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sarah2019's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
blurrypetals's review against another edition
5.0
January 11, 2022
I really wanted to reread this before starting Here's To Us and I'm glad I did, because I really didn't remember the whole book very well at all! I guess that'll happen when you read over 200 books in one year and then another 200 books before rereading one of those books.
This is still just as charming, nostalgic, and whimsical as it was when I first read it. It did leave me wanting for a little more of Silvera's classically painful stories this time, but I am excited to see what they do with this sequel so many years later!
It was also way fun to return to this now that I'm familiar with Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen in a way I wasn't when I first read it. It was fun to be able to get the references not but even nicer to realize this was written in a way where it didn't matter whether I'd seen those musicals or not!
October 10, 2018
Oh my goodness, Adam, Becky, can you guys just, like, keep writing books together? Because you knocked this out of the park and I am absolutely baffled by how masterfully it was done.
In the past, I've expressed issues with some of Becky Albertalli's writing choices, mainly that some of her characters lacked depth, but I've always still really enjoyed her writing because it was charming and fun.
On the other side of the coin, I haven't read an Adam Silvera book that I haven't loved, but his stories tend to be dour or at least a little melancholy which, for me, is a good thing, because I love dour and melancholy. Also, it says something when the guy's "happiest" ending to a book is the one where a guy's ex-boyfriend drowns to death and we're in his head as he grieves this loss.
So, even though both authors write LGBTQ+ books and this theoretically made sense for them to write a book together, it was logistically interesting to me to stick the lady who writes the cute, fluffy books that have all made me smile with the guy who writes the books about sad gay boys going through existential crises that have all made me cry. I don't know whose idea this all was, but whoever did decide to pair these two very different writers up was a genius or a group of geniuses, because this book is brilliant.
It might feel overdone to couple an idealist dreamer new to the city that never sleeps with someone who's been beaten down by the world and is reminded by this new person what it means to be alive, but it's so well done here that I have zero complaints. I can't imagine actually, genuinely calling this book or anything in it "clichéd" in any way. It's because Albertalli's and Silvera's styles are so different that this book and its own conflicting themes works as well as it does. In any other hands, it would be a much more contrived work, but it was put in safe, capable hands that molded it into something truly lovely and moving.
I was particularly fond of Ben's chapters (probably because I'm 99% sure they were Adam Silvera's chapters; if they aren't, Becky's going a really great Adam Silvera impression and vice versa) but Arthur was also really, really cute, too. Their whole story from start to finish, from post office to post office, from Chapter 1 to that metaphorical ellipsis, from cover to cover, this book was incredibly special and I would be hard pressed to name anything else quite like it.
Thanks for the early Christmas gift, Adam and Becky. I love it. I love it so, so much.
I really wanted to reread this before starting Here's To Us and I'm glad I did, because I really didn't remember the whole book very well at all! I guess that'll happen when you read over 200 books in one year and then another 200 books before rereading one of those books.
This is still just as charming, nostalgic, and whimsical as it was when I first read it. It did leave me wanting for a little more of Silvera's classically painful stories this time, but I am excited to see what they do with this sequel so many years later!
It was also way fun to return to this now that I'm familiar with Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen in a way I wasn't when I first read it. It was fun to be able to get the references not but even nicer to realize this was written in a way where it didn't matter whether I'd seen those musicals or not!
October 10, 2018
Oh my goodness, Adam, Becky, can you guys just, like, keep writing books together? Because you knocked this out of the park and I am absolutely baffled by how masterfully it was done.
In the past, I've expressed issues with some of Becky Albertalli's writing choices, mainly that some of her characters lacked depth, but I've always still really enjoyed her writing because it was charming and fun.
On the other side of the coin, I haven't read an Adam Silvera book that I haven't loved, but his stories tend to be dour or at least a little melancholy which, for me, is a good thing, because I love dour and melancholy. Also, it says something when the guy's "happiest" ending to a book is the one where a guy's ex-boyfriend drowns to death and we're in his head as he grieves this loss.
So, even though both authors write LGBTQ+ books and this theoretically made sense for them to write a book together, it was logistically interesting to me to stick the lady who writes the cute, fluffy books that have all made me smile with the guy who writes the books about sad gay boys going through existential crises that have all made me cry. I don't know whose idea this all was, but whoever did decide to pair these two very different writers up was a genius or a group of geniuses, because this book is brilliant.
It might feel overdone to couple an idealist dreamer new to the city that never sleeps with someone who's been beaten down by the world and is reminded by this new person what it means to be alive, but it's so well done here that I have zero complaints. I can't imagine actually, genuinely calling this book or anything in it "clichéd" in any way. It's because Albertalli's and Silvera's styles are so different that this book and its own conflicting themes works as well as it does. In any other hands, it would be a much more contrived work, but it was put in safe, capable hands that molded it into something truly lovely and moving.
I was particularly fond of Ben's chapters (probably because I'm 99% sure they were Adam Silvera's chapters; if they aren't, Becky's going a really great Adam Silvera impression and vice versa) but Arthur was also really, really cute, too. Their whole story from start to finish, from post office to post office, from Chapter 1 to that metaphorical ellipsis, from cover to cover, this book was incredibly special and I would be hard pressed to name anything else quite like it.
Thanks for the early Christmas gift, Adam and Becky. I love it. I love it so, so much.
joeldrama's review against another edition
4.0
cringey and could really dial down on the Hamilton references but it was cute
stepka095's review against another edition
3.0
Until the last chapter I was going with 5 stars, I was so in love with the book and with them. But the ending just crushed me, they really could have been together, they could have been in a long distance relationship for a year and then go to college near each other. But no, they had to become just best friends who support each other, they really deserved more trying.
yellowswagger's review against another edition
4.0
3.75/5 - The person I was in 2019 would have been obsessed with this book. The perkiness and extra-ness of Arthur, the references to Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton, and just the pure and light romance of it all would've melted my heart at one point. I think this book is a freshly baked cookie for any young white/white passing gay who may not otherwise feel seen. It's a cute story that I know I would've had a different appreciation for if I was at a different point in my life.
ataylor14's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
harriereads2000's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
asurasantosha's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
knitnetic's review against another edition
5.0
Goddamn, I love me some nuance and ambiguity and I felt like this book did a great job of that. I also love what it says to teenagers about love at that age: that it can be meaningful and life-shaping and world-changing without necessarily being forever.