I went back and forth on whether I loved this book or didn't like it at all while reading it. In the end, maybe it's a little bit of both?? I'll forever appreciate a book that tells me a story in a new way, with a fresh voice (even if sometimes I didn't always like what that voice was saying), but I didn't have the emotional connection I thought I would when the THING happened.

First thing I need to ask is--- When is this book set?? I need a time period. I'm 99% sure that it must be the 80's or the 90's, but it never specifically says. The only thing I have to go off of is talk of Brigitte Bardot, L.A. Gear tennis shoes, and someone saying leg warmers were cute. If it's 80's or 90's I have a completely different opinion on this than if it's a modern day setting. The way these people talk, I just don't see people talking so ignorantly if it's set today... but in the 80's and 90's things weren't so PC. They just weren't.

So yeah, things in this book are a little rough around the edges. People say some offensive stuff and it's never really dealt with. I could see some people not liking the harshness because there were at least 2 things said that rubbed me wrong.

I went back and forth on this book. At first I wasn't feeling Anika's voice. It's a super unique voice, by the way. Probably unlike any character's voice I've ever read before. She has a really different way of seeing and dissecting her world and I grew to enjoy it. Although, I don't know where her "spider soup" was located within her because I never saw it. I feel like if the people in her life didn't see what the reader sees of Anika, it's because they didn't want to. She was super obvious about who she was in my opinion.

The thing about Anika was-- she grew on me! At first I was totally confused by her narration, but I got used to it, and I got into it. I really started to "get" her and feel her story. It wasn't a perfect story... most of it was kind of weird, but you know, I think I like weird. And Anika has the best relationship with her mom that I actually got emotional about it at one point.

This isn't a spoiler because it says right in the synopsis that "tragedy hits", and when it does, it made me feel some sadness, but I wasn't as broken up about it as I've been with books that had a similar THING happen. I don't always have to have a sobfest to feel the feelings, but this one just wasn't hitting me the way I would expect for some reason.

I would have to say that this book is firmly in the I DON'T KNOW category for me. I really loved Anika's voice, but I wasn't obsessed with the story. It felt a little thin on plot at times, and being that I didn't actually know which decade I was reading about, it's probably not going to be one of my forever favorites.

OVERALL: A Romanian girl living in the Midwest finds herself in a love triangle with the town's hottest dude and a made-over nerdy guy who is equal parts sweet & kind of messed up. I liked the voice of the main character and her wierdness, but could have lived without some of the other issues that were brought up but never resolved.

My Blog:

( )

This book showed up in my radar touted as a community read, geared to the non-reading teen population. Wrongly, I assumed that it would be engaging and interesting from page one. It seems to be all the worst parts of contemporary teen culture: slut shaming, fascist cliques, terrible & tired stereotypes, do-nothing 2 dimensional adults. And that's in the first 35 pages. I abandoned it when the protagonist attempted to bond with another person by sharing a magazine and pointing out all the things were "so gay." And that pages after being called an "N-word vampire." WTF?

I honestly don't think I would recommend this to teens. Yes it is YA. Yes it ends with a change in character, a redemption of sorts. Yes, it is set in the 80s and things were different then. Yes, not every main character should be without flaws. BUT even though this book had a lot of things that are not necessarily bad for a book to have I just didn't like how it all played out. I didn't like the writing. I didn't like the book. ( )

I got this book through Overdrive's Big Library Read. This program allows readers across the globe to check out the same book (ebook or audio version) all at the same time. The book is available to every reader that wants it for two weeks. I love this concept. I teach teenagers, so I read a lot of YA. However, it's hard to enjoy a book when you don't like the main character. Anika is a thief and drugs her boss (without his knowledge), yet the she feels bad that people are prejudice towards outcasts and blacks. I found that the author used the same phrases over and over and I wanted her to pull out a thesaurus and find a new way to say things. The only reason I gave the book 2 stars instead of one is the ending. Finally Anika stood up for something and spoke her mind. My heart goes out to the family that lost their son, and I do admire the author for getting his story out there. ( )

Mixed feelings because there were definitely moments of beauty and extreme hilarity...

I have no problem reading about a younger generation, but the way these 15-year-olds held a conversation with each other was cringe-worthy at times. I kept thinking to myself, "I sincerely hope I did not talk like that when I was 15."

Regardless of all that, there was a definite beauty in the message of growing up...and what it means to be a crowd follower, what it means to step on people along the way, and finding out what it means to alter that perspective. ( )