This is boring boring boring! The writing style is awful and unrealistic. The way that Alice writes is flat out annoying. She often repeats a word three times over, followed by an exclamation point. Her word choice is also very repetitive and irritating. Example: I just can't decide what to do first, go play my lovely piano or stay here and curl up with a lovely book or take a lovely nap. I felt zero connection to Alice and struggled to sympathize with her.
I went unto this under the impression that this was an edited version of a real diary of a young girl, but apparently the entire thing is a work of fiction - a cautionary tale to be specific. This is actually pretty obvious when you're reading the book, which caused me to do a little research once I was about halfway done. I mean, it's pretty hard to believe that a homeless drug addict is still carrying around her diary and making sure to write entries (perhaps on a paper bag instead of in the actual diary) almost every day.
This is definitely the last Beatrice Sparks book that I'll be reading. I've heard that the other "diaries" she's "edited" are even worse than this, and that is really saying something....more
This started off amazing - I immediately fell in love with Sutter and I couldn't keep a smile off my face for the first half or so of the book. But afThis started off amazing - I immediately fell in love with Sutter and I couldn't keep a smile off my face for the first half or so of the book. But after that, I began to lose interest. Don't get me wrong, it was still good! Just not quite as spectacular (no pun intended) as the beginning was. Overall, it was an enjoyable read, but I probably liked the movie a tiny bit better.
Also, for some reason, the song "You May Be Right" by Billy Joel makes me think of Sutter....more
Emotional, brutally honest, relatable, and entirely unforgettable.
I’ve wanted to read this book since I was in grade nine, and I’m really glad that I finally picked it up. Craig quickly became one of the most relatable characters that I’ve ever read about and his story absolutely moved me.
I apologize in advance for the abundance of passages and quotes that I’m going to share, but they were so accurate and poignant.
"I work, Monica, and I think about work, and I freak out about work, and I think about how much I think about work, and I freak out about how much I think about how much I think about work, and I think about how freaked out I get about how much I think about how much I think about work. Does that count as a hobby?" Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. As backwards and illogical as it may sound, my own anxiety is often a source of my anxiety - I spend so much time worrying and thinking about how much I stress myself out and overthink, which only causes more stress and anxiety. This creates a vicious cycle that is incredibly difficult to break, and Criag hit it right on the nose.
When I come home from school, I know I have all this work to do, but then my head starts the Cycling.” “The Cycling.” “Going over the same thoughts over and over. When my thoughts race against each other in a circle.” “Suicidal thoughts?” “No, just thoughts of what I have to do. Homework. And it comes up to my brain and I look at it and think ‘I’m not going to be able to do that’ and then it cycles back down and the next one comes up. And then things come up like ‘You should be doing more extracurricular activities’ because I should, I don’t do near enough, and that gets pushed down and it’s replaced with the big one: ‘What college are you going to, Craig?’ which is like the doomsday question because I’m not going to get into a good one. [...] And then the thoughts keep turning and I lie down on my bed and think them. And I used to not be able to lie down anywhere; I used to always be up doing something, but once the Cycling starts I can waste hours, just lying and looking at the ceiling, and time goes slowly and really fast at the same time–and then it’s midnight and I have to go to sleep because no matter what I do, I have to be at school the next day. I can’t let them know what’s happening to me.” “Do you have difficulty sleeping?” “Sometimes not. When I do it’s bad, though. I lie there thinking about how everything I’ve done is a failure, death and failure, and there’s no hope for me except being homeless, because I’m never going to be able to hold a job because everyone else is so much smarter. [...] It’s all about living a sustainable life. I don’t think I’m going to be able to have one.” “A sustainable life.” “That’s right, with a real job and a real house and everything.” “And a family?” “Of course! You have to have that. What kind of success are you if you don’t have that?” “Uh-huh.” “So to have that I have to start shaping up now, but I can’t because of this crap that’s going on in my head. And I know that these things I’m thinking don’t make sense and I think ‘Stop!'” “But you can’t stop.” “I can’t stop.”” The term “cycling” and Craig’s description of it was one of the strongest and most relatable to my own personal experiences. This passage genuinely took my breath away. I have never seen or heard anybody describe it in this way before, but this was perfect. I feel so understood.
"The problem is that I'm so lazy." "How are you lazy, Craig?" "I waste at least an hour every day lying in bed. Then I waste time pacing. I waste time thinking. I waste time being quiet and not saying anything because I'm afraid I'll stutter."
Again, this was a moment in which I felt so seen because what Craig is description is very accurate.
"But, you know, the problem is, you don't chill enough. Like even when you're here, you're always worries about school or something; you never just kick back and let things slide, you know what I mean?" People are nearly always telling me that I need to “chill out” or “relax”, which often annoys the heck out of me. I KNOW that I overthink absolutely everything. I KNOW that my mind often has the tendency to jump to the worst possible conclusions. I KNOW that I stress out over the tiniest little things that the average person doesn’t even think twice about. But, unfortunately, I can’t change that. My natural reaction to worry and stress and overthink is an integral part of me, and as much as I hate it and wish that I could change it sometimes, I also know that I can’t. I just wish that other people would be more understanding of this and stop telling me to “relax” or “chill out” as if I have some sort of on/off switch for that. Believe me, if calming down were that easy, I would have already done it.
"I was done; I was back to me. But things come full circle baby, and two months later I was back in my bathroom, bowing to the toilet in the dark."
I appreciated the fact that this is a young adult book that actually recognized the link between school and anxiety and depression. I hate when characters in YA contemporary books go to school and then go home and do whatever they’d like with their time. They rarely talk about homework or studying, maybe just briefly mentioning the fact that they read a book or briefly study for a big exam, and yet they get excellent grades and manage to get into whichever post-secondary schools they want. For many of us in the real world, high school is a lot of work and a lot of pressure academically. The stress of school played a major role in my life during high school, and as I’ve gotten older and slightly better at managing it, it still has a tremendous impact on my everyday life as a university student. To finally, finally, finally see somebody else who was equally stressed about school as I was (and often still am) is so relieving. I’m frustrated to see most YA teens that hardly mention school outside of actually being there for classes because that is the total, complete opposite of what I and many others experience.
I've come to learn that Ned Vizzini actually wrote this book after spending time in a psychiatrist hospital and he wrote the story based upon his own experiences; approximately 85% of the story is true. It is absolutely heartbreaking to discover that Ned Vizzini ended up committing suicide in 2013.
I must admit that I didn't particularly care for any of the other characters in the novel, but Craig's personal development and growth took center stage and was enough to compensate for the lack of interest that I had in the minor characters.
There was also a nice sprinkling of humor throughout the book; the title doesn’t lie - it is kind of a funny story. "Craig: I think that you would benefit from seeing someone."
"I know! Don't think I haven't tried. I'm not really good at talking to girls."
"Girls? No. I meant therapists. You should start seeing a therapist."
"So the suicide hotline is too busy right now?' "Yes - it's Friday night. This is our busiest time." "Great. I'm common even in suicide."
"I told them anyone why came in had to touch it, otherwise they were a pussy, which [...] I thought was great because it was a word with two meanings: the cat that girls liked and the thing you called people to make them do stuff. Just like chicken had two meanings: the bird that walked around and the white stuff you ate. Some people touched the hot pipe if you called them chicken as well."
I'm really looking forward to watching the movie adaptation of this, hopefully sometime soon! I've heard that a few changes to the storyline were made in the movie, but I'm curious to see how it compares.
I am so grateful that I finally read this book. Craig's story had such an impact on me and I know that I will never forget it....more
I have waited almost four years to read this book, and overall, it was well worth the wait. While I didn't absolutely love it, and it did have its flaI have waited almost four years to read this book, and overall, it was well worth the wait. While I didn't absolutely love it, and it did have its flaws, I really really enjoyed it!...more
This was honestly such a disappointment. I had high hopes for this one, but it just didn't live up to my expectations. I enjoyed it, but it could gave been better. A lot better.
First of all, our protagonist, Vee, was so annoying! She did a whole lot of whining and complaining, usually for stupid reasons. She acted like everything in her life was the most awful thing in the world, and it drove me insane. Plus she made some seriously ridiculous decisions. And I often found her reactions to things to be way over the top, and again, just stupid. For example, during one or two of the dares she started crying for absolutely no reason at all. Um......what? Something else that annoyed me was how Vee made this big deal about 'Vee' standing for her full name, which she wouldn't tell anybody. The whole book I was expecting some horrible, horrible name, but do you know what it was? Venus. Her full name was Venus. Am I missing something, because I don't see what's wrong with that name. But she was so over dramatically embarrassed about it. WHY? It was something so small and for the most part, irrelevant to the story, but it still bothered me.
Secondly, the romance was often cringey. Sometimes it was good and believable, but at other times it was flat out stupid. It felt like some sort of really dumb insta-love to me. I sometimes really like inst-love if it's done well. This was not done nearly as well as it could have been.
Issue number three is the plot in general. I thought it sounded awesome based on the synopsis, but it wasn't as good as I hoped or expected. It had such great potential, but it fell short. At times, I felt like I was reading a not very well-written Wattpad story. There were some parts that I found to be a bit confusing, and other things didn't add up completely right. For example, I was rather confused about the prologue of the book. The character's name was Abigail, but I thought it was the same person as Vee. To me, it seemed as though the prologue was actually Vee After she finished playing NERVE. Sort of like the book was beginning with a small snippet of the end if the book. I'm probably the only person who thought this, but I still think it could have been made a little bit more clear that they were different people, because for a portion of the book, I was kind of confused.
Now, I know I made many negative comments about this book, but I still liked it. I just think it should have been better, and I really wish that I was. I doubt I'll read it again, but I will still watch the movie. I don't plan on seeing it in the theater anymore, but I'll probably rent it later. Who knows, maybe it will be better than the book. To be honest, the trailer looks absolutely nothing like the book, so I'm guessing it's going to be pretty different. And hopefully better. In conclusion, it wasn't as good as I'd hoped, but it wasn't the worst thing I've ever read either....more
Going into this book, I expected to like it and to enjoy my time reading, but I did think it was going to be a bit overrated and overhyped. I never woGoing into this book, I expected to like it and to enjoy my time reading, but I did think it was going to be a bit overrated and overhyped. I never would have guessed that it would affect me as much as it did. I LOVE THIS BOOK WITH ALL OF MY HEART! It made my smile, and cry, and laugh out loud, and cry a bit more, and then laugh and smile again. I am absolutely speechless. There are no words to describe how much I loved this book. It is for sure one of, if not the very best contemporary book I have very read in my life.
The writing style was flawless. I felt all of the joy and sorrow and love and shock and rage and delight that Lou felt, and I loved every second of it.
I'm not much of a book crier, and although there are many books that have made me teary, few have actually made me cry. But this one did. A LOT. And it was all throughout the book too.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It truly, and very unexpectedly, changed my life. It is so powerful, touching, inspirational, beautiful, and a book that I will remember and think about for the rest of my life. I promise you that it is not overrated in the slightest way, in fact you could almost say it was underrated because it is just beyond words. Truly a perfect read....more
Well, I guess I'm probably on the minority when I say I didn't especially like this book. I had to read this book for a novel study in English, and I Well, I guess I'm probably on the minority when I say I didn't especially like this book. I had to read this book for a novel study in English, and I heard a lot of mixed reviews from the people that read it last semester. However, on Goodreads, I saw many, many, reviews raving about how wonderful and touching this book was. Unfortunately I didn't agree. I thought it was just okay.
For me, one of the major reasons why I didn't really enjoy the book was the way that they spoke. I know that it was written in 1937, but the dialogue just really annoyed me. For the most part, it was pretty easy to understand, but there were some words that were just really weird and kind of confused me. For example, they kept saying the word "pitcher". It took me ages to realize that it was their way of saying "picture". I don't usually mind this kind of thing in books when it's just one or maybe two characters that speak this way (ex. Hagrid in Harry Potter), but when everybody does it... it's just annoying. Also, I sometimes found the book to be a little bit TOO descriptive. To the point where it bored me. In fact, I got bored throughout this book a rather lot. It would be very good and hold my attention, but then it would be really, really boring for a while. I actually fell asleep a few times while reading this, and I wasn't even that tired. Additionally, I had heard that this was a bit of a tear-jerker, but I didn't do anything for me. I found that to be kind of disappointing. I'm guessing it was the ending that people found to be really sad, but I don't know.
I do have to say that I thought the plot was really interesting and the characters were very well developed. I especially liked Lennie. Was it just me that found him to be hilarious though?
So, all in all, I didn't hate it, but I doubt I'd read it again. It had such potential to be a book I'd enjoy, but I just found to be quite boring at times, and the language they used was extremely irritating. Honestly, I know a lot of people would probably hate me for saying this but I would love for somebody to make an updated version of this book. Leave everything the same, just change up the dialogue a tad bit maybe make it a little less overly descriptive. I feel that I would really love the book if it was like that....more
SO BIZARRE! So, so, so bizarre. But, in a good way! I mean, it was weird. Like REALLY weird, and yet I really enjoyed it. I literally could not put4.5
SO BIZARRE! So, so, so bizarre. But, in a good way! I mean, it was weird. Like REALLY weird, and yet I really enjoyed it. I literally could not put it down. It was sort of addictive, which I liked.
And it was so raw, so real. I felt like I knew the characters, and they were SO well developed. And the plot... well, it was interesting. VERY different from anything else I have ever read, which I really loved. So many books have such similar story lines, but this one was so refreshing. I find most books that feature a teenager dying from some sort of disease or illness also includes a romance, but this one didn't. Don't get me wrong, I love romance, but it's nice to have something new.
Not to mention the book was absolutely hilarious! I was practically dying of laughter at least once every few pages! Greg's narration was just so odd and wonderful, while being very realistic and honest, which was what I really loved about him.
My only complaint (which is only sort of a complaint really) is that Earl was really grossing me out sometimes. And his language was a bit over the top. That kind of thing doesn't usually bother me THAT much, but this was just insane! Every other word that came out of his mouth was an f-bomb! Is that seriously necessary? My initial answer was no, of course not! He could've gotten his point across without all the swearing. But now that I've finished the book, I actually find that I'm sort of happy it was like that because it somehow made his character that much more real. I think that it really put a lot of depth to him. I mean, the author could have cut it down a tad bit, but I think without it, Earl would be lacking character. He wouldn't be as realistic. He'd be kind of... boring.
I will definitely be watching the movie very soon! Can't wait!!!
And I also plan on reading some more of Jesse Andrews' books once they come out. Overall, this was a great book and I can't wait to see what else he comes up with....more
I watched the first Twilight movie several years ago, and I honestly couldn't remember that much of it. Over the summer, I binged all of the movies and while I wouldn't necessarily say that I enjoyed them, they were better than I had expected. I've heard countless people compare Twilight to my favourite book series, Lux by Jennifer L. Armentrout. After watching the movies, I could see some ways that the stories could be comparable (girl moves to new small town, girl meets brooding mysterious boy, boy saves girl from truck, boy and girl spend time together but he is hiding a big secret, the secret is revealed, etc.) but that was only in terms of general plot. My curiosity was piqued to see any other ways the books were similar. After reading Twilight, I can say that the similarities end at the general plot. The characters, writing style, and plot development of Twilight could not even be compared to those of Lux. I am honestly insulted for my beautiful Lux series.
The way that Twilight is written is almost comedic. The way that Edward and Bella communicate is so poorly and weirdly done that it's funny.
I found Edward to be such a bizarre character. For the first third of the book he was constantly being described to seem "frustrated" or some form of annoyed or angry. I was seriously questioning f there was anything that didn’t displease this man. Ex. "I fell very safe with you," I confessed, mesmerized into telling the truth again. That displeased him; his alabaster brow furrowed. Ex. "How old are you, Bella?" He sounded frustrated for some reason I couldn't imagine. But then when he and Bella were together he had a really strange sense of humour and he laughed SO MUCH! He was always "laughing exuberantly" or "laughing quietly" or "chuckling" or "laughing his musical laugh" or "letting out a roar of laughter". It was so weird!!
Bella was also a very strange character. It’s like she wanted to be miserable. I awakened with renewed hope that I grimly tried to suppress. The one scene that really got me was when Bella was so upset that Edward was taking her to prom that she cried tears of anger. She acted like such a ridiculous child and had the strangest reactions to things. She was so bland and boring, and yet practically every boy at her high school was falling over their feet for her. Edward, Jacob, Mike, Tyler, and another guy that I've forgotten the name of were ALL after Bella. It was absurd. I also felt like the boy drama drew things out a little bit and the book was unnecessarily long. We all knew that Bella wasn’t going to end up with Mike, but it went on and on.
Bella’s feelings for Edward and reactions to his actions were honestly concerning at times. When Bella found out that Edward was spying on her every single night without her knowledge, she was angry. Not because that's invasive and creepy, but because she's horrified and embarrassed that he may have heard her talking in her sleep. "Something caught my jacket, yanking me back. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked outraged. He was gripping a fistful of my jacket in one hand. I was confused. "I'm going home." "Didn't you hear me promise to take you home safely? Do you think I'm going to let you drive on your condition?"[...] He was towing me toward his car now, pulling me by the jacket. It was all I could do to keep from falling backward." Edward was often upset with Bella for literally no reason at all and he mistreated her, such as in the instance above. "I had to be good; I didn't want to make this any harder for him than it already was." The way that Bella reacted to Edward was so uncomfortable. She was creepily calm about the fact that he desperately wanted to drink her blood because she was "irrevocably in love with him" and she would often try to be on her best behavior so that she wouldn't tempt him. Their love story was the very definition of insta-love. They'd only known each other for a mere couple of months, and yet Bella was already expressing that Edward was her entire life - all that she had to live for. That's scary.
I think it’s safe to say that I will not be continuing on with this series in the future. At least now I can say that I’ve read it. ...more
I really liked this one, and have already begun the next in the series. I also plan on reading Michelle Read's spinoff series Bloodlines. I really liked this one, and have already begun the next in the series. I also plan on reading Michelle Read's spinoff series Bloodlines. ...more
Daniella (Reading With Daniella)
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