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sarakomo 's review for:
Parachutes
by Kelly Yang
2020: First thing's first: if you're struggling through this book at all, I give you permission to go ahead and skip to the end, and read the author's note. It completely changed my entire perspective on the book, and really gave me a new outlook on the whole story. Major kudos to Yang for sharing her story here; it really elevated the book to a whole new level.
I liked the book overall–I just got a little bogged down in some of the high school drama. It was a lot at times, and there were some inconsistencies (in my humble opinion) between how a character was introduced and described, and their actions (a lot of Jess in the first act of the book, and Dani in the second half).
The secondary characters were really well developed and explored. I had no trouble keeping track of all of the high school students, and even felt like I could keep what was happening with each of their parents straight as well. I loved the variety of representation included (although Zack's mom was an addition that didn't quite mesh. Zack seemed to have a lot of free time for someone with a sick / non-sober single mom at home....)
I learned a lot from this book! There were many aspects of Chinese culture (such as the gaokao) and many elements from the ABC's in the book that I didn't know about. Yang was on point in keeping it straight on what social media each character (and their respective families) would be using or would have access to.
The two narrators twisted and overlapped and intersected, all while telling two different stories. When Claire first moved in to Dani's house, I was nervous that the rest of the novel would be the same plot, simply told from two different points of view. But it really explores the two very different worlds these young women come from, and even though they have similar experiences at their sucky high school, it's different enough.
As the NYT Books Review says, "Know this, weary readers: “Parachutes” is not a book about sexual violence or broken girls or the polluting forces of shame and isolation. It is about the radical possibility of young women finding and detonating their voices." I agree wholeheartedly.
I liked the book overall–I just got a little bogged down in some of the high school drama. It was a lot at times, and there were some inconsistencies (in my humble opinion) between how a character was introduced and described, and their actions (a lot of Jess in the first act of the book, and Dani in the second half).
The secondary characters were really well developed and explored. I had no trouble keeping track of all of the high school students, and even felt like I could keep what was happening with each of their parents straight as well. I loved the variety of representation included (although Zack's mom was an addition that didn't quite mesh. Zack seemed to have a lot of free time for someone with a sick / non-sober single mom at home....)
I learned a lot from this book! There were many aspects of Chinese culture (such as the gaokao) and many elements from the ABC's in the book that I didn't know about. Yang was on point in keeping it straight on what social media each character (and their respective families) would be using or would have access to.
The two narrators twisted and overlapped and intersected, all while telling two different stories. When Claire first moved in to Dani's house, I was nervous that the rest of the novel would be the same plot, simply told from two different points of view. But it really explores the two very different worlds these young women come from, and even though they have similar experiences at their sucky high school, it's different enough.
As the NYT Books Review says, "Know this, weary readers: “Parachutes” is not a book about sexual violence or broken girls or the polluting forces of shame and isolation. It is about the radical possibility of young women finding and detonating their voices." I agree wholeheartedly.