aliciaclarereads's Reviews (1.25k)

There is so much in this book. It's charming and adorable. Many parts were fluffy and cute and invoked the occasional squee. It was also hilarious, which is quite impressive for a book about young people with cancer. It was philosophical. Rarely do young adult novels come along that you think, truly think, and I contemplate what the author means. It was also heartbreaking.

I have so much I want to say, but I don't know how.

So for now let me simply say that the stars and space imagery throughout the book was absolutely beautiful.

This book has one of the silliest dystopian premises, which is why I don't think it works as a commentary on society in the same manner that other popular dystopian novels do. Rather, it's a clever exploration of language, especially towards the middle as more and more letters become unavailable for use. It was witty and funny, especially the smaller details like how the characters reference the months and days of the week. My favorite was calling November "norepinephrine."

To quote Vonnegut, everything is beautiful and nothing hurt. This book... It's been on my list for awhile and I'm so glad I finally read it. Charlie is such an amazing character, but I probably like him because I can so easily relate to him. I want to cry right now becaus the book is over and I can't read anymore. It was perfect. I just... I'm speechless. Every teenager should read this book.

This may sound so weird, but I thought Charlie was like the petit prince and Holden Caufield mixed together. Also I think I'll reread Catcher because this might improve opinion of Holden.