which many people face and it is important to realize that one doesn't need to do things only to please others. This again was something really touchy and made me reflect and ponder over things that I usually dismissed in wake of the fact that I too need to prove myself to my teachers.
I was also very moved to see the connection and the love between Kara and her family. It was just something so sensitive and so amazing to read. The feeling at the end when her mom is shown full of joy with seeing Kara and Tommy together was just magnificent. I cannot describe the feeling that went through me except for the fact that I was close to tears. It was good to read how Kara dealt with her mother's illness and how she dealt with her own depression. It worked in a way of giving immense strength to the readers, of them knowing that although it is very hard to deal with situations which are not in your hand, there is always a way through which you can deal with it and make the best out if it.
I even liked the idea of symposium, it gave me a lot of ideas to work on my project and how to make the best out of it :))
The one other thing I loved in this novel was how Tommy was recounting his moments with Kara. The details of it and the way he described not only the situations but Kara as well:
'Her father was the one who hung the shining moon against the bleak and endless night. He was every hero she used to picture fighting off dragons and befriending fairies.' - I absolutely adored this description 😍
And.....
'I saw the depth of kindness in her eyes, the olive resilience that had looked upon the world of suffering and still remained determined to shine light into the resulting darkness. My heart ached for her inner beauty, as I realized how much of it I had missed, being so concerned with her outer beauty.' - It was interesting to see how Tommy finally realized that he was wrong about how he felt about Kara. From the beginning one could see his attention towards her but it was overshadowed by his need to prove himself. Or out ranking her to finally be done with his brother.
I cannot stop writing about this novel so all in all... I looooovvveeddd it! And I cannot wait to read more of Ms. Johnson's novels because I have developed an undeniable and intense liking towards the stories that she writes (especially the way she narrates them 😍😍😍)!!
I absolutely loved it! And the thing which made me even more excited to read it was the way it was narrated. It's something else entirely when every thought, every inch of the character is described to you. The narration made me hate the main character in the first pages but in the end made me love him a lot. Through the pages I was able to analyze the different characters, the setting, the plot etc. But the one thing I loved the most was analyzing Tommy. His nature, his feelings, his thoughts were dissected to the very inch where I thought I knew the character personally. I couldn't help but think that it has happened somewhere or this story was a real incident which was being narrated for the readers. The narration and the reality of the characters had so powerful.
I connected to the topics that 'The Girl Of All My Memes' discussed so significantly. The issues of cyber bullying, especially now with the various memes, is a subject that needs to be paid more attention. Being in school, I have seen this going around quite a bit and despite knowing the consequences, many of my peers are unable realize the intensity of the situation. And this is not the only topic that hit me.
The feelings of an individual while presenting oneself in society is something that this novel addressed prominently. Both Tommy and Kara were trying to present themselves in a manner that others will appreciate irrespective of the fact whether it is something that they really want or not. Though Kara did have an insight of what she actually want, Tommy did not have any clue. The only thing that he was sure of was time gain his parents affection and teachers attention by proving himself to be better than his brother. This is something which many people face and it is important to realize that one doesn't need to do things only to please others. This again was something really touchy and made me reflect and ponder over things that I usually dismissed in wake of the fact that I too need to prove myself to my teachers.
I was also very moved to see the connection and the love between Kara and her family. It was just something so sensitive and so amazing to read. The feeling at the end when her mom is shown full of joy with seeing Kara and Tommy together was just magnificent. I cannot describe the feeling that went through me except for the fact that I was close to tears. It was good to read how Kara dealt with her mother's illness and how she dealt with her own depression. It worked in a way of giving immense strength to the readers, of them knowing that although it is very hard to deal with situations which are not in your hand, there is always a way through which you can deal with it and make the best out if it.
I even liked the idea of symposium, it gave me a lot of ideas to work on my project and how to make the best out of it :))
The one other thing I loved in this novel was how Tommy was recounting his moments with Kara. The details of it and the way he described not only the situations but Kara as well:
'Her father was the one who hung the shining moon against the bleak and endless night. He was every hero she used to picture fighting off dragons and befriending fairies.' - I absolutely adored this description 😍
And.....
'I saw the depth of kindness in her eyes, the olive resilience that had looked upon the world of suffering and still remained determined to shine light into the resulting darkness. My heart ached for her inner beauty, as I realized how much of it I had missed, being so concerned with her outer beauty.' - It was interesting to see how Tommy finally realized that he was wrong about how he felt about Kara. From the beginning one could see his attention towards her but it was overshadowed by his need to prove himself. Or out ranking her to finally be done with his brother.
I cannot stop writing about this novel so all in all... I looooovvveeddd it! And I cannot wait to read more of Ms. Johnson's novels because I have developed an undeniable and intense liking towards the stories that she writes (especially the way she narrates them 😍😍😍)!!
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