Don't pass out, Caleb. Whatever you do, don't pass out.
After about a months, I have officially calmed down enough to talk about this book. So listen, I have loved The Bright Sessions for years. In high school, I looked out of my mind smiling and laughing in the halls. I am just one of those people who yells at the t.v, my phone, and yes, my podcasts; knowing fully well they cannot hear me. The Bright Sessions helped me get over my fear of therapy enough to actually go after living with depression for five years. I listen to Caleb's episodes on the walk to the clinic to help calm my nerves. So when I say this podcast means everything to me, it really really does.
I remember hearing Lauren Shippen announce on the podcast that she was going to write the books I was so excited, then Tor Teen announced it, then I got a cover, then there were arcs, and the next thing I knew I was begging Lauren for a copy and she sent me one! I cried when I got it and started immediately. So...if you want an impartial review...I don't know if I'm your best bet, I was destined to love this story.
To begin at the beginning, Caleb is the living embodiment of the student athlete meme, he plays football, keeps to himself, and has been dealing with episodes of inexplicable rage. He's not an angry person, he doesn't want to be, but he's not really feeling like himself. So to therapy he goes...
Adam is me. I'm not kidding. He's a depressed English nerd who is very gay and listens to Panic! At the Disco. So yeah, same person. He is doing his best to tie himself together for his parents and tries to stay out of everybody's way until he literally runs into Caleb and then he starts to hope for more out of life.
Lauren Shippen made me realize that I'm not tired of high school stories, I'm tired of repetitive-stereotypical-copying the 80's movies idea of high school-kind of stories. I need character-focused high school stories, ones that make me feel like the high school student I was is valid and seen. Lauren Shippen delivers that in a way I never knew to ask for. Her writing is so completely determined by the characters that the character development is seamless. Caleb's point-of-view is just so...Caleb that you can't help but feel exactly how he feels. The same goes for Adam. There's a lot of ways to mess up Dual P.O.V, mainly by having your character sound the same and Lauren just gives you two characters that you can feel at home with. The book gets deep about therapy, mental health, and what an incredibly awful time high school is to be alone.
I think what really made me love Lauren Shippen's work was her comforting and hilarious writing. Lauren Shippen nails my sense of humor that I just have to laugh. The dialogue is just so funny and cute and real and funny because it's real. Yeah...Lauren Shippen just gets awkward. I always talk about how important it is to really write in chemistry because just because you write two characters and put them together, doesn't mean that they'll have chemistry. Maybe the reason so many books don't have it is because this book stole it all. It's really unfair if you think about it. This is just that story where I know that I could read anything between them. Going to get groceries, DMV visits, morning breakfasts, I would read these characters doing absolutely anything. Whether you've listened to the podcast or not, I think these characters are really easy and fun to connect to.
Anther great thing is all the music in this book! And not just the Panic! At The Disco scene that finally convinced me to clean my room for the first time in months, but all the other amazing playlists. Which I believe, are all on Spotify! Yay! I listen to these playlists all the time thinking about these characters. Some songs are reserved especially for thinking about them. I also believe that Caleb's and Adam's instagrams are still up, so if you were interested in that its @calebmichaels and @adamhayes99. The accounts are more in line with the podcast and don't update anymore now that the podcast is over, but I think it's still really cool to look at.
This review is getting to be way too long so I will cut myself off here and say that books like this don't come around very often. Especially from a debut author, but believe me Lauren Shippen is not one to miss. I know that she has so much ahead of her that I am just so excited to watch unfold, I can hardly stand it.
TL;DR Read the darn book! It's funny and sweet and so perfectly awkward you can't look away! You will feel things! SO GO FEEL THINGS!
After about a months, I have officially calmed down enough to talk about this book. So listen, I have loved The Bright Sessions for years. In high school, I looked out of my mind smiling and laughing in the halls. I am just one of those people who yells at the t.v, my phone, and yes, my podcasts; knowing fully well they cannot hear me. The Bright Sessions helped me get over my fear of therapy enough to actually go after living with depression for five years. I listen to Caleb's episodes on the walk to the clinic to help calm my nerves. So when I say this podcast means everything to me, it really really does.
I remember hearing Lauren Shippen announce on the podcast that she was going to write the books I was so excited, then Tor Teen announced it, then I got a cover, then there were arcs, and the next thing I knew I was begging Lauren for a copy and she sent me one! I cried when I got it and started immediately. So...if you want an impartial review...I don't know if I'm your best bet, I was destined to love this story.
To begin at the beginning, Caleb is the living embodiment of the student athlete meme, he plays football, keeps to himself, and has been dealing with episodes of inexplicable rage. He's not an angry person, he doesn't want to be, but he's not really feeling like himself. So to therapy he goes...
Adam is me. I'm not kidding. He's a depressed English nerd who is very gay and listens to Panic! At the Disco. So yeah, same person. He is doing his best to tie himself together for his parents and tries to stay out of everybody's way until he literally runs into Caleb and then he starts to hope for more out of life.
Lauren Shippen made me realize that I'm not tired of high school stories, I'm tired of repetitive-stereotypical-copying the 80's movies idea of high school-kind of stories. I need character-focused high school stories, ones that make me feel like the high school student I was is valid and seen. Lauren Shippen delivers that in a way I never knew to ask for. Her writing is so completely determined by the characters that the character development is seamless. Caleb's point-of-view is just so...Caleb that you can't help but feel exactly how he feels. The same goes for Adam. There's a lot of ways to mess up Dual P.O.V, mainly by having your character sound the same and Lauren just gives you two characters that you can feel at home with. The book gets deep about therapy, mental health, and what an incredibly awful time high school is to be alone.
I think what really made me love Lauren Shippen's work was her comforting and hilarious writing. Lauren Shippen nails my sense of humor that I just have to laugh. The dialogue is just so funny and cute and real and funny because it's real. Yeah...Lauren Shippen just gets awkward. I always talk about how important it is to really write in chemistry because just because you write two characters and put them together, doesn't mean that they'll have chemistry. Maybe the reason so many books don't have it is because this book stole it all. It's really unfair if you think about it. This is just that story where I know that I could read anything between them. Going to get groceries, DMV visits, morning breakfasts, I would read these characters doing absolutely anything. Whether you've listened to the podcast or not, I think these characters are really easy and fun to connect to.
Anther great thing is all the music in this book! And not just the Panic! At The Disco scene that finally convinced me to clean my room for the first time in months, but all the other amazing playlists. Which I believe, are all on Spotify! Yay! I listen to these playlists all the time thinking about these characters. Some songs are reserved especially for thinking about them. I also believe that Caleb's and Adam's instagrams are still up, so if you were interested in that its @calebmichaels and @adamhayes99. The accounts are more in line with the podcast and don't update anymore now that the podcast is over, but I think it's still really cool to look at.
This review is getting to be way too long so I will cut myself off here and say that books like this don't come around very often. Especially from a debut author, but believe me Lauren Shippen is not one to miss. I know that she has so much ahead of her that I am just so excited to watch unfold, I can hardly stand it.
TL;DR Read the darn book! It's funny and sweet and so perfectly awkward you can't look away! You will feel things! SO GO FEEL THINGS!