Why A Tragic Kind Of Wonderful Tragically Let Me Down | Book Review
Book review time!
Today I am going to be sharing with you guys my thoughts on
A Tragic Kind Of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom, who is also the author of Not If
I See You First!
I was really drawn to this book after reading his debut late
last year which I really enjoyed and I had heard fairly positive things about
ATKOW from those who had received early ARCs.
About the book.
Author: Eric Lindstrom
Pages: 288
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published in: January 2017
Synopsis: For sixteen-year-old Mel Hannigan, bipolar disorder makes life unpredictable. Her latest struggle is balancing her growing feelings in a new relationship with her instinct to keep everyone at arm’s length. And when a former friend confronts Mel with the truth about the way their relationship ended, deeply buried secrets threaten to come out and upend her shaky equilibrium.
As the walls of Mel’s compartmentalized world crumble, she fears the worst—that her friends will abandon her if they learn the truth about what she’s been hiding. Can Mel bring herself to risk everything to find out? (source)
Published in: January 2017
Synopsis: For sixteen-year-old Mel Hannigan, bipolar disorder makes life unpredictable. Her latest struggle is balancing her growing feelings in a new relationship with her instinct to keep everyone at arm’s length. And when a former friend confronts Mel with the truth about the way their relationship ended, deeply buried secrets threaten to come out and upend her shaky equilibrium.
As the walls of Mel’s compartmentalized world crumble, she fears the worst—that her friends will abandon her if they learn the truth about what she’s been hiding. Can Mel bring herself to risk everything to find out? (source)
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Recommended for: Anyone 14+.
Thank you to Harper Collins Australia who provided me with a review copy however all thoughts and opinions are my own and this is an honest review.
Thank you to Harper Collins Australia who provided me with a review copy however all thoughts and opinions are my own and this is an honest review.
My thoughts.
{ WRITING }
Sadly, nothing about the writing stood out for me. It was
pretty bland and basic and nothing about it stood out to me. Unlike Not If I
See You First, there wasn’t much sass or humour incorporated in the prose and
that was so disappointing for me because I was really looking forward to that
aspect of the book going in.
{ IDEA + PLOT }
Unfortunately, I can’t say the idea was pretty interesting
either. This book features a main character with bipolar disorder and while I loved
that aspect of the book, the execution was, in my opinion, poor.
(Disclaimer: I am not going to be talking about the mental
health rep itself as I do not have bipolar disorder myself and do not know
anyone that does so I am not suited to comment on that aspect).
I wasn’t able to understand where Mel was coming from and I wasn’t
able to learn anything about bipolar disorder, not even the basics as to what
it was. (I did know what it was before going into this but if someone didn’t,
they would be pretty confused!)
There was nothing about this book that stood out for me as
it didn’t have that personal element or spark that Not If I See You First had. While
I was interested and engaged in the book, looking back on it as I write this
review, there was nothing too memorable about it.
Coupled with that, this book barely had a plot. Not much
happened in this 300+ page book. There wasn’t much character development either
as you don’t see the character grow or change from the person she was at the
beginning.
I will say, however, I did like the exploration of
friendship in the book, even if it was quite shallow and not that well explained.
{ CHARACTERS }
I bet you’re thinking that this is where the review becomes
positive…but sadly, not.
I found it so hard to connect with and love the characters. There
was such an air of ‘meh-ness’ around everything, including the main and side
characters. It was so difficult to get on the same level with these characters
and I personally, felt so detached.
There was no link or connection that bonded character and
reader which was so disappointing for me, especially since I loved Parker from
Not If I See You First because she was such a snarky, unapologetic person whose
personality just bounced off the pages.
I wasn’t a big fan of the romance either. It was quite
forced and almost thrown in there for good measure and there was zero chemistry
between the two.
{ FINALLY… }
While I didn’t hate this book, I didn’t love it either. It was
quite bland and dull and I don’t even have a lot to say about it, which you can
probably tell seeing how short this review is compared to my other ones.
I know there are some other people that absolutely loved
this book and I am sad to realise it wasn’t me but what can you do??
OVERALL RATING:
★★★½
Have you read this
book? What did you think? And if not, are you planning on it? What are some
other books you have wanted to love but ultimately found them to be pretty ‘meh’?
20 happy thoughts
Sorry you didn't enjoy this. I've had it on my TBR for a while. It caught my eye because the main character had bi-polar and I was interested in learning more about it but if it's not represented then I might not bother! Great review though.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for reading and commenting Kirsty!
DeleteSorry you didn't enjoy this. But your review is very well thought out and definitely helps to decide if you want to read it. You still gave it 3 and a half stars, so I can definitely see maybe some other people might have enjoyed it more. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Lisa! AND AWWW I REALLY APPRECIATE THOSE KIND THOUGHTS AFTER THE HELLISH DAY I'VE HAD! <3
DeleteI got this book back in May at BEA, but I hadn't read it yet. I have heard such good things about his other work. I was sort of excited. Sorry it was less than you expected.
ReplyDeleteAha what can you do, right? Thanks anyway for reading and commenting Sam!
DeleteOh no, I'm sorry to see you didn't care for this one! I read both this and Not if I See You First, and funny enough, I had a lot of the same thoughts for the first book that you had for this one, while I loved this one. I'm sorry to hear it wasn't your thing, but you did an awesome job with your review!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING AND COMMENTING KELLY! and hahaha that's so funny/weird! But I guess that is what makes book blogging so interesting bc we all have such different opinions!
DeleteI haven't seen any other reviews for this one around Anisha and wasn't aware it had a character living with bipolar. I think sometimes books don't really need that big AH HA type of moment but they certainly need direction. It sounds like it might be one of those books that could be a hit or miss for a lot of readers and I'm wondering which side of the spectrum I'll be on. Wonderful review nonetheless and hopefully you enjoy your next read much more <3
ReplyDeleteKELLY YOU ALWAYS LEAVE SUCH THOUGHTFUL COMMENTS YOU ARE THE SWEETEST! <3333
Deleteoh hey but 3 1/2 stars isnt entirely bad right? I feel like a fish out of water for books like these right? Everyone loves it and you end up just kind of meh.. I'v been there. Sorry it was bland.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to feel about mental issues these days. I kind of appreciate books that address it, but at the same time I get it if they feel overplayed.
OMG LILY THAT IS EXACTLY HOW I FEEL! I feel quite guilty about not liking it esp since it was a diverse read and by a really well known and well loved author but the lack of connection just made it fall flat for me sadly!
DeleteSorry to hear that you didn't love this one, Anisha! It is/was on my TBR but for some reason I just don't feel super drawn to it. The lack of a plot would've bothered me too - thanks for your honest review. <3
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading and commenting Reg! I adore your blog!
DeleteAah, I'm so sad you didn't love A Tragic Kind of Wonderful! I absolutely loved it! I felt I did connect with Mel, and felt I learnt more about bipolar than I did previously - especially around the medication debate, that it works for some but not for others. And I loved the msytery surrounding the end of her friendship. There was a lot going on in her life, which I felt was realistic, as we never just have one thing going on, do we? There's always a number of things. So she had her blossoming romance, the problems with her ex-friends, and battling with her bipolar, plus continuing to grieve for her brother. I really loved that she had so much going on, and had so much to think about. It's such a shame you didn't enjoy it :( Great review, though! :)
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the mystery parts as they were so intriguing! And aww after your comment I feel like it was enjoyable but due to the lack of connection I just couldn't get into it! But so good to hear you enjoyed it Jo and I love your detailed comment so thank you for taking the time to leave that here!
DeleteOh man, I'm definitely going to skip this book, so thanks for sharing your thoughts! I'm sorry you didn't love this book as much as the author's first one--that's always upsetting. I'm kind of surprised that you rated it 3.5 stars though, because for me, that's a pretty good book XD
ReplyDeleteBrittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles
I found it wasn't a bad book but I just didn't really connect with it but because it focused on such an important issue, I didn't want to give it any lower because I still wanted to encourage people to do it!
DeleteAhh probably going to skip this one. Sorry it didn't work out for you!
ReplyDeleteAha idk you might enjoy this but sadly I didn't!
DeleteLeave me a comment below! And feel free to leave your website URL so I can come visit!