“In a novel-in-verse, that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.
Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…
In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.
Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.
And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.” -Goodreads
My Review:
This book was good! I thought the two characters were pleasant. I thought their situations and duality were interesting.
Like with my last review, The Black Kids, I said I don’t like character-driven stories. I still don’t, but why do I keep reading them? I have no idea.
But, I did like that one just like I liked this one. Again, more plot would have made the story amazing, but I think there is a big place for character-driven stories (otherwise they wouldn’t do so well in the market).
This book had such a unique premise. I instantly was thrown into the heartbreak of these two girls after they both lost a father in a plane crash.
That was kind of the only real plot point that I can talk about without it being a spoiler. The book was also very predictable, except the ending was interesting and a little unexpected.
The two main characters had a lot of focus (obviously) but the side characters we did not see very much. I did not like that. The side characters made decisions or said things that I did not fully understand because I didn’t get enough focus on them to feel like they were authentic. They just were there.
The writing was amazing. This book was literally poetry. The words wove this world for me so well. I felt like I was literally there with the main characters experiencing their pain. I love poetry and this book blends both, poetry and narrative, together really well.
This book was so well written and I loved it. I don’t like character-driven stories, but this one was pretty good!
“My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster” –Goodreads
Review:
Well, let me just say that THIS BOOK WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. NICOLA YOON HAS KILLED ME AGAIN.
Okay, okay I am done freaking out…maybe.
But seriously this book started well proceeded well and ended well and when I say well I mean OUTSTANDING with capital O-U-T-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G (you know just in case you didn’t notice that the first outstanding was in all caps already I just had to spell it out for you again ugh). I mean how does she do it. I read The Sun Is Also A Star and that book was the book to end all books. Now, this is a book to end all books. I realize that I say this about a lot of books in my reviews but I tend to only read really good books because of other people’s review (don’t let me lie to you I am a shallow book lover and most of these books I have read based on the cover and people’s awesome IG pictures). Anyways, this books was great.
For a debut novel, I believe it was the best one anyone could have (other than but close to Harry P) and rightly so. I mean I saw this book everywhere, all over IG, all over Youtube, and it seemed like everyone was reading it. I bought the book back in January after I read Yoon’s second novel which left me as dumbfounded as this book did. I didn’t read it right then even though it was short and easy and fun. I had other priority’s and other books I needed to finish which I didn’t until this month but that is beside the point (#eternalshame). Then one marvelous day this month I was scrolling through Twitter when the trailer for this movie comes up. when I started watching it I didn’t know what movie it was but it seemed familiar and the at the end BAM the title popped up. I was so in love with the trailer it motivated me to read this book which if I just would have picked up the book I wouldn’t have needed the motivation from an outside source. So that is the story of why I decided to pick this book up today.
I opened this book up this morning after just coming off of another book which that blog post will come after this one because I thought I could make this a quick and easy blog post but of course I am ranting about this book but that is a good thing because I only have a lot to say about a book when I really like a book. Anyways you may be thinking what she only opened up the book today. No, that isn’t right, she procrastinates too much to read this in one day which is SOOO true but no I read this book in one day. If you are familiar with Yoon’s writing then you would see that a lot of her books are white space. She has lots f pages but a fifth of then are one lined or short little fragments of writing. This book even has drawings and pictures and diagrams and such. So it was a really quick and sweet read.
The plot of the novel is what makes this story the most amazing. A girl sick and can’t leave her house falls in love with a boy on the outside world. I mean it would be a pretty generic love story if she wasn’t sick but adding her disease into the story brings this whole new rebellious and dangerous vibe to the story. And then the ending of the story just left me in shock. I was dumbfounded by the events that occurred and couldn’t believe what happened. It was similar to the heartbroken but hopeful feelings I had at the end of The Sun Is Also A Star. Everything that occurs in this story makes you feel every type of emotion. I wanted to cry, laugh, dance, and love with these people in the story because of how amazing their story is.
Their story could have only been made amazing by Nicola Yoon. She has a really unique writing style that I find the most intriguing and why I can eat up her books in minutes. She keeps it clean and simple but still vividly detailed and always interesting. She also leave you begging for more at the end of her books which I think really gives her a greater appeal because when the books end all I know is that I want more but I know that her books are standalone books and there will never be more but that makes us desire more which I think give the greater appeal aforementioned. That may have made no sense but I am going to leave it there because this is my blog and I do what I want. Anyways, Yoon just engulfs you into the story and I don’t remember one moment today that I wasn’t begging for more.
Now to talk about what I hate talking about the most: the characters. I never really know what to say cause I always think characters are awesome even the bad ones because I don’t hate. I always end up just saying that the characters are amazing which in this book they were. I have four characters I am going to talk about because they to me are the main characters.
To start, we got Madeline a.k.a Maddy. Maddy is the girl that is sick and has lived her entire life in her house. The sickness is all she knows until Olly shows up. Olly flips her world upside down and makes a rebel of an angel child. Maddy is amazing. She is this strong girl but she is trapped in a cage. I feel sorry for her because she missed out on so much in her life because of this sickness. I thought her actions throughout the book are exactly what I would have done. I thought her to be a really good actual earthly character. Lots of characters are always doing things and making decisions I wouldn’t think I would do if I was stuck in the situation and I assume that I am a pretty normal girl that I am an average person like most of the authors portray their character to be. Anyways Maddy is a great character and I love her a lot.
Now to talk about the hunk of the bunch, Olly. Oh, Olly. I think I have a new fictional boyfriend. He was what every girl would dream of. he cared for Maddy, he wanted to be with Maddy, and he was so sweet with her. I wish I was Maddy. He treated her so right and genuinely cared about her sickness. His background was sad and I was fighting for him the whole time because I was afraid of what Yoon might do to him. Olly was just a perfect guy and you don’t meet many of those in books anymore.
The next two on the chopping block are Carla, Maddy’s nurse, and Maddy’s mom. I don’t have much to say about them because one Carla is only in the novel off and on for a short time and secondly because I don’t like her mom that much. Carla was probably what you hope a nurse to be, a best friend, especially when she has to watch her 8 hours a day every day. I feel like she was a real rock for Maddy when she is going through so many drastic changes and she is really there for her. Get yourself a best friend like Carla. Maddy’s mom to me was just kind of over bearing. I mean I get that all she wants to do is protect her daughter but sometimes I feel she could have been a little (or a lot) lenient on the rules and allowed some things and maybe her daughter wouldn’t have been so rebellious but hey I don’t have kids so I am not an expert on how to rule your teenager but I feel like I am an expert on being a teenager so… Also, I felt that she was just so crazy about her staying inside I don’t think she even thought about Maddy’s life and how what she was doing the wasnt living.
Love is the big motivation for this whole book. I mean love fuels all the action. Maddy, Olly, Mom, and even Carla are all motivated by love. But the love I am focusing on is the biggest one, Maddy and Olly’s. Okay, so most people on their reviews say they hate the instalove thing which is why I think this story is perfect for them. I don’t think it is instalove since they haven’t talked and then haven’t even met when they first see each other. It is only the fascination of a young girl who probably hasn’t seen many boys in real life before for a long time. I just wanted to say that before anyone knocks this before the try it due to their hatred of instalove which in my opinion is great and I love a little cheesiness now and then or all the time. Olly and Maddy have a love so rare it is amazing. Like you can chalk it up to hormones and such but I really do think they are in love because you can’t have such an epic journey together without love forming. At the beginning, they remind me of Romeo and Juliet ut don’t worry it doesn’t end the same. I am not going to talk about it anymore because you need to read it for yourself if you haven’t already.
Okay, I think that is it for today. I don’t have much else to say about this book except that it is AMAZINGLY AWESOME. I hope you all read this book or have read it. I really like this book and I highly recommend it to anyone. So this is the end of my post. I hope you enjoyed the post and I hope you have a swell day/evening/afternoon or whatever you may call the time your reading this. Thank you for reading!
Star Rating: 5
Have you read this book before? If so what was your favorite part (no spoilers)? Why haven’t you read it if you answered no? Will you read it now that I have written an amazing review on it? Please comment your answers below.
“Everyone thinks they know Libby Strout, the girl once dubbed “America’s Fattest Teen.” But no one’s taken the time to look past her weight to get to know who she really is. Following her mom’s death, she’s been picking up the pieces in the privacy of her home, dealing with her heartbroken father and her own grief. Now, Libby’s ready: for high school, for new friends, for love, and for every possibility life has to offer. In that moment, I know the part I want to play here at MVB High. I want to be the girl who can do anything.
Everyone thinks they know Jack Masselin, too. Yes, he’s got swagger, but he’s also mastered the impossible art of giving people what they want, of fitting in. What no one knows is that Jack has a newly acquired secret: he can’t recognize faces. Even his own brothers are strangers to him. He’s the guy who can re-engineer and rebuild anything, but he can’t understand what’s going on with the inner workings of his brain. So he tells himself to play it cool: Be charming. Be hilarious. Don’t get too close to anyone.
Until he meets Libby. When the two get tangled up in a cruel high school game—which lands them in group counseling and community service—Libby and Jack are both pissed, and then surprised. Because the more time they spend together, the less alone they feel. Because sometimes when you meet someone, it changes the world, theirs and yours.” –Goodreads
Author: Nicola Yoon
Author: Jennifer Niven