Reviews

This book does a few things very, very well and a couple things pretty poorly. To start off: the portrayal of lasting grief and development of the characters' pain and hurt and rough edges and flaws and emotion worked so well.

At the end, where Candace is talking about the letter- I got chills.

The way they were all affected felt so real. Bryce's suicide is a dark cloud that lasts this entire book, and its impacts are incredibly tangible.
I had three main issues. The first is that many cards are kept close to the author's chest, likely for shock impact. I can see why this choice was made but personally think it hindered the story quite a bit. Also, the two MCs didn't have much chemistry IMO. Lastly, I thought the author 'told' a little too much and 'showed' a little too little. There was a lot of showing with the grief, but specifically with the Bea x Santiago relationship- I just couldn't get invested bc I didn't really see the chemistry or how the conflicts got resolved.
Anyway. I did like a lot of the resolutions at the end. I think the story really works and there's no plot holes or anything. The writing is beautiful at times, if you're someone who likes collecting quotes from books you'll love this one. I loved seeing the mom's arc, and Bea's character arc was fantastic- also, Whitney and Abby! And I was so invested in Dustin and Courtney breaking up. Apart from a couple of flaws, this was good.

TL;DR: I would recommend this if you like heavier stories that deal with heavy themes. I wouldn't really recommend this if you're looking for something with a really good romance.

haileyb_reads890's review

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

katieminard's review

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

crystal4dasha's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

This Is Me Trying healed me and my inner child. Truly. Racquel Marie's books keep getting better and better. Her books always have a big cast of loveable characters to keep track of, but I think Marie pulled off their dynamics the best in this one. Where do I even begin? Beatriz and Santiago were incredible, of course. What I loved most about them (and all of the characters, really) was how complex they were. They had contradicting desires. They were selfish. They had secrets. (I was so shocked at all the little plot twists!) The dialogue between the two of them was really fun, and their relationship had beautiful growth throughout the story. Additionally, the ending was satisfying and a little open-ended but perfect. I loved the stars, I loved the sad music I had cued up while reading, and I loved reading it back in my small hometown (much like the setting of this book) after an exhausting year at college. Hearing how Marie started writing this at 14 gives the sad little 14-year-old writer within me hope. I can't wait to keep reading her writing!

baileyvk's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

leia_litdeslivres's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

When i say that i literally said "UH?" out loud, had to put my book down and explain to my gf the whole plot because of the plot twist at 1 AM, i'm not exagerating. This is me trying is a beautifully messy book about grief and love and friendship and family relationships that's going to haunt me for a long time. Absolutely stunning !!

noyastan's review

Go to review page

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

peachyryoma's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

More...