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mehsi's review
5.0
Not a very long review, just a short/medium one to express my thoughts and feelings on this book.
Althea and Oliver, the cover didn't pull me in (I am still a cover lover), but the description and genres did pull me in. And I am really happy that, regardless of the ugly cover (though pretty colour), I loved the book. That doesn't happen often. :)
The book is written from two POVs. Althea and Oliver. Friends since childhood, however things are now changing. At least for Althea. Althea is slowly, but very surely, falling in love with Oliver. Sadly Oliver doesn't think of her in that way. Which causes lots of awkwardness between the two. Add to that that Oliver has a rare disease that causes him to fall asleep, not for a night, no for days, for weeks, sometimes for months. Causing him to wake up in a world that is quite different, events having happened and he missing those.
I loved Althea, sure she had quite a few things I didn't like (like her smoking or her taking advantage of Oliver (and sure at that event he also had a hand in it, but still not a good choice)), but other than the few things I didn't like, I loved her. She was interesting, kick-ass and I was just cheering for her to get the boy. Hoping she would be lucky, hoping she could be happy.
Like I said, she makes some stupid choices, does some stupid things and lies at times, but we can also see she feels terrible and sorry afterwards. She is not inhuman, she is just a teenager, a very confused teenager. Faced with the end of high school, seeing the love of your life being sick and not feeling the same way as you do, I can imagine one might do things wrong.
I loved her more during the later parts, during the New York time. You could see her glow, grow up and live her life more. She found a place she can call home, made friends and found something she wants to do.
Oliver, mm, I am still not entirely sure I liked him or not. At times I know I did, at times I felt sorry for him. But I think the fact that we barely saw him (after all he slept through quite a bit of the book), is the reason I couldn't connect to him that much. Also the fact that he was utterly confusing. Saying how he likes Althea, how beautiful he found her, and a few other things, yet not loving her in the way she does love him. It was a bit confusing and contradictory. Also his disease and what he did when he woke up in between stuff was a bit disturbing. Add to that, the fact he like to guilt trip people when he found out months has passed. Not like they can do anything about it!
I have also seen enough people talk about the ending and that people apparently didn't like it. I loved it. Sure it was open-ended, but I loved that it ended like that, not forced, but instead as expected. I hate it when an author would try to make something happen, something we as readers cannot see happening. I won't spoil much, but I can say I am really delighted by the ending. Of course this leaves open a space for maybe a few short novellas with some after stuff. What happened to Oliver (did he or did he not make a certain decision, and if he did, what happened to him?), how is it going with Althea (did she stay or did she find another place, did she go home, did she go and study)?
There were also various fun references and a lot of things that clearly showed the age the book was written in. I really loved that.
All in all this book is really highly recommended. A story about love, friendship, sickness and finding a place you belong in this wonderful world.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
Althea and Oliver, the cover didn't pull me in (I am still a cover lover), but the description and genres did pull me in. And I am really happy that, regardless of the ugly cover (though pretty colour), I loved the book. That doesn't happen often. :)
The book is written from two POVs. Althea and Oliver. Friends since childhood, however things are now changing. At least for Althea. Althea is slowly, but very surely, falling in love with Oliver. Sadly Oliver doesn't think of her in that way. Which causes lots of awkwardness between the two. Add to that that Oliver has a rare disease that causes him to fall asleep, not for a night, no for days, for weeks, sometimes for months. Causing him to wake up in a world that is quite different, events having happened and he missing those.
I loved Althea, sure she had quite a few things I didn't like (like her smoking or her taking advantage of Oliver (and sure at that event he also had a hand in it, but still not a good choice)), but other than the few things I didn't like, I loved her. She was interesting, kick-ass and I was just cheering for her to get the boy. Hoping she would be lucky, hoping she could be happy.
Like I said, she makes some stupid choices, does some stupid things and lies at times, but we can also see she feels terrible and sorry afterwards. She is not inhuman, she is just a teenager, a very confused teenager. Faced with the end of high school, seeing the love of your life being sick and not feeling the same way as you do, I can imagine one might do things wrong.
I loved her more during the later parts, during the New York time. You could see her glow, grow up and live her life more. She found a place she can call home, made friends and found something she wants to do.
Oliver, mm, I am still not entirely sure I liked him or not. At times I know I did, at times I felt sorry for him. But I think the fact that we barely saw him (after all he slept through quite a bit of the book), is the reason I couldn't connect to him that much. Also the fact that he was utterly confusing. Saying how he likes Althea, how beautiful he found her, and a few other things, yet not loving her in the way she does love him. It was a bit confusing and contradictory. Also his disease and what he did when he woke up in between stuff was a bit disturbing. Add to that, the fact he like to guilt trip people when he found out months has passed. Not like they can do anything about it!
I have also seen enough people talk about the ending and that people apparently didn't like it. I loved it. Sure it was open-ended, but I loved that it ended like that, not forced, but instead as expected. I hate it when an author would try to make something happen, something we as readers cannot see happening. I won't spoil much, but I can say I am really delighted by the ending. Of course this leaves open a space for maybe a few short novellas with some after stuff. What happened to Oliver (did he or did he not make a certain decision, and if he did, what happened to him?), how is it going with Althea (did she stay or did she find another place, did she go home, did she go and study)?
There were also various fun references and a lot of things that clearly showed the age the book was written in. I really loved that.
All in all this book is really highly recommended. A story about love, friendship, sickness and finding a place you belong in this wonderful world.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
danicapage's review
1.0
I work with survivors of assault, and that's going to color my review here. What Althea did was rape and sexual assault. Period. Full stop.
I can understand why the characters didn't label it as such. That's realistic and something that happens often for both perps and survivors. Sometimes people see the word "rape/rapist" and don't think that's what happened/applies to them. But let's be clear that what the author describes as "Althea makes a big mistake" was that Althea raped Oliver.
A friend asked me to read it because she's looking for representation in YA about boys who are raped by girls. I don't think this is a story about a boy who is raped so much as a story about a girl who is the perpetrator and isn't remorseful for it or introspective about it.
Althea's actions are a catalyst for her story, but we don't see accountability or realization or true guilt/remorse or attempts to correct her wrong. We see justification, avoidance, rationalization, blame, and anger at Oliver. It's all kind of dismissed.
We do not ulltimately have any realy sense of self-responsibility or introspection. Since we are in Althea's head, we are meant to sympathize and agree with her. That's where I have issues. We're meant to side with her, but she is in the wrong. Althea is a full character, vibrant, bright, and well-fleshed out. She's lively, messy, and passionate. She also violates her best friend and we don't see her account for it.
The vibrancy of Althea makes the absence of character development of Oliver stark. Some of that is because of his illness. But he is a ghost in the story that is acted upon. He is there to set up Althea's story and create an interesting premise, but he not really a person or story himself. We do see him wrestling with what happened, and we do see him get told the lies boy survivors are told: "you should feel lucky, what do you have to be sad about," etc. He gets told this by the one person he tells as he's ashamed to speak about it. All of this happens in real life. My problem is these narratives are never countered or never corrected. We don't really see Oliver working through what happened. Which is also normal. It's realistic for a boy survivor to bury what happened.
But one day, Oliver will realize the full import of what happened and have to face it. And that's my issue, in the book, what happens is trivialized, justified, and dismissed. And this book is geared for teens who aren't fully formed enough to realize that none of this is okay because the book presents it all as okay. Okay that Althea raped her friend and okay that Oliver and her quickly moved on from it.
Survivors often do feel conflicted and complicated feelings about perps; not all want criminal justice and authorities involved. Some even love or still like the perp. But Oliver clearly felt like he'd been violated and it's quickly dismissed and not explored. That I take issue with. He's also painted as the unreasonable or wrong one. And there are even attempts to say he was responsible for what happened.
The book is about a lot more than just rape. But for a book that's one of the few about male survivors; I think it was not done with care and will result in boy survivors feeling further unseen and further dismissed. Consent can be complicated to navigate (especially when we don't teach our kids what it is.) However, here, the author did a lot of work to set up that Althea knew it wasn't the real Oliver, he wasn't in right mind, and didn't want sex, so it's not ambiguous. It's clear that Althea knew what was going on and that she took advantage. It's rape. Even if it's never called that.
And that's ultimately my problem.
The story is edgy, provcative, and raw. The writer is clearly talented. But as a story about a boy who was assaulted, it's sad how it's portrayed.
I can understand why the characters didn't label it as such. That's realistic and something that happens often for both perps and survivors. Sometimes people see the word "rape/rapist" and don't think that's what happened/applies to them. But let's be clear that what the author describes as "Althea makes a big mistake" was that Althea raped Oliver.
A friend asked me to read it because she's looking for representation in YA about boys who are raped by girls. I don't think this is a story about a boy who is raped so much as a story about a girl who is the perpetrator and isn't remorseful for it or introspective about it.
Althea's actions are a catalyst for her story, but we don't see accountability or realization or true guilt/remorse or attempts to correct her wrong. We see justification, avoidance, rationalization, blame, and anger at Oliver. It's all kind of dismissed.
We do not ulltimately have any realy sense of self-responsibility or introspection. Since we are in Althea's head, we are meant to sympathize and agree with her. That's where I have issues. We're meant to side with her, but she is in the wrong. Althea is a full character, vibrant, bright, and well-fleshed out. She's lively, messy, and passionate. She also violates her best friend and we don't see her account for it.
The vibrancy of Althea makes the absence of character development of Oliver stark. Some of that is because of his illness. But he is a ghost in the story that is acted upon. He is there to set up Althea's story and create an interesting premise, but he not really a person or story himself. We do see him wrestling with what happened, and we do see him get told the lies boy survivors are told: "you should feel lucky, what do you have to be sad about," etc. He gets told this by the one person he tells as he's ashamed to speak about it. All of this happens in real life. My problem is these narratives are never countered or never corrected. We don't really see Oliver working through what happened. Which is also normal. It's realistic for a boy survivor to bury what happened.
But one day, Oliver will realize the full import of what happened and have to face it. And that's my issue, in the book, what happens is trivialized, justified, and dismissed. And this book is geared for teens who aren't fully formed enough to realize that none of this is okay because the book presents it all as okay. Okay that Althea raped her friend and okay that Oliver and her quickly moved on from it.
Survivors often do feel conflicted and complicated feelings about perps; not all want criminal justice and authorities involved. Some even love or still like the perp. But Oliver clearly felt like he'd been violated and it's quickly dismissed and not explored. That I take issue with. He's also painted as the unreasonable or wrong one. And there are even attempts to say he was responsible for what happened.
The book is about a lot more than just rape. But for a book that's one of the few about male survivors; I think it was not done with care and will result in boy survivors feeling further unseen and further dismissed. Consent can be complicated to navigate (especially when we don't teach our kids what it is.) However, here, the author did a lot of work to set up that Althea knew it wasn't the real Oliver, he wasn't in right mind, and didn't want sex, so it's not ambiguous. It's clear that Althea knew what was going on and that she took advantage. It's rape. Even if it's never called that.
And that's ultimately my problem.
The story is edgy, provcative, and raw. The writer is clearly talented. But as a story about a boy who was assaulted, it's sad how it's portrayed.
hey_hail's review against another edition
2.0
I HAD SUCH A HARD TIME. I do not want to give this book two stars but cannot give it more. I was really into the book all the way up to the end. the end was HORRIBLE. completely ruined it.
fantasynovel's review against another edition
1.0
I read this book months ago, and I'm still not over the part where Althea's "worst bad decision ever" is raping her best friend.
toolittletime's review against another edition
The prose was beautiful, but I was honestly not enjoying the story. Then there is a scene where Althea SA's Oliver. That really upset me, but I first went to the reviews to see if it's handled well in the story. Every low rated review mentioned it was dismissed and ignored. Incredibly harmful way to handle it.
naomiiixo's review against another edition
1.0
Hated the characters and ridiculous story, didn't grab my attention an had to skim the last half so I could hurry and finish!!!!
towering_tbr's review against another edition
2.0
I felt like I had to slog through this. It started off okay but then Althea becomes completely unlikable which in turn, kinda ruins the story. I liked the Oliver half though.
alboyer6's review against another edition
Wow. Just wow. I really don't like anyone in this book. I'm being generous putting this in my "couldn't get into" shelf because it was more of Did not finish, would not finish kind of thing.
trinitynoel's review against another edition
2.0
The plot and writing are seriously the only things keeping me from giving this a one star rating. Althea’s character started out strong and I immediately loved her! But unfortunately before the book was over I had a burning hatred for her. I don’t suggest this book but give high regards to Cristina for her writing ability.
wkmcconnell's review against another edition
1.0
I picked this up on a whim from the library, and the author is a really good writer. I was engaged with the characters, and the story was interesting. But the sexual issues were not dealt with in a healthy way at all, and I fear for any young impressionable person who happens to read this book and somehow think that the attitudes and behaviors portrayed are okay or normal.