Reviews

Different for Boys by Patrick Ness

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andy1118's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

wynplus1's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

huxleystorm's review

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4.0

patrick ness what the ⬛️⬛️!! not super depressing and nihilistic but also not super cheesy and shallow!! no one else does that!! more people should do that!! it’s so much more interesting than just a woman rotting away in her bed for a year!!

patrick ness i love you i will read anything you write

fictionalsarah's review against another edition

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hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

pied_piper's review

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emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jsncnrd's review

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3.0

This was a quick read that you can finish in an hour. I think that was part of the problem for me.

Different for Boys isn't bad by any means. It's a decent enough story that makes decent enough statements exploring what life and relationships are like for boys who like other boys.

I wanted more out of the story. It had some components that were impactful, but when all was said and done, there was so little plot -- which meant that there was minimal character development. Therefore, the statements the book was trying to make were only made on the surface without much nuance or complexity.

I enjoyed the book overall, and I like Patrick Ness as an author (this is not my first read by him) -- but it's not one I would come back to.

(Also ... I wasn't the biggest fan of the art style -- it reminded me too much of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and I don't think that was the right choice for this story.)