Interesting beginning, but needs some editing
How It Feels to Float tells the story of Biz and how she seems to have it all together, but in reality she doesn't have it altogether.
The excerpt of it began super strong. I felt that Biz's character was very observant, witty, and embodied this idea of "the teenage struggle," or "teenage angst," quite well. I think it is extremely important for an author to tackle issues of mental illness and sexual identity in a novel such as this one. I feel like it could be beneficial for a lot of teens and even young adults who struggle through these same things, to read another's thought process and view of the world.
There were some really poignant moments in the first 50 pages. Some really relatable concepts such as time. My favorite quote from this excerpt was: "There's never enough time. Actually, there's too much and too little, in unequal parts. More than enough of time passing, but not enough of the time passed." I thought that was really fitting, and relatable because we all feel like we have plenty of time in life until we are reminded that we don't.
I think some things in the writing could use a little bit more clarity or tightening up. Such as the use of smashingwordstogetherwithoutspaces. The author uses this both in dialogue and internally. I feel like if you want to experiment with the writing in this manner, you need to be consistent with the use of this. Same with the changing of the format of this novel from prose to poetry. I think there needs to be more purpose and/or clarity surrounding these transitions. Maybe we get it later on in story, but within the first 50 pages it felt a little disorienting.
All in all, this was a beautiful start! I normally don't gravitate towards young adult, but I feel like this one could have a wider audience to appeal to. The themes feel very adult, yet are not only reserved for adults, so I am glad this book highlights the themes it does in teenagers as well.
The excerpt of it began super strong. I felt that Biz's character was very observant, witty, and embodied this idea of "the teenage struggle," or "teenage angst," quite well. I think it is extremely important for an author to tackle issues of mental illness and sexual identity in a novel such as this one. I feel like it could be beneficial for a lot of teens and even young adults who struggle through these same things, to read another's thought process and view of the world.
There were some really poignant moments in the first 50 pages. Some really relatable concepts such as time. My favorite quote from this excerpt was: "There's never enough time. Actually, there's too much and too little, in unequal parts. More than enough of time passing, but not enough of the time passed." I thought that was really fitting, and relatable because we all feel like we have plenty of time in life until we are reminded that we don't.
I think some things in the writing could use a little bit more clarity or tightening up. Such as the use of smashingwordstogetherwithoutspaces. The author uses this both in dialogue and internally. I feel like if you want to experiment with the writing in this manner, you need to be consistent with the use of this. Same with the changing of the format of this novel from prose to poetry. I think there needs to be more purpose and/or clarity surrounding these transitions. Maybe we get it later on in story, but within the first 50 pages it felt a little disorienting.
All in all, this was a beautiful start! I normally don't gravitate towards young adult, but I feel like this one could have a wider audience to appeal to. The themes feel very adult, yet are not only reserved for adults, so I am glad this book highlights the themes it does in teenagers as well.