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cbsundance's review
1.0
This better be the only rotten apple in my book crop.
The method in which I select some of things I read hasn’t failed me until today. Amazon likes to suggest books for me, based on other books I have viewed. In turn, I will read a summary of them, check if they are available in a library within my county, and then order them for my crop. I understand why Amazon suggested this for me (It’s tags are YA Literature, Romance…), but I wish it had a quality filter.
Summary:
Love story about unique guy and girl, Bernie and Winifred. Then, Bernie’s mom dies and he turns into a total recluse. Bernie and Winifred are both brilliant, but the Bernie doesn’t want to go to college anymore. Bernie doesn’t want to do anything anymore. Winifred gets fed-up and decides to go to college across the country, where she becomes a tricked-out, idiotic, Barbie clone. Bernie drives across country to reunite with her, but is horrified to find the clone that has replaced his girlfriend. He bums around the city for the year (His father is under the ruse that he is auditing courses at the university), and falls for the Winifred’s T.A. The ending is proportional to the given plot, but lame nonetheless.
Usually, I try to find the good in books, but this one was straight-up awful. There was so much room for plot expansion (The guy’s road trip across country is summed-up in one paragraph…what?) and the characters felt so unrelated-able. We all have hardships in life, but Winnie and Guy were shallow, in depth (not in the actuality of the story). Very happy that I got this off my reading list.
The method in which I select some of things I read hasn’t failed me until today. Amazon likes to suggest books for me, based on other books I have viewed. In turn, I will read a summary of them, check if they are available in a library within my county, and then order them for my crop. I understand why Amazon suggested this for me (It’s tags are YA Literature, Romance…), but I wish it had a quality filter.
Summary:
Love story about unique guy and girl, Bernie and Winifred. Then, Bernie’s mom dies and he turns into a total recluse. Bernie and Winifred are both brilliant, but the Bernie doesn’t want to go to college anymore. Bernie doesn’t want to do anything anymore. Winifred gets fed-up and decides to go to college across the country, where she becomes a tricked-out, idiotic, Barbie clone. Bernie drives across country to reunite with her, but is horrified to find the clone that has replaced his girlfriend. He bums around the city for the year (His father is under the ruse that he is auditing courses at the university), and falls for the Winifred’s T.A. The ending is proportional to the given plot, but lame nonetheless.
Usually, I try to find the good in books, but this one was straight-up awful. There was so much room for plot expansion (The guy’s road trip across country is summed-up in one paragraph…what?) and the characters felt so unrelated-able. We all have hardships in life, but Winnie and Guy were shallow, in depth (not in the actuality of the story). Very happy that I got this off my reading list.
pageturning578's review
loved the ending...i've read so many young adult books in my short life that i usually feel like the endings were rushed and not thought through which makes me angry. but this one just fit because it was anything but ordinary...
howifeelaboutbooks's review
3.0
When thirteen-year-old Bernie moves to a new town and meets the school outcast Winifred, he has no idea how his life is going to change. Both students are incredibly smart, rocketing to the top of their class, and unique, vowing to never be ordinary. They're together for four years, until something makes Bernie decide to not attend college, while Winifred moves to the other side of the country. The story is told in alternating chapters so you learn how the characters really feel, despite their difference. When Bernie finally takes a chance and follows Winifred, he finds that school has turned her into "Wini," and he's not sure how he feels about her anymore. The ending is a little hokey, but the ups and downs of the relationship are realistic and honest.
olivia76's review
3.0
YA lit that's fun, predictable and an easy read. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I was a bit bugged at the ending.
rovertoak's review
4.0
Our narrator tells the story of two young lovers, apart for the first time since middle school, forced to establish their own identities. When their worlds collide, how will they reconcile? Do they still need one another to be complete? This story of first love and coming-of-age is Van Draanen’s Flipped for an older teen crowd, filled with tenderness and tension, with some smiles thrown in as well. Give this to the teen reader who either hates or loves romance novels, or to one who has had a best friend/love throughout adolescence and is faced with an impending separation.
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