I only ever read this once, in the fifth grade I think, but wow it actually held up much better than I was expecting. Perhaps some of that has to do with the fact that this was one of the series that even as a kid I was more fond of than the others. I didn't find myself hating or getting annoyed with the characters as I usually do when reading YA. The plot also kept me fairly entertained throughout the whole book. There are definitely some things that made me roll my eyes a little, but that's always expected when reading a book from my childhood.

Overall, I wouldn't say this is really any different than the other YA dystopian books from that time period. I did like that the main character Tally wasn't some "chosen" one that was the only one who could save the world. I have the rest of the series checked out from my local library so I will keep going.

This was a much shorter book than I was expecting. I really wish that it was actually longer so that we could have gotten to know the characters better and really seen them develop with the story. That being said, I enjoyed this. It's a story that attempts to convey a lot of the of the feelings that women may go through in their mid to late twenties and also specifically what Korean women may face in their everyday life. The little illustrations were super cute to look at and really added to the story. I honestly left the story just wanting more if anything else.

Another book that has spent years on my bookshelves. When I first preordered this book I do think I would have enjoyed it much more. However, now that years have passed, and I honestly didn't really even remember what the premise was, I think this book wasn't for me. That being said I can still admit that it was okay. I don't think there was anything really bad other than it being a bit slow for the first half.

Bad

Interesting concept that unfortunately did not live up to the hype for me. The author spends far too much time ending every paragraph with, what I assume, is their version of a "😏" one liner. The characters were beyond unlikable, it felt like they were purposely written to be hated with no room for redemption. And to top it off there is no twist, might as well have glaring bright lights with neon signs every page telling the reader every "secret". 

I might be in a hater mood as it feels like every book I have read lately has fallen short, but also I know deep down inside that this book was just bad. 

I mean it got its point across, but I would argue maybe not in the best of ways. While I think that this book is tackling an extremely important topic regarding racism and the prevalence of it in everyday life; I also think that it failed to bring the story together in the most cohesive of ways.

There is a clear lack of where exactly this takes place and I don't know just how many times the reader needs to hear about how beyond poor one of the main characters is every other page. Also the use of social media only when super convenient (aka the last like 30%) really takes away from the story. In what world are high schoolers now not posting every single little thing happening within the halls of a high school?

Anyway, I have strayed from reading YA so maybe I'm just being too harsh. I mean I did finish this in one day so it obviously wasn't terrible.   

So I am really not a romance reader, but I somehow have managed to acquire a few romance books that have sat on my shelves for years. Do I think I'm gonna be reading more romance now? No I can't say that I will, but I also didn't hate this. 

 

The story is easy enough to follow and the characters aren't completely horrible. There were a couple times where I actually found myself actually reacting to some of the actions the characters chose to take. I also found myself cringing at more of the actions the characters chose to take. The ending was super cheesy bally obviously and at times it felt like only someone who frequented tumblr could write something like this. 

 

Anyway not for me, but also not horrible and I can see the appeal.

Self serving awfulness 

An interesting premise that starts out somewhat strong if you can ignore some of the very questionable writing. The characters are all extremely unlikable and one dimensional and they are constantly make the stupidest decisions. The story really begins to stagnant around 30% in and it just feels like the author is regurgitating the same things over and over. There are no real shocks or twists and the ending is just too far from what would actually happen I can't even suspend my belief. 

This was okay, not good and also not bad, just okay. This story is split into timelines, the present where the characters are adults and the past when they're teenagers and everything first takes place. I found myself enjoying the present far more than the past, but I still wasn't having a ton of fun with this book. I think the characters were just so completely unlikable and so entitled that anytime one of them had anything to say I would roll my eyes. The story is interesting enough and yet it also feels like nothing happens in the long run. I feel like I say this a lot, but this book would have most certainly benefited from being a couple hundred pages shorter. 

It often felt like the author was trying to drive the same point over and over about how these characters had such a toxic relationship. However, I think the actions that were shown did that perfectly without also the narrator going on and on about "being a teenage girl". The twist, if you want to call it that, wasn't really anything the reader didn't seem coming from the first few chapters and the ending just felt weak. The author also really, really, really loves a long sentence.