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I was provided with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
4☆
Overall I enjoyed They Wish They Were Us, but it took me what I felt was too long to get into it.
My main issue with this book was the characters. They were the epitome of the rich and popular high school kids you see in movies. Obviously this means they're going to be stuck up and socially torture those who aren't near their status, but the lack of personality and humanizing of these teens put me off. It was not until about the half way point when the characters felt more like actual teens just trying to navigate through life. Although I enjoyed this development, the first person POV the book has makes me feel that their normality should have been more apparent from the start.
In terms of the plot, throughout about 80% of this book I was sure I knew who the killer was- even before the characters suspected this person, but I was pleasantly surprised when the twist was revealed. The red herrings added a lot to the mystery, and I was happy with the way the author shook things up and didn't go with the most obvious suspect.
The elite group the teens of this novel are a part of was a really cool aspect in my opinion, and I've never read anything like it before. It had a fraternity sort of feel to it with hazing and trials in order to get in which were brutal, but creative on the author's part.
I'm really glad I had the chance to read They Wish They Were Us because it was a well written, enjoyable YA mystery/thriller novel.
4☆
Overall I enjoyed They Wish They Were Us, but it took me what I felt was too long to get into it.
My main issue with this book was the characters. They were the epitome of the rich and popular high school kids you see in movies. Obviously this means they're going to be stuck up and socially torture those who aren't near their status, but the lack of personality and humanizing of these teens put me off. It was not until about the half way point when the characters felt more like actual teens just trying to navigate through life. Although I enjoyed this development, the first person POV the book has makes me feel that their normality should have been more apparent from the start.
In terms of the plot, throughout about 80% of this book I was sure I knew who the killer was- even before the characters suspected this person, but I was pleasantly surprised when the twist was revealed. The red herrings added a lot to the mystery, and I was happy with the way the author shook things up and didn't go with the most obvious suspect.
The elite group the teens of this novel are a part of was a really cool aspect in my opinion, and I've never read anything like it before. It had a fraternity sort of feel to it with hazing and trials in order to get in which were brutal, but creative on the author's part.
I'm really glad I had the chance to read They Wish They Were Us because it was a well written, enjoyable YA mystery/thriller novel.
I was provided with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
4☆
Characters-
I have seen many people talk about how much they disliked the main character of I Am Here Now in their reviews, but I actually really appreciated her. Although she did a lot of messed up things, her mentality reminded me of my own when I was at my lowest a couple of years ago, and it was helpful for me personally to recognize the issues the main character and I shared by reading about it.
I also felt a huge connection to the little brother in this book and the similarities he possessed along my own little brother. Every single character in I Am Here Now either reminded me of a real person, or showed likeness of a person that could exist in our world. In my experience, characters with so much depth and realness are hard to come by.
Plot-
The storyline and structure was a little off for me in this book. Honestly, I havent been able to completely put a name to what was off, but I believe it may have been the pacing. In no way did this issue make the book unreadable, or difficult/boring, but I did feel not as engaged at certain points because of the pacing.
Writing-
This book is in verse which is something I have come to love. The reason I love novels in verse so much is due to the beautiful poeticism mixed with a simple type of storytelling. I did feel that the author was missing a bit of the beautiful language and style that usually comes with verse, and at points I Am Here Now read like a traditional novel with a verse type formatting due to this.
Overall, I Am Here Now had a couple mild issues, but the characters and relationships in it mostly made up for them in my opinion.
4☆
Characters-
I have seen many people talk about how much they disliked the main character of I Am Here Now in their reviews, but I actually really appreciated her. Although she did a lot of messed up things, her mentality reminded me of my own when I was at my lowest a couple of years ago, and it was helpful for me personally to recognize the issues the main character and I shared by reading about it.
I also felt a huge connection to the little brother in this book and the similarities he possessed along my own little brother. Every single character in I Am Here Now either reminded me of a real person, or showed likeness of a person that could exist in our world. In my experience, characters with so much depth and realness are hard to come by.
Plot-
The storyline and structure was a little off for me in this book. Honestly, I havent been able to completely put a name to what was off, but I believe it may have been the pacing. In no way did this issue make the book unreadable, or difficult/boring, but I did feel not as engaged at certain points because of the pacing.
Writing-
This book is in verse which is something I have come to love. The reason I love novels in verse so much is due to the beautiful poeticism mixed with a simple type of storytelling. I did feel that the author was missing a bit of the beautiful language and style that usually comes with verse, and at points I Am Here Now read like a traditional novel with a verse type formatting due to this.
Overall, I Am Here Now had a couple mild issues, but the characters and relationships in it mostly made up for them in my opinion.
I was provided with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
3.75☆
Characters-
The complex and emotional characters are always my favorite part of Nina Lacour's novels, but Watch Over Me didn't shine in that aspect. Although many of the characters had extremely tragic backstories, the way they began their healing (which I wont spoil) felt like an easy way out that almost neglected to truly show the difficulties of overcoming difficult and even abusive situations. I get that the author was trying to create some symbolism, but it didn't sit right with me. I also thought that the author struggled with forming the characters' relationships with each other in this book. The main character, Mila's bond with a young boy named Lee was the only relationship that didn't give me a sense of the author pushing harmony among the various characters in Watch Over Me.
Plot-
My biggest issue with the plot of this novel was the way it was paced. The flashbacks were oddly placed and the majority of the "action" or "excitement" seemed to happen in the last 50 pages of the book. Therefore, everything built up very slowly and when things were revealed, the explanation for them was rushed. I also wished that the book would have gone in a different direction with the mysterious elements, but I'm not overtly upset with how things went either.
Writing-
The author's writing and style really saved this book for me and kept it from totally tanking. The symbolism and just purely beautiful writing is such a staple for Nina Lacour that I will always love and appreciate.
Unfortunately, I did not love Watch Over Me nearly as much as I did the author's other books, but it was in not in any way a bad read, as I still enjoyed myself while reading. I will continue to read from Lacour in the future as I think she has an impeccable talent for writing and a lot of potential in more mysterious type stories such as this one.
3.75☆
Characters-
The complex and emotional characters are always my favorite part of Nina Lacour's novels, but Watch Over Me didn't shine in that aspect. Although many of the characters had extremely tragic backstories, the way they began their healing (which I wont spoil) felt like an easy way out that almost neglected to truly show the difficulties of overcoming difficult and even abusive situations. I get that the author was trying to create some symbolism, but it didn't sit right with me. I also thought that the author struggled with forming the characters' relationships with each other in this book. The main character, Mila's bond with a young boy named Lee was the only relationship that didn't give me a sense of the author pushing harmony among the various characters in Watch Over Me.
Plot-
My biggest issue with the plot of this novel was the way it was paced. The flashbacks were oddly placed and the majority of the "action" or "excitement" seemed to happen in the last 50 pages of the book. Therefore, everything built up very slowly and when things were revealed, the explanation for them was rushed. I also wished that the book would have gone in a different direction with the mysterious elements, but I'm not overtly upset with how things went either.
Writing-
The author's writing and style really saved this book for me and kept it from totally tanking. The symbolism and just purely beautiful writing is such a staple for Nina Lacour that I will always love and appreciate.
Unfortunately, I did not love Watch Over Me nearly as much as I did the author's other books, but it was in not in any way a bad read, as I still enjoyed myself while reading. I will continue to read from Lacour in the future as I think she has an impeccable talent for writing and a lot of potential in more mysterious type stories such as this one.
I was provided with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
4.25☆
Characters-
This book follows twins Alec and Walker who are very much so opposites and foils of each other which I found entertaining and realistic to my own relationship with my sibling. The main character Alec was really special to me due to the way his anxiety was portrayed. As someone with general anxiety and who used to experience a lot of social anxiety, I related so much to Alec and wanted to just give him a hug. I think people with anxiety could really love Alec and connect with him.
Plot-
The storyline of Swamp Thing: Twin Branches was really fun and had in my opinion a good mix of realism and science fiction elements. My only issue with the plot was that the climax and ending of the story came very abruptly and didn't give a whole lot of time for processing or really a resolution. I have noticed that this is typical of graphic novels though, so I don't really give fault to the other.
Writing and Art-
Although writing is less complex in graphic novels, it can definitely make or break them in my opinion. Fortunately, the author did a great job with the dialogue as well as the other text in the book. Although I am not really a plant person and am not super interested in how they work, I loved the small explanations of plant life that served as metaphors to what was going on in the story.
The art was also so pretty, and I thought the color palette was very pleasing to the eye and fit the mood of the story well.
I highly enjoyed Swamp Thing: Twin Branches- even more than I expected to if I'm being honest. If you're looking for a short and sweet science fiction graphic novel that still has realistic characters and relationships, I would highly recommend this book.
4.25☆
Characters-
This book follows twins Alec and Walker who are very much so opposites and foils of each other which I found entertaining and realistic to my own relationship with my sibling. The main character Alec was really special to me due to the way his anxiety was portrayed. As someone with general anxiety and who used to experience a lot of social anxiety, I related so much to Alec and wanted to just give him a hug. I think people with anxiety could really love Alec and connect with him.
Plot-
The storyline of Swamp Thing: Twin Branches was really fun and had in my opinion a good mix of realism and science fiction elements. My only issue with the plot was that the climax and ending of the story came very abruptly and didn't give a whole lot of time for processing or really a resolution. I have noticed that this is typical of graphic novels though, so I don't really give fault to the other.
Writing and Art-
Although writing is less complex in graphic novels, it can definitely make or break them in my opinion. Fortunately, the author did a great job with the dialogue as well as the other text in the book. Although I am not really a plant person and am not super interested in how they work, I loved the small explanations of plant life that served as metaphors to what was going on in the story.
The art was also so pretty, and I thought the color palette was very pleasing to the eye and fit the mood of the story well.
I highly enjoyed Swamp Thing: Twin Branches- even more than I expected to if I'm being honest. If you're looking for a short and sweet science fiction graphic novel that still has realistic characters and relationships, I would highly recommend this book.
