Some brilliant moments mixed with "meh"
I had a hard time rating this book. There were parts that I absolutely loved and that I felt very deeply. I even cried a little, the emotions were so strong and there are some amazing quotes that made me pause. There were also a lot of moments where I didn't understand what was going on and I was taken completely out of the story. I know the star rating system is flawed and some sites may consider 3 stars a bad review, but to me it's neutral.
For the good parts of this book - Evan and Shosh have both gone through so much already as teenagers, more than people so young should have to go through. Parents divorce, death of a sibling, parent with cancer, alcohol abuse....I could feel the emotions and their struggle in their individual situations. The moment that hit me the hardest was the story of Frog and Toad. The memory of the sisters discussing who would be which, the quote unknowingly said by Evan, and Shosh getting the tattoo. I loved how it was all tied in and it held the pang of loss. Evan and his situation with his mom had me calling my own mother just to talk. Appreciate the people you have while they're still around!
For some "meh" parts of book - there were a lot of inside jokes told between friends that completely flew over my head. Maybe the purpose was for readers not to understand, but when entire chapters consist of them, I was taken out of the story. I tried to reread to see if I could figure it out, then just gave up. When it came up again, I just skimmed. There's also a lot of references to pop culture that I don't think a lot of people would understand, and maybe not even the teenagers today. If these are supposed to add layers to the story, it won't hit the mark for a lot of readers. I also wasn't sure about the ages of the characters and the things that were happening. Even though I know that's a huge part of the story, teenagers going through way more than they should ever have to, I almost think the story would fit better if the characters were a little older. Something about it just didn't feel right.
I always enjoy books that explore the idea of reincarnation and it was such a great idea to have past lives scattered throughout the book. The way the ending tied in was brilliant. But I will say that the way some of the past lives were written were a little too vague and confusing. I would have also liked for some of the past lives to be a little longer.
I know a lot of people will eat this up and they'll connect with it more than I could. As I said, there were a lot of beautiful moments, I just couldn't go in all the way.
For the good parts of this book - Evan and Shosh have both gone through so much already as teenagers, more than people so young should have to go through. Parents divorce, death of a sibling, parent with cancer, alcohol abuse....I could feel the emotions and their struggle in their individual situations. The moment that hit me the hardest was the story of Frog and Toad. The memory of the sisters discussing who would be which, the quote unknowingly said by Evan, and Shosh getting the tattoo. I loved how it was all tied in and it held the pang of loss. Evan and his situation with his mom had me calling my own mother just to talk. Appreciate the people you have while they're still around!
For some "meh" parts of book - there were a lot of inside jokes told between friends that completely flew over my head. Maybe the purpose was for readers not to understand, but when entire chapters consist of them, I was taken out of the story. I tried to reread to see if I could figure it out, then just gave up. When it came up again, I just skimmed. There's also a lot of references to pop culture that I don't think a lot of people would understand, and maybe not even the teenagers today. If these are supposed to add layers to the story, it won't hit the mark for a lot of readers. I also wasn't sure about the ages of the characters and the things that were happening. Even though I know that's a huge part of the story, teenagers going through way more than they should ever have to, I almost think the story would fit better if the characters were a little older. Something about it just didn't feel right.
I always enjoy books that explore the idea of reincarnation and it was such a great idea to have past lives scattered throughout the book. The way the ending tied in was brilliant. But I will say that the way some of the past lives were written were a little too vague and confusing. I would have also liked for some of the past lives to be a little longer.
I know a lot of people will eat this up and they'll connect with it more than I could. As I said, there were a lot of beautiful moments, I just couldn't go in all the way.