Addicted to YA discussion

This discussion will be lead by Aija. The discussion leader will be here to help keep the conversation going. Look out for comments and questions the discussion leader might make and respond back to them!

I got the audiobook and thought I'd take part in a topic for the first time but it's all kind of new for me. Does one have to read the whole book before taking part?

Hello! I’d welcome anything anyone has to say regarding the book even if you haven’t finished it! Just beware there may be spoilers, I suppose!

Was anyone able to relate to any character in particular? Was anyone able to relate to the family dynamics?

Hello! I will be listening to the audiobook, as well. This is the third discussion I've taken part in, and in both of the other discussions, people updated whenever they wanted. Welcome!

This book is on my tbr for this month!! Can't wait to read!!

I chose the audiobook format for this book as well because I love Erin Spencer and finished it in only two days. I tend not to care for Lauren Oliver's mystery/thriller books, and while I liked this one more than Vanishing Girls and Panic, I still didn't love it. I felt like they were just going in circles as far as the mystery went, and so many aspects of the story reminded me of things I've already read in other books.
(view spoiler)[I thought with all the fantasy tags that the answers would lead to something supernatural so I was expecting a completely different outcome because of them (hide spoiler)]

Aija wrote: "Was anyone able to relate to any character in particular? Was anyone able to relate to the family dynamics?"

I definitely didn't relate to any of the main characters, but as far as who I liked the best I'd say Abby for sure. I liked how she was just so blunt and totally secure in herself.

I just finished reading Broken Things, and I felt this book was kind of . . . meh. It wasn't bad, but I couldn't get into the story. There were brief moments that I really enjoyed, they were just few and far between. I couldn't relate to any of the main characters, which is important to me, because if I don't relate to any of the main characters, I feel much more passive while reading the story. Maybe someone else who felt a connection to one or more of the characters would enjoy this book more than I did, but for me, it was just kind of . . . meh. I felt the mystery was kind of forgotten about, since to me, it seemed like they dealt more with other issues than the mystery of Summer's death.

Did you feel there was a theme in this book? Is having a theme a necessity in a book? When I try to get at the theme of a book, I ask myself a question. What is the message (theme is in the two words)?

I personally feel this book had no theme. There was no takeaway in this book. In my opinion, a story without a theme is flawed, if not weak.

If I am missing the theme in this novel, please tell me what you took away from this story as sometimes themes only appear to those that can relate to the story or characters.

Aija wrote: "Did you feel there was a theme in this book? Is having a theme a necessity in a book? When I try to get at the theme of a book, I ask myself a question. What is the message (theme is in the two wor..."

I'm with you, Aija. I'm not sure this book had a theme. Maybe something about trying to move on after a friend's death?

How did you feel about the writing style used in this book? Was the dialogue believable? Was there a lot of repetition of certain words or phrases?

I’m only 120 pages in and struggling so far.. I know its YA but it feels VERY YA if that makes sense. I’m going to persist though and maybe it’ll get better. I usually read a book in three days but haven’t found myself wanting to pick this up at all!

Yes, this book was certainly a struggle to get through for me as well. I agree that is is very “YA”. Almost pre-teenish.

I only got to page 150 and I just was interested in the characters or the plot line. The story when they were kids was confusing and I found it jumped around to much for me to understand what was happening or who was narrating at the time. I was expecting this to be a really cool mystery and I’m kind of disappointed. I gave it 1 out of 5 stars.

^^^ Wasn’t** sorry

I'm glad I listened to the audiobook, since it seems I had a better experience with this book than everyone else

So I finished the book today, I made myself plough through to the end and have rated this book with one star. I’m usually quite a generous star giver! I felt the writing was very preteen. It to me was very immature, I know these girls where 13 when the murder happened so kind of explains it, but I found it almost too cringy to read at times.
I didn’t particularly like any of the characters either and didn’t feel they had much depth.
Also when the light of summers murder comes I was extremely disappointed! I wanted some huge reveal that was unexpected. The result was unexpected, but not shocking since it was a minor character that I barely paid a second thought to.
I need to read something with substance now as this was a book that gave me nothing, I don’t really have feelings towards this book at all. I know YA is aimed at a younger audience and maybe it’s because I usually like YA fantasy..but this has put me off other YA genres.

I think the fact that I listened to the book is a reason that I didn't rate this book 1 star, and instead rated it 2. The narrators were good enough to make me not hate this story.

It’s very interesting to me that those who listened to the audiobook had a slightly different experience. Amazing how the senses work!
Does anyone feel as if the makings for a great story were there in this book?has anyone read or would you read another book by this author after the experience with this one?

I wouldn't assume that ALL books by this author are unreadable, solely because of this book. So, I think I would give the author the benefit of the doubt and would read at least one other story by this author. If I didn't like the secobd one, though, it would be very hard to get me to read a third.

I've read a ton of Lauren's books and for me they are all over the place. I actually preferred this one over a couple she's written, so it definitely wouldn't be "the final straw" for me... I just go into her books with low expectations now.

I liked her Replica sci-fi duology, but not her Delirium dystopian trilogy. I liked her Before I Fall contemporary novel, but not her contemporary mystery/thriller novels Vanishing Girls and Panic. And now I didn't care much for this "fantasy" novel, although I personally see it as a mystery novel. So it's not like I can even choose certain genres by her that I like or dislike, it really depends on the book.

I don't usually write off specific authors based on only one novel of theirs, save a few really terrible ones. For example, I hated Splintered and the writing/world building was some of the worst I've ever come across, so I will never pick up another book by that author again. But I'm almost always willing to give the author a second (or third or fourth) chance if I think they have really potential to improve.

Ashley wrote: "So I finished the book today, I made myself plough through to the end and have rated this book with one star. I’m usually quite a generous star giver! I felt the writing was very preteen. It to me ..."

I felt the same way about the reveal! Like I guess I didn't see it coming, but because that character showed up like once and wasn't significant to the story anyway. That to me says the author can't come up with an actual shocking conclusion so they just pick a person you never think about or that even has a good motive.

Is there any burning question you would like to be able to ask this author?
Is there anyone you believe would have made for a more interesting reveal as the murderer?
Mine would be “Why did you choose who you did to be the murderer?!”

lauren oliver's books are very hit-or-miss for me. there are some i have really liked hence why i keep reading her books, so yes i would recommend reading some of them, but there have definitely been a few that ive ended up saying wtf, why did i just read this? this book was somewhere in the middle for me. i liked it enough to keep reading it because i wanted to know what was going to happen with the story, but yah some parts of it did make me question like why did i bother.