Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
I'm sorry but this was SO boring? It's not that I can't appreciate a slower paced book that focuses on the little details in life, but it felt like nothing really happened. I also really didn't care about the new characters (who are mostly children, don't care much for those either) so I'm sure that didn't help.
I read this book years ago after having read Before I Fall, incorrectly assuming I could blindly trust and of Lauren Oliver’s work. I don’t know how she fell so far from grace, but this book was like a fanfiction, and not even a fun one. It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever read, but I can’t in good conscience recommend this to anyone except maybe a young girl who has low expectations…
As long as you don’t expect it to be like The Shining, it’s a relatively enjoyable read. I found the characters easy to become attached to and the plot intriguing.
You know a book is good, or at the very least influential, if it repeatedly comes back to you years later. This is one of those books for you. I’m rating this now as an adult and read this as a teen, and I’m sure my opinion of John green and this story wouldn’t be as high if I read it for the first time now. BUT I still think this deserves five stars for the impact it had on me at the time that I read it. I have major anxiety, and this book did something for me no other book at the time had. It gave me a hug and told me life is worth living, even if it’s hard and complicated.
I loved the way this book creeps up on you and you find yourself asking what’s real and what’s not. It is a bit of a slow burn the whole way through, and is VERY metaphorical. I feel that this book is best appreciated when it is being analyzed and discussed, but it’s still a good read if you can appreciate undertones and the horror that can be found in the details of life versus big, tumultuous plots or creatures. I have to admit I was a bit let down after hearing all the hype surrounding this classic, but I do think it’s deserving of it.