Well that was precious.

While the story and characters never really captured me, there was so much that I absolutely loved about this novel. Diaz’s writing style is like nothing I’ve ever read. It is a beautiful cyclone of nerd culture, Spanish slang, high brow diction, Dominican history, and quick wit. It is so rich with such an uncommon combination of allusions that surely there can only be a handful of people in the world world who could immediately identify every reference. And this is part of what makes it great, that Diaz’s voice is so fiercely and unapologetically his own. Despite detailed footnotes on Dominican history and politics (which I loved learning about) there is so much more that I had to look up to understand (even more so as a non-Spanish speaker), or else breeze past with half-understanding, and I got the feeling that this was part of the experience, that Diaz expects his readers to do their part to KEEP UP in the way that anyone being transplanted into another culture would have to, and that he has confidence in his readers’ ability to do so. It is a dizzying, incandescent ride that I would definitely recommend for the pure experience of it.

I did like this book, especially Evelyn's story, but it somehow felt incomplete. I didn't feel like I really knew TC until the very end, and I never really got a grasp on who Jackie was at all. I listened on audio and the narration was amazing, the story kept me interested, but I felt like it all never really came together. I felt like there was a specific message the story wanted to tell (and I wanted to receive as a reader), about family, racial justice, etc. but I was never able to decipher it.

Captivating, heartbreaking, strangely hopeful. I was drawn in by the themes of sisterhood and mental health, but stayed for the thread of empathy running throughout the story. I don’t know that I’ve ever read a book written with such tenderness and compassion towards its characters, even in their faults. I truly loved and felt for every character in the story, despite their mistakes and humanity. The book raised such thought-provoking questions about how much we can really understand another’s perspective, and whether we need to in order to have compassion for them. Altogether beautifully written, woven, and executed. It’s a story I’ll be sitting with for a while.

A fresh, clever, feminist, light-hearted take on a familiar story.

Even with all the hype, this book was even better and *more* than I expected. It’s about Ireland and homophobia and one man’s life but it is also about the human experience and self-acceptance and love and forgiveness and growth and compassion. It is both wholly heart shattering and heart warming, with a dry humor that made me laugh out loud, and connections that gave me goosebumps. In the end, Cyril Avery felt like a true friend, flaws and all, and I didn’t want to leave him. All the love for this treasure of a book that will certainly be one of my favorites of the year.

I loved everything about this book: the world-building, the characters, the themes (and author's note at the end), the storytelling. It was all so perfect and vivid. Very much looking forward to book 2 and the film.

4.5 John Green’s depiction of anxiety is flawless. I identified with Aza through so much of the book. Also Green’s world building, for lack of a better word, is so perfect. He truly captures what it’s like to be a teenager or even just a human being in the modern world. It made me feel nostalgic for seeing the world from that perspective. His writing is atmospheric and real and familiar and invites so much genuine empathy for each character. I would have happily spent more time in this book.