Thor Review Wtf Is Wrong With Up and Down

Initial reaction reading this volume: I don't know if I'one thousand angry at this book as much as I am simply completely left exhausted and drained by this book, and non even in a fulfilling manner. (I hateful, I've been left completely gutted by Courtney Summers and Lauren Oliver's narratives before, simply in ways that fabricated me feel like I identified with the weight of the character's struggles and situations, and to me, the characters they crafted were dimensional, well-thought out, and kept me reading to see what would get of the characters.

I recollect the trouble I have with Niven's narrative here (and I had this same problem with "All the Bright Places") is that her characters are too singular in dimension to me, and the issues expounded upon are things that not only lack a certain connectivity despite being well researched and getting some things right in terms of the emotional roughness, only it doesn't feel REAL. It doesn't feel 18-carat. Information technology feels like the characters are a means to an cease for the purposes of creating a relationship and isolating their differences and so that they are SOLELY Divers by those differences (despite claims to the otherwise). And the horrible sluggish pacing in this book just amplified that even more than because it felt like sure points were rehashed and told instead of shown.

Full review:

I'll attempt to keep my reaction brusque and sweetness for this book, but in sum: I didn't intendance for it for a number of reasons. I was willing to pick this book up despite my experiences with "All The Bright Places" (which I didn't care for either, but I did applaud some aspects of the novel in the aftermath of the overarching read).

Having picked up "Property Up the Universe" revealed some of the same bug that bothered me in "All The Bright Places", but at that place were other issues that surprised me that were unique to this book. Again, I applaud the fact that Jennifer Niven chose to write about two teens with unique and horrifying experiences based on the prejudices of people who don't understand them and the fear associated with being continuously stigmatized and misunderstood (at least taking the intentional bare bones of this story for what they are). I applaud that she shows how the two teens with these unique experiences come up together in a relationship of some form (again: blank bones intention of the narrative).

Problem is that the execution of this narrative for those intentions was not done well.

Trouble #1: Poor pacing. I think this was the biggest achilles heel of the overarching work and I think that ruined it for me on 1 level. Reading the narrative felt like a rambled slog at times (though I don't mistake the audiobook narrators who read this volume - they were expert). There's a proficient reason why a good rule of thumb for writing is SHOW don't TELL. This book told too many experiences of the characters and tried to explain them to the betoken where segments of the narrative felt repeated more for theme than they should've been. At that place were some moments where the narrative got it right as per Libby'southward struggles with public perception, bullying, and rationalization to her weight loss, but information technology felt too dictated to me. Also with respect to Jack'due south condition, he'due south struggling to make sense of it and come to terms with it, only I also felt like there were sections of the narrative that weren't paced well and repetitious to his experiences to where it kept throwing me out of the narrative despite his emotional upheavals and conflicts.

Trouble #two: Characters being used every bit a means to an end. Let'southward just admit something off the bat: THIS IS A ROMANCE. And there's nothing wrong with that, I knew that coming in and was fine with that. But when you arts and crafts a narrative where the sole purpose of the overarching story is to bring two characters who are labeled by the world equally "freaks" (and this was done in "All the Brilliant Places" to the point where I was like "Seriously?") to fall in love with each other and it's and then blatantly obvious even if the characters take next to no chemical science and are "instaplaced" with each other - in that location'southward your problem right there. It's non only emotionally manipulative, it's really being reductive in terms of the personal pains and struggles that they're going through. It also reduces them to a "condition" rather than being more dimensional human beings. I hated that feeling in the narrative. I sincerely felt unconvinced of the human relationship betwixt Libby and Jack, fifty-fifty long after I finished the terminal page of the book. My mind kept tuning out considering the narrative kept trying to "explain" this chemistry. I didn't like that at all.

Problem #3: Reducing characters solely to a "condition" or "condition": This ties in with the last betoken. You know, I applaud anyone who will tackle what information technology'due south like to live every bit something that isn't fitting the majority or status quo or able body norm and presents unique challenges for the people whose stories are being told in a narrative, but you have to be careful that you don't shape the graphic symbol's experiences solely by those terms. People (fifty-fifty those in stories) are more dimensional and complex than that. Yes, those experiences are essential to the person'due south life and identity, simply they are not the sole definition points you lot should exist using to shape that identity. Sure, exploring the challenges of attitudes that may be put to the person with that condition, and also exploring the fears, doubts, that person may have with that experience is essential and necessary, just you have to be conscientious about exploring information technology, considering it tin easily go a point where you become reductive in detailing that person's experience(southward).

Information technology would exist like someone telling me "Oh, yous suffered from epilepsy/seizures for the offset eight years of your life, that makes you a freak, so the only person who could ever love or understand you is someone who is just as socially ostracized every bit you lot are, and there's no one y'all can talk near it to, and it's going to keep you messing upwards in life and yous're just going to be miserable until y'all detect love in someone else, because evidently your self-love doesn't exist unless you're with that person ." (To which I would say a firm screw that dissonance. Too: true story.)

*sighs* I feel like Niven sends mixed messages (once more) in the narrative, this fourth dimension about body image and a rare brain disorder, as opposed to her previous narrative with bipolar disorder and the survivor'due south guilt of another character. And while the narrative does explore backgrounds as to how they both came to be, it even so feels like a ways to an stop which lends me to say it doesn't experience Real or GENUINE.

If someone asked me whether this volume was a proficient example of showing body positivism I would say a firm goodness no. Yep, it does testify the prejudice and ostracism and isolation and cocky-loathing/fright the characters feel, but I don't feel similar the narrative does a good job with really DEALING with the complexity of those experiences and why they are, where they come up from without dictation. But towards the end of the narrative do the characters have something of a coming to terms and it'southward a quick resolution that feels unfulfilling and lacking the weight of the events that led up to that ending.

Then...in sum, not my cuppa. And information technology saddens me to say that, even so once again, I've had this feel with Niven's piece of work. Maybe I'll take better luck in another work, I guess, but I'1000 non then confident, unfortunately.

Overall score: 2/5 stars.

Edit: 2/v/2016 I'm glad the synopsis (Finally!) inverse, though some problems withal remain to be seen with how the story chooses to handle these subjects. We'll encounter.

Initial reflection:

Definitely not hither for the horrible, weight shaming premise noted for this volume on GR (I'thou speaking as a adult female who's struggled with weight issues nigh of my life, but nevertheless I've worked with overweight kids/teens in the by in my educational field of sports medicine.)

That said, I'm probably going to cease up reading this book. And I won't exist likewise happy if it completely botches the topic.

If people are interested in reading about overweight teens equally protagonists, here are a few for reference, though some of them I haven't read all the same:

Edit: To give some context on how offensive this book blurb is:

I've experienced bullying over my weight when I was a kid and I've also heard/read stories from kids/teens/adults who've experienced the same in my field of expertise. The fact that the blurb points out that she had to exist lifted out of the house via a "crane" isn't amusing or funny, information technology'due south horrifying, even if it'southward intended to be a snarky remark. And the fact that she's supposedly "[rejoining] the human race" is shaming the girl for her weight considering it's implying that she'south lazy or a sloth or to arraign somehow for her size - it diminishes her worth as a person. Information technology plays into the bullying and belittling dialogues nearly people who are overweight rather than assuasive people to beloved themselves for who they are, no matter their weight.

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Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28686840-holding-up-the-universe

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