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nickscoby's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
immediately one of my favorite books of the year.
emilylind's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Drug abuse, and Death
Minor: Self harm
mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition
2.0
*I'm reading all the 2022 FL Teen Reads. This is Book #5 out of 15 read.*
TW: Non graphic attempted rape and I do discuss it in this review
Spoilers abound because I think it’s the only way to convey how poor I feel many of the narrative choices were. Some are more general, whereas others are more specific. Read at your own risk.
If you've read a coming of age story before you've basically read this one. That's not to say it isn't still interesting, but it doesn't particularly stand out in terms of general plot beats.
Cash is a kid that nobody expects much of. He’s smart, but he’s hindered by the fact that he lives in poor Appalachia. Having experienced neglect at the hands of his addict mother for most of his childhood, he thinks it’d be greedy to seek out more happiness as he feels lucky to simply not be in those circumstances any more.
When genius best friend Delaney discovers some new bacteria in a cave she’s able to finagle a scholarship to a premier boarding school for the both of them giving Cash the opportunity he didn’t think he’d ever get (let alone deserve to get) to improve his situation.
It takes nearly half the book to get to the school in the first place. I don’t mind a slow burn, but in this case it was annoying because it was clear Cash was going to go to the school fairly quickly. I started to get bored waiting for the actual story to kick in.
Once they did reach the school, one of my least favorite things occurs - the rapid passage of time. Weeks would pass and then suddenly Cash would say that things had been doing poorly or exceptionally well with no textual evidence to back it up. A lot of this book relied on telling rather than showing particularly to the detriment of Cash and Delaney’s relationship.
For example, at one point Cash and Delaney get into a fight because Cash says he hasn’t spent real time with Delaney in a month. Without actually reading about Delaney ducking on commitments or bailing on dinners or whatever else, it felt like it came out of nowhere that Delaney was no longer hanging out with him. She argues that she’s simply busy, but the book is totally from Cash’s perspective and he never actually goes to see what Delaney involves herself with despite the supposed flourishing she’s doing off-page. If she’s doing so well in her clubs and/or gaining such notoriety in her classes, then it should be simple to prove it on the page by having kids constantly wanting to hang out with her or ask her questions.
At the beginning of the book, it’s obvious how close the two are. Part of Cash’s fears for the future stem from his worries that Delaney will eventually leave him behind. It contributes to his decision to follow her to the school. Then they barely speak until the final quarter of the book when the two are forced into contact again through plot contrivance. When Papaw is on his deathbed, the two have to talk again now because of who he is to Delaney as well. Outside of the aforementioned fight the two have, they aren’t explicitly on the outs yet they just stop seeing each other so that Cash has enough free time to have a romance with Delaney’s roommate Viviani.
A truly mindboggling choice given the fact that despite spending multiple chapters on building up the relationship - in which time Viviani blatantly encourages Cash's advances - Viviani randomly rejects him when he tries to make it official because ‘he’s in love with Delaney’. The same Delaney that I could count on one hand the amount of interactions he’s had since they arrived at the school.
On top of that it doesn’t make any sense because all signs were literally pointing to Viviani having feelings for him. And not just in a ‘oh Cash misread the signs’ way. She’s holding his hand and going off alone with him and they almost kiss. It’s implied Delaney stopped coming around as much because of Cash’s burgeoning feelings for Viviani, but it’s never confirmed. So for all intents and purposes she’s vanished from the plot for nothing.
Plus, the book is from Cash’s perspective which means we bear witness to all of his thoughts. He never expresses any more than platonic feelings for Delaney. As he’s falling for Viviani the way he talks about her completely reflects how his feelings begin to grow. He gets butterflies when talking to her. He talks about the way she glows when she walks into a room, how beautiful she looks in the moonlight, how special her laugh is. Yet you’re supposed to believe he’s in love with Delaney?
I understand people can be in denial about their feelings. Except we’re in Cash’s head the entire novel. Even if he’s an unreliable narrator, his actions or his rationale should give some indication to the reader that he’s not being honest about how he feels. There are no signs that this is happening. Cash does not at all seem like he cares for Delaney in that way even subconsciously.
It felt so manufactured to create drama in order to keep Viviani from being a villain while attempting to subvert expectations. It would have been simpler and better for the narrative if Viviani simply found out about Delaney’s feelings right before Cash tried to seriously ask her out and rejected him so as not to hurt her. This would have explained the mixed messages Viviani was sending, why Delaney hadn’t been appearing for awhile, and it would have inspired Cash to re-examine his position in regards to Delaney in his own time without it feeling like the author was using a character to force it on him by saying he was the one in love without proof.
The book even goes so far as to say that Cash was being stupid and oblivious this whole time pursuing another girl while Delaney was right there this whole time. It drove me up the wall because Cash was low-key getting demonized for his behavior when there was absolutely no indication his character felt more than friendship for Delaney. There's even this whole thing about Cash being ridiculous to throw away his friendship with Viviani when he starts avoiding her after she rejects him as if Viviani wasn't playing mind games by flirting with him all the while apparently knowing she wasn't going to do anything about it.
For her part, it's not like Delaney seems all that in love with him either, but again she completely disappears from the book so it's not like I can tell one way or the other.
There’s this weird third act conflict where a minor male character attempts to rape a girl. Cash stops it and ends up in the hospital as a result. It was unbelievably unnecessary to add so far into the story. The execution made it feel icky that it was included at all.
Not only was a super serious violation used as a cheap means of dramatizing Delaney’s confession of feelings to Cash, it was also used as a means of making Cash look good for stopping it. I already know that Cash is a good guy. I don’t need him foiling a rape that doesn’t even matter in the grand scheme of the book because the characters involved don’t matter either. A girl is almost raped and the story sidelines what is still a traumatic, potentially life altering experience to center her savior in order to boost his reputation narratively. It felt majorly exploitative and a callous treatment of something that deserves far more tact and compassion. Rape is merely a plot device to give Cash a happy ending - Delaney confesses, Cash's scummy roommate is kicked out of his school, Cash now gets to room with a good friend, Cash gets a hero's welcome in class, the headmaster personally thanks him for his courage.
He literally could have foiled a robbery instead, and the same could have occurred. There was absolutely no reason it had to be rape. And I'm not opposed to it being rape if that really is what the author wanted to do, however, I take issue with how quickly it was thrown in and glossed over. There should have been more attention paid to it.
Initially, the only thing that saved this book from being two stars was the last quarter. While writing the review I changed my mind as I realized I had more grievances than I first thought.
On the positive side, when Papaw died I genuinely felt the loss. I wasn’t merely sympathetic to Cash, I relived the passing of a close friend all over again through Papaw’s. The writing was top notch. The sleepwalking through life, the resignation that every happy moment going forward will be a little bit duller because they won’t be there, the crushing realization that everyone else has already moved on. It was a poignant, astute depiction of how grief - even when expected - can be debilitating.
Cash discovering his talent for poetry was touching. I thought it was a microcosm of the larger theme of not allowing your insecurities to limit you. Once Cash freed himself from his own limited expectations he thrived. I think that’s a wonderful message for anyone to internalize.
I think after I finish this little venture I might quit reading white American coming of age novels altogether. I already avoid the genre in general because it’s rare that I enjoy it, but I always felt that there has got to be some merit to it that I’m missing. Now I’m starting to see that maybe it’s all just like this and I shouldn’t be giving it this much benefit of the doubt. Only time will tell if I have enough fortitude to do actually do it.
TW: Non graphic attempted rape and I do discuss it in this review
Spoilers abound because I think it’s the only way to convey how poor I feel many of the narrative choices were. Some are more general, whereas others are more specific. Read at your own risk.
If you've read a coming of age story before you've basically read this one. That's not to say it isn't still interesting, but it doesn't particularly stand out in terms of general plot beats.
Cash is a kid that nobody expects much of. He’s smart, but he’s hindered by the fact that he lives in poor Appalachia. Having experienced neglect at the hands of his addict mother for most of his childhood, he thinks it’d be greedy to seek out more happiness as he feels lucky to simply not be in those circumstances any more.
When genius best friend Delaney discovers some new bacteria in a cave she’s able to finagle a scholarship to a premier boarding school for the both of them giving Cash the opportunity he didn’t think he’d ever get (let alone deserve to get) to improve his situation.
It takes nearly half the book to get to the school in the first place. I don’t mind a slow burn, but in this case it was annoying because it was clear Cash was going to go to the school fairly quickly. I started to get bored waiting for the actual story to kick in.
Once they did reach the school, one of my least favorite things occurs - the rapid passage of time. Weeks would pass and then suddenly Cash would say that things had been doing poorly or exceptionally well with no textual evidence to back it up. A lot of this book relied on telling rather than showing particularly to the detriment of Cash and Delaney’s relationship.
For example, at one point Cash and Delaney get into a fight because Cash says he hasn’t spent real time with Delaney in a month. Without actually reading about Delaney ducking on commitments or bailing on dinners or whatever else, it felt like it came out of nowhere that Delaney was no longer hanging out with him. She argues that she’s simply busy, but the book is totally from Cash’s perspective and he never actually goes to see what Delaney involves herself with despite the supposed flourishing she’s doing off-page. If she’s doing so well in her clubs and/or gaining such notoriety in her classes, then it should be simple to prove it on the page by having kids constantly wanting to hang out with her or ask her questions.
At the beginning of the book, it’s obvious how close the two are. Part of Cash’s fears for the future stem from his worries that Delaney will eventually leave him behind. It contributes to his decision to follow her to the school. Then they barely speak until the final quarter of the book when the two are forced into contact again through plot contrivance. When Papaw is on his deathbed, the two have to talk again now because of who he is to Delaney as well. Outside of the aforementioned fight the two have, they aren’t explicitly on the outs yet they just stop seeing each other so that Cash has enough free time to have a romance with Delaney’s roommate Viviani.
A truly mindboggling choice given the fact that despite spending multiple chapters on building up the relationship - in which time Viviani blatantly encourages Cash's advances - Viviani randomly rejects him when he tries to make it official because ‘he’s in love with Delaney’. The same Delaney that I could count on one hand the amount of interactions he’s had since they arrived at the school.
On top of that it doesn’t make any sense because all signs were literally pointing to Viviani having feelings for him. And not just in a ‘oh Cash misread the signs’ way. She’s holding his hand and going off alone with him and they almost kiss. It’s implied Delaney stopped coming around as much because of Cash’s burgeoning feelings for Viviani, but it’s never confirmed. So for all intents and purposes she’s vanished from the plot for nothing.
Plus, the book is from Cash’s perspective which means we bear witness to all of his thoughts. He never expresses any more than platonic feelings for Delaney. As he’s falling for Viviani the way he talks about her completely reflects how his feelings begin to grow. He gets butterflies when talking to her. He talks about the way she glows when she walks into a room, how beautiful she looks in the moonlight, how special her laugh is. Yet you’re supposed to believe he’s in love with Delaney?
I understand people can be in denial about their feelings. Except we’re in Cash’s head the entire novel. Even if he’s an unreliable narrator, his actions or his rationale should give some indication to the reader that he’s not being honest about how he feels. There are no signs that this is happening. Cash does not at all seem like he cares for Delaney in that way even subconsciously.
It felt so manufactured to create drama in order to keep Viviani from being a villain while attempting to subvert expectations. It would have been simpler and better for the narrative if Viviani simply found out about Delaney’s feelings right before Cash tried to seriously ask her out and rejected him so as not to hurt her. This would have explained the mixed messages Viviani was sending, why Delaney hadn’t been appearing for awhile, and it would have inspired Cash to re-examine his position in regards to Delaney in his own time without it feeling like the author was using a character to force it on him by saying he was the one in love without proof.
The book even goes so far as to say that Cash was being stupid and oblivious this whole time pursuing another girl while Delaney was right there this whole time. It drove me up the wall because Cash was low-key getting demonized for his behavior when there was absolutely no indication his character felt more than friendship for Delaney. There's even this whole thing about Cash being ridiculous to throw away his friendship with Viviani when he starts avoiding her after she rejects him as if Viviani wasn't playing mind games by flirting with him all the while apparently knowing she wasn't going to do anything about it.
For her part, it's not like Delaney seems all that in love with him either, but again she completely disappears from the book so it's not like I can tell one way or the other.
There’s this weird third act conflict where a minor male character attempts to rape a girl. Cash stops it and ends up in the hospital as a result. It was unbelievably unnecessary to add so far into the story. The execution made it feel icky that it was included at all.
Not only was a super serious violation used as a cheap means of dramatizing Delaney’s confession of feelings to Cash, it was also used as a means of making Cash look good for stopping it. I already know that Cash is a good guy. I don’t need him foiling a rape that doesn’t even matter in the grand scheme of the book because the characters involved don’t matter either. A girl is almost raped and the story sidelines what is still a traumatic, potentially life altering experience to center her savior in order to boost his reputation narratively. It felt majorly exploitative and a callous treatment of something that deserves far more tact and compassion. Rape is merely a plot device to give Cash a happy ending - Delaney confesses, Cash's scummy roommate is kicked out of his school, Cash now gets to room with a good friend, Cash gets a hero's welcome in class, the headmaster personally thanks him for his courage.
He literally could have foiled a robbery instead, and the same could have occurred. There was absolutely no reason it had to be rape. And I'm not opposed to it being rape if that really is what the author wanted to do, however, I take issue with how quickly it was thrown in and glossed over. There should have been more attention paid to it.
Initially, the only thing that saved this book from being two stars was the last quarter. While writing the review I changed my mind as I realized I had more grievances than I first thought.
On the positive side, when Papaw died I genuinely felt the loss. I wasn’t merely sympathetic to Cash, I relived the passing of a close friend all over again through Papaw’s. The writing was top notch. The sleepwalking through life, the resignation that every happy moment going forward will be a little bit duller because they won’t be there, the crushing realization that everyone else has already moved on. It was a poignant, astute depiction of how grief - even when expected - can be debilitating.
Cash discovering his talent for poetry was touching. I thought it was a microcosm of the larger theme of not allowing your insecurities to limit you. Once Cash freed himself from his own limited expectations he thrived. I think that’s a wonderful message for anyone to internalize.
I think after I finish this little venture I might quit reading white American coming of age novels altogether. I already avoid the genre in general because it’s rare that I enjoy it, but I always felt that there has got to be some merit to it that I’m missing. Now I’m starting to see that maybe it’s all just like this and I shouldn’t be giving it this much benefit of the doubt. Only time will tell if I have enough fortitude to do actually do it.
therealmadmags's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
bibliobrandie's review against another edition
4.0
This is the kind of book that I know when I am going in it's going to make me feel all the feels and I try to deny it but I can't. This story of Cash and Delaney is a beautiful exploration of friendship, family, grief, and love. You are rooting for them from the first page. The secondary characters are also great and I would give anything to have a Pawpaw like Pep. This coming-of-age story is timeless and beautifully written. Though this novel deals with mature themes like substance use, death, and sexual assault, I think it's appropriate and will appeal to some middle grade readers.
nextfavoritebook's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
emcgard's review against another edition
5.0
A 10/10 book for me. The kind of book that just makes your soul feel good, gives you things to think about and makes you love the good in humanity. Loved the narrator for this book too- just a calming voice which helped with the vibe!
jennyd83's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0