"Whatever you do to the animals,
you do to yourself."

why. why why why why why. just—why. why does my school make me read this. why.

ok. maybe im over exaggerating a little bit.

if you haven't seen my rating yet, i have it a three. but, if im being honest, im debating changing it to a 2.5. aka a 2.

i don't even know where to start. maybe at the beginning? like all stories do? i guess ill give backstory.

it was a warm, bright autumn day. the air felt fresh, and crisp, crunchy leaves fell from trees to the ground below.

i sat in my ELA classroom, giving my (pretty freaking scary) ELA teacher my full attention as she announced we'd be getting our assigned reading books today.

i couldn't decide whether i was happy or not.

last year, there were only two good books we read out of the four. this year could be better...or worse. dun dun dun.

my teacher wasted no time handing out the books. i sucked in a breath when i heard my name being called. i stepped up and grasped the book in my hand.

'Touching Spirit Bear' was the title.

(horrible writing, i know, it's a joke, ok. stop being a sheep)

there. there's my stupid backstory. now, to the actual review.

i didn't read the book when i first got it. i stuffed it in my locker and didn't bother to touch it until my ELA teacher explained to us that we'd be taking the AR test on the book the next week.

so, reluctantly, i picked up the book and began to read.

and here, my friends, is where i will explain the highs and lows.

what i liked:

• character development
Cole's character development was great. he went from jerky mean kid to groovy guru.

Cole honestly scared me at the beginning of the book. i just thought to myself 'what is up with this kid?' as i turned the pages of this book.

he was terrifying. i get that he had anger issues, and was abused his whole life, and probably had bipolar disorder, but still.

and, even after Cole's character development, i still didn't have an ounce of sentiment for him.

i couldn't care less about Cole or what happened to him. he brought everything that happened to him upon himself.

i couldn't care less if the kid died.



• the reality
i mean,,,,,this stuff happens in real life, whether we like it or not.

there are people like Cole whether we like it or not.

periodt.





what i didn't like:

• the 'i actually have meaning'
if you don't know what this means, let me explain:

this book tries so, so, so hard to be a book that teaches you a lesson. it tries so hard to be the 'book that changed my life!' and i hate it.

it's trying to be some sort of preacher. the books that gives you WiSdOm and cHaNgE.

like, bruh.

honestly, if wanted to read a life-changing book i would've just hopped on over to 'The List' or 'Denis Ever After'.




•repetitive
do something bad
go to my cell thing place
talk w/ Garvey
get somewhat released
wallow in self-pity
repeat

that's it. that's the book. boom.



• snooze fest
i was lowkey bored for half the book.

something interesting happened every, like, what, 50 pages? it was boring! we got told for like 50 pages straight that Garvey, Edwin, and Cole danced. and for what? i kinda cringed reading that.




anyway, the book was ok. maybe if you read this genre then you’ll like the book more, who knows.

OVERALL RATING: 2.7