December 13, 2016

Holding Up the Universe


"What if the entire world was face-blind?" ~ pg. 105

Jack has a condition called prosopagnosia; he cannot recognize faces, not even his own. He looks in the mirror and doesn't recognize himself. He wakes up everyday and does not recognize his mom or the faces of people he loves. Everyone is a stranger to Jack. To keep this secret, he plays it cool, charming and hilarious. Most of all, he does not get too close to anyone.

"For something that isn't there anymore, it weighs a ton." ~ pg. 374

Libby is known as "America's Fattest Teen." Literally cut out of her house at over 600 pounds has made her semi-famous. Everyone immediately judges her instead of getting to know who she really is. After losing an impressive amount of weight, Libby is ready for high-school and new friends. But a cruel high-school game lands Libby and Jack in group counseling. Soon both teens feel less alone.

Jennifer Niven is an author that I added to my must-read list after I read the amazing story All the Bright Places. She quickly became a bestselling author. So of course, I was excited to read her new release, Holding Up the Universe.

"I'm not a shitty person, but I'm about to do a shitty thing..." ~ pg. 104

Sounds like a good story, right? Sounds like characters I can empathize with, yup? Not so much. Instead I knew where this story was heading from the beginning and there were no tearjerker or mouth-dropping twists to keep me interested the whole way. I fought the urge to skim. (FYI: my thoughts on skimming are similar to faking an orgasm—why waste energy doing it? Just stop.)

Holding Up the Universe passed my 50-page Rule because I had faith in Jennifer Niven to finish. I was sure this book was a fluke and would get better...but, nope.

Title: Holding Up the Universe
Author: Jennifer Niven
Published: October 2016
Pages: 388
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: ♥♡

 

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