I’m so sad that I’m finished with this series! I really enjoyed the books but I’m also running out of Armstrong books to read so that’s a whole other bummer in itself haha 
These books are entertaining and easy to read. It’s the perfect breather between books! 

I get what the author was going for, but it just didn’t translate well for me. I saw that people thought the audiobook was better than the physical, but I was listening to this and just could not get into it. Or keep up with who was who. Maybe one day I’ll try to pick up a physical copy and see. 

I. Loved. This. Book. Oh my goodness. All of the characters were so amazing and the way things weaved together! And there was so much representation. I thought the whole “being stuck on a train thing” was done in a cool way as well. Having a story that took place in one particular setting could have been hella boring, but there’s so much more going on in this book as well so it doesn’t feel boring at all! This will probably be a reread for me at some point (and I definitely want a physical copy of this one as I listened to it this time!)

I REALLY enjoyed the portrayal of relationships through this book. The looks at romantic and platonic relationships, growing up and changing throughout this book I thought were done really well! There was great humor and also really great heart warming moments. 
The only reason I didn’t rate this 5 stars? July. I could not STAND July. She was incredibly rude and self centered and every time I thought she had turned a corner we’d just run into a wall.

As an educator I’m constantly on the lookout for books that cover racism and anti-racism in a way that my students can understand, and this book definitely hits the nail on the head! Having a word bank in the back is a great resource so kids don’t get discouraged when they run across a word they don’t understand, and every concept is unpacked deeply. The journal prompts are great too since they will get them REALLY thinking about what they’re reading instead of just skimming through it. 
This is immediately going into my classroom library!

I got 5% through the audiobook (45 minutes in) and had to give up. I think this a book better read than listened to because there was just so much descriptive language used that I genuinely forgot what was happening sometimes 😂

I really wanted to like this more than I did. The two characters talk maybe 3 times by the half way point, hate each other that entire time, and then all the sudden they’re into each other? There were several parts of the book where I just was slightly confused about the events happening. 
They also had the same conversation over and over again. 
But I did like the writing itself, it flowed beautifully. 

My love for the Brown sisters continues to grow with this book! I didn’t relate to Dani as much as I did with Chloe, but Dani does have a very understandable and relatable fear of relationships and not being the “ideal” partner. I loved every minute of watching Dani and Zaf’s relationship grow! I would just like to know for a friend and definitely NOT for myself- where can one find a Zaf? 

Okay so I had a LOT of issues with this book. 

Jay was insanely unlivable to me. I completely understand growing up in a place where there isn’t anyone like you and wanting those experiences- but he really used that excuse to explain every terrible thing he did and said in this book. 

I loved the idea of Jay’s lists, and that he was the type of person who was able to process things and feelings through lists, but I felt like the lists were repeated EVERY PAGE. I swear I could recite the list from memory at this point. 

The characters swung back and forth between sounding like they were middle schoolers to sounding like they should be in college. Jay refused to say the word “fuck” as he was opposed to it because of the way he was raised, so instead he said “frack” and it was really “fracking” annoying. It sounded like a child who isn’t supposed to say something so they figure out a way on the sly to say it instead. The other characters did similar things as well and I hated it. 

Also, we are all (except for my asexual friends out there) sexual people. So it’s normal for us to think about sex. But dear lord if someone dropped a pencil in this book SOMEHOW Jay connected it to something sexual. It was insane. 

Also the entire story takes place over the course of a month which just seems super unbelievable. 

A simple story with some many deeper undertones. I listened to the audiobook and absolutely loved it! The way it was written made it a perfect transition to an audiobook!