Falling into Place in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Oct 21, 2020 Lacey Louwagie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020-year-of-expanded-reading

It was hard to read this book without constantly reflecting on the fact that it's writer was 15 years old, to not judge it through that lens. It is an amazing accomplishment for a 15-year-old. The voice(s) are sharp, descriptions sharp, the tone literary, the characters complex and fleshed out. I loved the nuance of the various relationships, the suspense of whether Liz would pull through, and the hopeful ending.

Of note: all the characters in this book are white even though the young author is C ...more

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Jan 12, 2017 Molly rated it liked it

Shelves: realistic-fiction, ya-lit, read-in-2017, on-the-classroom-shelf, 3-stars, i-want-to-like-you, meh, fya-finds, book-riot-finds

You know how sometimes a book is perfectly fine, and you can see objectively why other people like it, but it just does nothing for you? Yeah.

First a little background. I am forever in search of good read alouds for 7th grade (we have some awesome ones for 8th, but 7th is just lacking). I actually wrote in to Book Riot’s “Get Booked” recommendation podcast, and this was one of their suggestions. However, within the first 20 pages we have partying and drinking and drug use and vague references t You know how sometimes a book is perfectly fine, and you can see objectively why other people like it, but it just does nothing for you? Yeah.

First a little background. I am forever in search of good read alouds for 7th grade (we have some awesome ones for 8th, but 7th is just lacking). I actually wrote in to Book Riot’s “Get Booked” recommendation podcast, and this was one of their suggestions. However, within the first 20 pages we have partying and drinking and drug use and vague references to abortion and there is NO way I could read this out loud to 7th graders. Put it on my shelf? Absolutely. There’s nothing super graphic, and nothing most of my kids haven’t seen on Pretty Little Liars. But read alouds are a curious beast, and yes I realize there an entire graduate thesis-worth of exploration about why violence in teen books is more acceptable than sex (for example, the kids’ favorite read aloud of all time is The Testing). Either way, reading anything even remotely sexy out loud is always trouble. You get the kid who yells “ew!” and the kid who goes home and tells Mommy and Daddy I’m reading pornography... it just isn’t worth it.

Anyway, all of this is to say that I went into this with a cranky attitude. I considered not finishing it at all, but I decided to give it 50 or 60 pages to capture my interest, which it eventually did. I just felt like there were too many elements happening -- the fluid structure (which I ultimately liked because I love nontraditional storytelling, but it is SO wrong for a read aloud), the mysterious narrator, the just-this-side-of-purple prose... like, pick a thing! Also, Liz is a total jerk. I know she’s meant to be a jerk and we aren’t meant to like her, but the more I read the more frustrated I was with both the character and what I felt to be the message. Basically, Liz is terrible to everyone around her so she decides that the best solution is to kill herself (but make it look like an accident) so that she can’t hurt anyone ever again. Here’s the thing: you know what’s super easy? Giving up. Liz is awful to everyone, and she’s generally aware of that fact but it’s like she can’t help herself. And when she finally allows herself to, as sassy gay friend recommends, look at her life, look at her choices, she realizes that she’s terrible. But becoming a better person and making amends is apparently too much work.

I’m just not sure I’m on board with that train of thought. I mean, I get that most people who hurt others have been hurt themselves; very few people are just unrelentingly awful for no good reason. And I appreciate the notion that everyone has a story and that we don’t always know what’s going on inside someone’s head. But Liz is clearly taking the easy way out here -- she gets to be mourned and escape. (view spoiler) And also, even though everyone KNOWS Liz is the worst, everyone is ready to forgive her, because they see her pain, or whatever. I have to call BS on that. There’s a difference between saying “I understand that you hurt me because YOU are miserable, and I forgive you for that, but that doesn’t make your actions okay.” But Liam is all “I don’t mind that you ruined my life because you’re all sad and beautiful.” Barf.

I think I may have enjoyed this more had I read it under different circumstances - just for my own entertainment and not as a read aloud test drive. I know that many of my girls will probably like this one, and I don’t really have a problem blogging about it or putting it on my shelf. It is just very much not my thing. ...more

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Aug 06, 2015 Leah Fitzgerald rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, 2015

I liked it well enough, but I wondered about the narrator. I get that it's supposed to be her imaginary friend, but I wanted it to be something more. ...more

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