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karissachaput's review against another edition
3.0
Not too shabby.
But could of been a hell of a lot better.
I just found it went way too fast through those four years. The big things that can alter a persons life seemed so small in comparison to the miniscule things, which came off as the biggest problems ever. That just threw me off for half the book.
And seriously, I do not remember going through high school and thinking like they did. It almost made me dry-heave. It was ridiculous. Maybe I already knew what I liked and what I didn't, but reading about their high school experience made me cringe.
But could of been a hell of a lot better.
I just found it went way too fast through those four years. The big things that can alter a persons life seemed so small in comparison to the miniscule things, which came off as the biggest problems ever. That just threw me off for half the book.
And seriously, I do not remember going through high school and thinking like they did. It almost made me dry-heave. It was ridiculous. Maybe I already knew what I liked and what I didn't, but reading about their high school experience made me cringe.
heatherg213's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
labunnywtf's review against another edition
4.0
Every single person down there is ignoring your pain because they're too busy with their own. The beautiful ones. The popular ones. The guys that pick on you. Everyone. If you could hear what they were feeling. The loneliness. The confusion. It looks quiet down there. It's not. It's deafening.Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 3 - "Earshot"
I've been burning through audiobooks like they were...erm...actual books. So, I've taken serious advantage of the apps that my library uses for audiobooks, like Overdrive and Hoopla.
Except I've run out of titles I know on those apps, or at least ones that don't have holds on them. So, I dive into the unknown. Scary place, leading to lots of angry DNF reviews.
I glanced over the reviews on Goodreads before downloading this (Seriously, 10 downloads a month who can survive on that?), and it seemed this was a solid three star piece of fluff. Let's do it.
I enjoyed this a great deal. It's Judy Blume-ish, where nothing bad really happens to anyone, but also there's sex. And some cursing. It's a rather confused age range, really. But again, nothing bad really happens to these people. I was anticipating bad, but this book kept it on the fluffy side.
This is your quintessential high school experience novel. It starts out with the feel of The Breakfast Club, a mish mash of different cliques, and you experience the growth of each character throughout the four school years. They don't all stay together, which is actually what I had anticipated going in. I was very pleased to see that wasn't the case.
The characters are all loveable. My favorite was Mia, who is the Aly Sheedy of the piece. I was a bit perturbed when she decided to blend rather than stand out, but her personality still shone through, and she didn't lose herself. That's all I can ask.
The friendships and relationships here feel so very real. The two minute boyfriends/girlfriends, the toxic friends, the 21st century equivalent of the three-way call nightmare. If you remove the existence of cell phones, this story could take place in any decade, in any town.
What really and truly is the joy of this book, though, is seeing it as a reminder of what a small world high school truly was. (Or, if the reader is actually still in high school, realizing it). It's high school with a twist of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Little insignificant things happening in your life are affecting someone else near you in a major way.
As someone 15 years removed from high school, it makes me look back and think, "Hunh. Wonder what was happening while I was wrapped in my own little head."
It's the Buffy speech from Earshot. It's rather amazing.
christiana's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this concept quite a bit and I think it could be reassuring for teens going into high school (although they'd have to be ok with some older high school actions-this book follows 5 teens all the way through high school). I wish we could have had more than just glimpses into each of their lives, but I get it's a lot of characters and time to compress. Thanks for being a reliable author always, Carolyn Mackler.
lanaglennon's review against another edition
4.0
I actually listened to this as an audiobook, which I haven’t really done before. I remember listening to one when I was about 11, and The Truth About Alice earlier this year, but other than that audio books aren’t really my thing.
It was nice to be able to listen to it while I did other things, and to hear the voice the speaker gave to the different characters. I think she did a good job, making them distinct, but not too overdone.
The title was what caught my attention at first. The cover isn’t very flashy, and I didn’t read the description, I just requested the book from my library. As it began, it took me some time to adjust to getting used to her switching between the different viewpoints of the characters. There were a few times when I wasn’t completely sure who was talking, but other than those times it was fairly easy to follow.
The plotline wasn’t too common, and it was simple enough to follow. The writing was done well, using a professional tone, yet conveying the youth of the characters. The characters were written with depth, and clearly portrayed the adolescent emotional changes that teens go through, instead of making them completely constant.
The low points weren’t what I expected, and I could only vaguely predict when they would be. The story showed the teens going through their depression or struggle for identity, but then showed them overcoming that, while not making them a super human.
I do think this was a really good book, and I would recommend it to most people 16+. There is a bit of language and sexual content.
Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
It was nice to be able to listen to it while I did other things, and to hear the voice the speaker gave to the different characters. I think she did a good job, making them distinct, but not too overdone.
The title was what caught my attention at first. The cover isn’t very flashy, and I didn’t read the description, I just requested the book from my library. As it began, it took me some time to adjust to getting used to her switching between the different viewpoints of the characters. There were a few times when I wasn’t completely sure who was talking, but other than those times it was fairly easy to follow.
The plotline wasn’t too common, and it was simple enough to follow. The writing was done well, using a professional tone, yet conveying the youth of the characters. The characters were written with depth, and clearly portrayed the adolescent emotional changes that teens go through, instead of making them completely constant.
The low points weren’t what I expected, and I could only vaguely predict when they would be. The story showed the teens going through their depression or struggle for identity, but then showed them overcoming that, while not making them a super human.
I do think this was a really good book, and I would recommend it to most people 16+. There is a bit of language and sexual content.
Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
alexabianco's review against another edition
2.0
Way too many characters, stories kept switching and it was hard to keep up. Because there were so many characters it was hard to see any of them really grow throughout the book.
eabad22's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really enjoyed reading this book. This book shows the lives of 5 teenagers- Gregor, Zoe, Jake, Whitney, and Mia all over the course of their high school careers. All of them come together on Freshman Orientation Day and write letters to their future selves for their senior years. Even though all of them are not all that close with one another, I still found their lives quite interesting all throughout their high school years. I really like the formatting of the chapters of the book- some chapters are arranged by month and we get a glimpse of each of the 5 main characters' POV. I enjoyed reading and understanding the lives of all the characters. I think the ending could've been a bit better wish that Mckler had differentiated all the character's storylines more rather than focusing so heavily on the characters' lives romantic-wise.
briaawilson's review against another edition
3.0
To be honest I was going to give it two stars because when I initially read this book I thought it was going to be them becoming friends over time and I mean they did but at the very end! I'm not even sure if it was that that I didn't like I think it was how the points of view were so brief and so random. I got confused quite a bit or got focused on a character and forgot other ones. The ending was really sweet and I liked it and it made it worth reading but I probably wouldn't recommend this book to anyone and if I did they'd be like a freshman or sophomore in high school