Emily
I really struggle with Shine's writing style - he tries too hard to make it sound literary, overuses the passive in totally inappropriate places and chucks in far too many similes (although thankfully not as many as in his second novel). His characters are one-dimensional and lack any common sense. This was a real slog to read. ⭐️ 1.75/5⭐️
I liked the premise of this book but, dear lord, it was painful to read.
Firstly, Shine is obviously trying really hard to write poetically and that's exactly what it felt like - trying too hard. He uses an overabundance of similes (some okay, some absolutely ridiculous) and it made the writing feel so clunky to me. We're talking two to four similes a page and including highlights such as the MC arranging cheese on his tuna sandwich ‘like fresh linen' or looking out of a window to see his neighbour's windows ‘like a glowing frame hung from a star.' Just really terrible figurative language that adds nothing to the book. He also switches to the passive voice for paragraphs at a time, which again makes the writing feel very stilted and affected.
There was no character development at all and I found that I really didn't care at all about what happened to anyone. The male characters are particularly irritating and self-absorbed and all characters are essentially one-dimensional caricatures. The protagonist, Ben (or, as he constantly refers to himself, Benny Boy), meets the female main character, Chloe, for about ten minutes before falling for her and wanting to ‘protect her', while also referring to her - more than once - as his ‘anchor'. He also talks regularly about how small and child-like she is. Ick. She, in turn, seesaws between being super fun and a fragile little girl, with no other emotions towards Ben, even when he's being a total d**k. I have to draw attention to a particularly painful exchange between them:
‘So you're going to be the next Lara Croft,' Ben said with mock earnestness. ‘Eh?' ‘She's probably the world's most famous archaeologist after Indiana Jones. I just assumed you'd modelled your life on a video game.' ‘That's a pretty bold assumption.' She smiled. ‘I doubt Lara Croft ever had to scratch through ten feet of mud with a trowel for weeks on end. But who knows, maybe if I get this PhD the university will buy me a massive pair of fake tits so I can look the part.' Ben choked a little, mid-swallow, on a crust of bread. ‘Don't make them too big,' he said. ‘I hear it's not good for your back.' ‘As if that's ever bothered you men before,' she replied, tearing off some bread and throwing it at him. ‘I reckon I'm too small to be lugging around a big pair of boobs anyway. I'll just get some booty shorts and a skimpy tank top, and stuff my bra with a few socks or something.' Ben enjoyed the imagery more than he let on.
An excellent contender for r/menwritingwomen.
The publisher is independent so I'd really like to be able to write a more positive review, but it feels like this book was published about ten drafts too early. ⭐️ 1.5/5⭐️
A great concept but unfortunately I didn't like the execution. The characters were undeveloped and the writing is staccato and lacks cohesion. I won't read the next book (which, based on the ending of this one, is the second part of one whole book split into two - at least, there's a lot left unexplained at the end of this book).⭐️ 2.5/5⭐️
This book was hit and miss for me. I absolutely loved the character of Lily and thought her chapters were incredibly well-written and engaging. Jennifer Finney Boylan is an excellent writer and could bring her own experiences which made it feel very real and raw. I'll absolutely read more from this author.
The parts written by Jodi Picoult I found far less interesting. Although I (mostly) liked the character of Olivia, it felt to me like JP had done an extensive amount of research on bees and wanted to include every bit of it in her chapters. Yes, there were (sometimes tenuous) links to the main story line but generally these information dumps dragged and I found myself skimming over them to get back to the story.
I find it frustrating that this concept was (literally) dreamed up by Boylan and half written by her, and yet Jodi Picoult is the only named author on Goodreads, and the one being publicised. I appreciate that JP is the better known author here, but she is not the one doing the story justice. In the author's note, Boylan talks about writing Ava's story and that she would have to do it without Picoult - I hope she does.
Overall, I think this is a really important and eye-opening story highlighting trans peoples' rights and experiences. I just think it would have been a far superior book if it was written solely by Boylan. I like Picoult and will usually read most books she releases, but IMO she was definitely the weaker link here.
I really didn't enjoy this book.
I picked it up on the recommendation of a website I trust (desperately wishing I'd checked the reviews on here too) and because I love a dystopian novel, but I found this really disappointing.
I don't want to write a long review, but here are a few of the things I didn't like about this book.
Lack of backstory: we're told that two types of sea monsters emerged due to climate change, but not a lot else. In some parts, it seems like they've been on the jellyfish for nearly as long as they can remember. In others, it insinuates they haven't done a winter before on there. We're also told very little about how they live day-to-day on the jellyfish (except for toileting, which is brought up frequently). Obviously the idea is unrealistic, but I feel like it could have been brought to life a lot more with some more specific details.
Main character: she was irritating and bossy, and even though she was a kid and had no real reasoning behind her decisions, everyone just seemed to go with it.
Other characters: aside from the fact that most were completely undeveloped, and even the main four had not a lot about them except that they were ‘typical teenagers' who really only cared about shopping and fart jokes, the other characters didn't even keep to their MO. They spend half the time defending the children and keeping them safe, and then ditch them at the first sight of an emergency.
Random, irrelevant events: the crime fighters with multi-coloured hair who then appear nowhere else again? What are they about?! And the random sex which adds literally nothing to the story and isn't mentioned again?
Wow, what a collection of poems. A combination of laugh-out-loud funny (Goggles, for example) alongside some incredibly poignant and hard-hitting subjects (Split, Strest, Broken and so many more), with some that are just generally beautiful (like Mist and Book People). There wasn't a poem I didn't love and I'll read it over and over.
I was really enjoying this book but the ending was so sudden that it completely ruined it for me. There were so many loose ends!
Why did Grey scoop up the phone with the confession recorded on it and suggest they dealt with it themselves instead of going to parents/the authorities?! I felt sure there was going to be some sort of twist linked to this but it was never mentioned again.
Were they even close to the forty-eight hour mark?! How can you have a book entirely about counting down time and not mention the time that's passed?
What was the aftermath of the whole thing?! The characters kept mentioning how hard it would be to explain, then the author didn't even bother.
I read another review that said that they thought the author had just reached their word count and finished the book in two sentences and I think they're spot on! But there were plenty of fairly repetitive parts that could have been cut down to finish the book properly.
Just a really lazy and unsatisfying ending. It infuriated me! I don't recommend based on this alone. ⭐️ 2/5 ⭐️
