Blue

okay so I had high expectations for this one, I love a good dystopian novel and I feel like Matched is a prime example of how it can be used in a cliche, uninteresting way. That does not mean to say that I didn't like it, as a whole I enjoyed what I read and I definitely hope that as the last 100 pages have shown, the series picks up and abandons overused stylistics

I'm not going to lie, my resounding thoughts on autobiographical accounts are that, for the most part, they shouldn't not be written in your twenties! I also find the idea of these being ‘essays' somewhat misleading as I'd definitely see this more as a biographical insight into Lena's life and doesn't really set up to deliver any answers to a question or evidence anything as clearly as perhaps an academic paper would.

What I liked about this book was that Dunham is particularly direct about parts of us that we feel we should keep hidden or ‘too personal to talk about' when perhaps we should be thinking about these topics. At no point do I feel she sets herself up as being the role model of a generation and that thirdly she's not afraid to admit her mistakes and be judged for them.

I debate whether this was a timely publication in the vain of what Dunham had intended but it had it poignancy and charm.

I'd like to point out I read this one in a day! It's a fantastic read and I found it sp relatable that parts of the story really hit home. 4/5

I must admit going into this book I really didn't know what to expect, this story has been told many times in many different guises. Some cleverer than others. You know a book gets you when you're driven to read it and you cannot put it down! I laughed, I cried and I hung on every word of Simon and Blue's emails. In a lot of ways this is a romance between two closeted homosexuals that happens to work out. it's nothing new and I'm largely over coming of age retellings about a guy who feels that coming out will change everything and using this as a right of passage. I really got into Simon's head reading this though and the way the book's written really flows and resonates. it's a beautiful, if cliched, high-school romance that deserves telling and it's told well.

So I want to start by saying this book is good. But I wasn't quite expecting what I found. Honestly, I enjoyed Marty's story and at the beginning had so much anticipation for how he was going to resolve the discord between his parents, his ‘best friend' and ultimately whether he was going to be able to remain in London, after leaving Kentucky ‘for good'.


I loved reading Marty's thought process throughout and I think the way Stamper initially introduces Marty's eating disorder and his anxiety, I think that is done really well.

I was expecting more before the breakdown of his first relationship but I'm glad the end up separated but still friends, I honestly wasn't sure what kind of a relationship this would be and Pierce really kept me guessing along the way.

I also love the tremendous amount of detail that Stamper goes into when he talks about music. You can really tell that he looks at the subject with so much fondness, as do I, and it comes from a really empowered place.

I liked the fact that his relationship with his hometown changed but I don't think the portrayal of the resolution of conflict caused by the homophobia he received, anxiety and eating disorder were done particularly well. But I'm also glad that it didn't try and resolve those by making something extremely dangerous or climatic happen, it's nice to see issues represented that demand to be dealt with done so in a meaningful way without the use of too much melodrama.

I think the book took on a lot of themes that it quickly resolved. There's conflict with Marty's parents and it's heavily implied that if/when his parents find out that he isn't planning on returning to Kentucky they'd in some way force him to return. And yet by the end of this story this conflict is half-resolved by a sudden change of heart and a paragraph or two. I'm glad these things were represented though I think they needed more space and it ultimately led to this book lacking substance.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book. It almost felt rushed towards the end where I would have perhaps liked to have seen Pierce and Marty breakdown overtime, travel more and develop connections with friends. A lot more could have been done to make the reader truly connect with the characters a bit more and give them more of a three-dimensional quality.

Stamper's writing and storytelling is much improved from his debut novel and it was a joy to read but I felt like there was room for so much more and I could have easily read more of Marty's story. I look forward to reading more from this author because I think we need stories that represent such a diverse and individual audience.