ashleyj_reads's Reviews (370)

I won a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.

I don't know exactly what I expected from this book, but what I got wasn't it. I was pleasantly surprised. This book has everything I love when reading! I think I was more than a little surprised about the whodunnit solution, but it made the story that much better! There are a few things I didn't like, though, and overall I just wasn't blown away.

I would like MORE. I want more mess and details and other characters' perspectives.

Wow what a read! I finished this book suffering with anger, sadness, grief, and an existential crisis. Well done, Silvera.
The style and point of view choices made for Mateo and Rufus' stories were absolutely fantastic and thought provoking. Even my job being what it is, I rarely [naturally] think about things like the different writing voices and points of view for the various characters in a story, but the way this was done made me do it!
I still need to know a few things about the ends of certain story lines, especially those that didn't get an end!

Wow. Just...wow. Firstly, the writing is absolutely poetic. The only way I can think to describe it is with a quote from the book itself: "I feel the need to say something grand and poetic, but the only thing I come with is 'It's lovely.'"

I'm sad to say that I thought I knew where this was going, and then it did what I didn't think it was going to do. What I didn't want it to do. What a tribute and awareness novel to suicide and teenage depression, truly. The emotions Finch and Violet share with us are expressed perfectly in there parallel stories, and the points of view of the "background" characters from each of them give us a more rounded version of them. People see others differently and these characters' diaries express that well.

It shouldn't take me more than a year to get halfway through a book.
I kept wanting to be able to finish this one, but I just can't keep reading it. It can only hold my attention for three or four pages at a time, and then I have to force myself to go back to it. That's not how reading should go, so I'm adding this one to giving up.
I got to page 140.

Read for International Currents in Modern Fiction class

I could not finish this book. I was required to read it in three chunks...I don't think I got more than halfway through the second. It was just awful. The MC pissed me off. I won't pick this book up again, and I definitely wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

*WON A COPY FROM A GOODREADS GIVEAWAY*

I could not connect with the method proposed in this book.

*WON A COPY FROM A GOODREADS GIVEAWAY*

I gave up on this book on page two of chapter one. It wasn't because of the story; I actually think it's really interesting, and I'm sad that I can't finish it. The language and general rules of writing are awful. It was difficult to understand what was going on; it seems information was forced together specifically to make longer paragraphs. Dialogue was inserted haphazardly.
Overall, it's giant disappointment in terms of writing style. I cannot continue to read a book if I have to read each paragraph three times to understand what is happening.

The plot does sound intriguing, and the cover is beautiful! So if you want to dive on in and try it yourself, I say go for it! My reading preferences may be different than yours.

My autographed copy of this book will be donated.

*WON A COPY FROM A GOODREADS GIVEAWAY*
I got through five chapters. I can't pinpoint what it was, but I just didn't like this book. I couldn't make myself keep reading it.

This book could not keep my interest. I kept trying to read it but just was not into it. I don’t even care whodunit, which is weird for me. I honestly don’t understand how this is a bestseller.