honeybees_library's Reviews (721)

I read the entire book in one day, so it’s safe to say that I wanted to keep reading and was enjoying it overall. The book totally gives off summer vibes and I would recommend it as a young adult summer/beach read. I do have to say the entire book I hated the main characters nickname, Belly lol. I wish the author would have reserved the nickname, Belly, for just her mom or maybe when the boys were teasing her, not all throughout the book and for every character. Even though Belly had multiple possible love interests in the book, it was obvious from the beginning to me somehow Belly would end up with Conrad. However, I do wish there were more interaction between them two where it made more sense they would end up together. I felt like a lot of it was just Belly’s thoughts about Conrad & pining for him from afar while he was away in his room, at work, etc. where they didn’t actually interact. To me, when you really think about it, it probably would have made more sense for Belly to end up with Jeremiah or Cam since they actually interacted with her and made it more obvious they were interested in her. I did feel like Belly whined a lot throughout the book, however, she was a teenager so I did feel like the whining and the way she thought or acted to try to make Conrad jealous was accurate to the immaturity to teenagers. I hated the character of Taylor; she was just annoying to me. I liked the characters of Jeremiah, Cam, Laurel, & Susannah. I felt like Steven was a typical big brother character.

Just like Heartstopper Volume 1, this graphic novel was a pageturner and a quick read. I finished it in less than an hour. Nick and Charlie’s relationship is still just as heartwarming as in the first book. I liked seeing Nick’s self-discovery and coming to terms with who he really is. I felt the thoughts about being confused about how he felt/what his identity was was realistic for someone discovering they may have a different sexual orientation than they originally thought. I also felt the fears Nick had about revealing to others how he was feeling was also realistic. I loved Nick’s moms reaction at the end to him coming out to her.

I give this book 4.5 stars. Overall, I enjoyed the book. Parts of this book were similar to Freida McFadden’s “The Housemaid,” but I did feel the actual plot/majority of story events were different enough. I could see how some people view the beginning as slow, but I personally didn’t mind as it was interesting enough to keep my attention. Amber’s character was insufferable at times (which I believe was the point). The one thing I wasn’t a huge fan of was just because Amber’s character was a terrible person in general, I don’t believe the theme of her “getting what she deserves” by ending up and making it seem like being stuck to eternal damnation with Jackson was right. No one deserves to be abused, tortured, sexually assaulted, repeatedly threatened, etc. I feel her “punishment” or consequence for her actions should have fit the crime(s), like going to jail.

I give this book 3.5 stars. The second half was more interesting than the first. It was hard to keep track of all the different characters and their storylines and their pasts in the beginning of the book; but as the book went on it was interesting to see how everything connected and that everything was explained. There were some twists I was not expecting. Now that I’ve finished the book and really think about it, it’s hard to “root for” the majority of any of the main characters within the story because of many of the secrets the characters held onto and how they treated those they were in relationships with.

As a woman in her 30s, I’m obviously not the intended audience for this book. I read this as it was a book listed on a reading challenge I’ll be working to complete. Overall, it was an okay book. Not amazing, but not terrible. It was a quick read. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the original adapted movie from the 70s, but I think I watched the TV movie version from the 90s with Shelley Long and Gaby Hoffman less than a handful of times when I was a young kid (don’t really remember it though); I’ve definitely seen the 2003 version with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis multiple times. This is one of the few times I will say the movie is better than the book (the 2003 version at least).  However, the 2003 movie definitely does not follow the book (of course it still has the same overall mother/daughter switch bodies plot). If you’re expecting it to be exactly like the 2003 movie version, it won’t be. Even though the book is geared towards kids/pre-teens, I did actually enjoy the first half or two-thirds of the book, or so. Then I’m not sure what happened, but the second half/last third was not as enjoyable. I’m not sure if it was the writing, how the story continued, or a mixture of both. Overall, I give this 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 because of the rating system.

Overall, I give this book 2 stars. Some parts were more interesting than others, however I would have just marked it DNF and moved onto another book if it weren’t a bookclub pick. 
There were times I had a hard time focusing on what I was reading or even remembering what I had read in entire chapters, as it just came across boring. I did enjoy the parts focusing on Lydia (specifically when Anna and Dexter took her to Manhattan Beach), Anna’s diving, Anna’s relationship with Nell, and some of Anna’s interactions with Dexter. But overall, it just was not that interesting of a book to me.