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thriftedghost's review against another edition
5.0
a book of my fav things: space and gays
it was so adorable highly recommend
it was so adorable highly recommend
ian_hasumi's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
rainb0wreads's review
lighthearted
fast-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
3.0
I think this book has many good and captivating components to it. It was an entertaining read that kept me entertained, but I think it just didn’t have the big impact it was intending to have on me. It was a good book, just not the best thing I’ve ever read.
ezrasupremacy's review
3.0
maybe i would’ve given this book a better rating if i was a teenager, but fortunately i am not, so three stars it is.
my main issues with the book were:
1. the main character is honestly a terrible friend to deb, jesus fucking christ
2. insta-love is like the worst thing ever, and cal having a tiny crush on leon from looking at him on the cover of a magazine and then a full blown crush from meeting him, what, twice? insanity
3. every single point of issue, aside from those with the actual mission, is so barely fleshed out and then resolved immediately it’s crazy. leon’s depression? the deb situation? resolved like it’s nothing.
4. leon’s depression in general - as someone who’s been living with this fun little disease for a decade the portrayal of it seemed very lazy and not very touched upon (the book is pretty short, and i get that it wasn’t the main focus, but still-) and cal’s complete lack of understanding of it seemed a little insane to me from someone who lives in our generation and has internet access, but maybe i’m just privileged in the people i surround myself with being knowledgeable about stuff like this. (also on that note, the way cal’s mom’s anxiety is handled - questionable!)
5. the mars space program - it’s brought up a couple of times how the money that goes to the program could be better used to fix real, current issues that the US is experiencing, and every time it’s just mentioned and then brushed away. is it realistic that the US gov would choose to support a NASA space program over fixing their education system or public health? definitely! does that mean i have to agree with the book’s view on this and not every time i gets brought up go “please just fucking defund this program and give the money to a better cause”? nope!
anyway! i don’t have anything particularly special to say as far as positive aspects of the book go - the writing was perfectly fine, i actually liked a lot of the characters very much, so you know, that’s nice!
overall just a very easy, very average read, but i’ll eat anything up if it’s gay (which i blame on growing up with bbc sherlock and supernatural as my main sources of “””gay rep”””)
my main issues with the book were:
1. the main character is honestly a terrible friend to deb, jesus fucking christ
2. insta-love is like the worst thing ever, and cal having a tiny crush on leon from looking at him on the cover of a magazine and then a full blown crush from meeting him, what, twice? insanity
3. every single point of issue, aside from those with the actual mission, is so barely fleshed out and then resolved immediately it’s crazy. leon’s depression? the deb situation? resolved like it’s nothing.
4. leon’s depression in general - as someone who’s been living with this fun little disease for a decade the portrayal of it seemed very lazy and not very touched upon (the book is pretty short, and i get that it wasn’t the main focus, but still-) and cal’s complete lack of understanding of it seemed a little insane to me from someone who lives in our generation and has internet access, but maybe i’m just privileged in the people i surround myself with being knowledgeable about stuff like this. (also on that note, the way cal’s mom’s anxiety is handled - questionable!)
5. the mars space program - it’s brought up a couple of times how the money that goes to the program could be better used to fix real, current issues that the US is experiencing, and every time it’s just mentioned and then brushed away. is it realistic that the US gov would choose to support a NASA space program over fixing their education system or public health? definitely! does that mean i have to agree with the book’s view on this and not every time i gets brought up go “please just fucking defund this program and give the money to a better cause”? nope!
anyway! i don’t have anything particularly special to say as far as positive aspects of the book go - the writing was perfectly fine, i actually liked a lot of the characters very much, so you know, that’s nice!
overall just a very easy, very average read, but i’ll eat anything up if it’s gay (which i blame on growing up with bbc sherlock and supernatural as my main sources of “””gay rep”””)
alyssarester's review
3.0
Super fast read!! It was defiantly not what I expected when i started to read it but it was a super cute and fun read!
wolf_midnight_11's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
This book was really good! I loved how it combined mental health into the storyline so naturally and also made it super informative about the science it was talking about. I loved it!
hangalgansa's review
2.0
i tried so hard to like this book but it just wasn’t it. i did not like the main character and the relationship had no build up whatsoever.