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Veronica Pena (690 KP) shared own rating
Jan 27, 2020
Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated Speak in Books
Jan 6, 2020 (Updated Jan 27, 2020)
I have read this book multiple times throughout my almost 21 years of existence. I think the first time I read it, I was in 8th grade? Maybe 9th. I'm not one hundred percent sure. But I've read it maybe 4 or 5 times and every time it's different.
The last time I read it, I was a freshman in college and in a completely different spot in my life. When I read it the last time, I hated it. I just found the pacing to be bad, I didn't enjoy the novel itself, but I recognized the importance of Melinda's story. I still do. But now, reading it 2 years later and being where I am, I feel so different. I love this book. I loved it the first time I read it and I guess my relationship with this novel has just ebbed and flowed as I've gotten older and I've floated along with my own trauma and experiences.
I think what I love most about this book, besides its relatability and its incredibly important story, is the truth in it. I think so much of Melinda's experience and her story and the way she copes or doesn't cope is left in the things she doesn't say, in the things that aren't explicitly written. I think you take as much as she gives and then some more. I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but that's what I get from it.
I'm still a firm believer that everyone should read this book before high school and before college, but now I just think that everyone should read it every once in a while. I'm definitely going to check in with this book again in a couple of years and see where I find myself with it again.
The last time I read it, I was a freshman in college and in a completely different spot in my life. When I read it the last time, I hated it. I just found the pacing to be bad, I didn't enjoy the novel itself, but I recognized the importance of Melinda's story. I still do. But now, reading it 2 years later and being where I am, I feel so different. I love this book. I loved it the first time I read it and I guess my relationship with this novel has just ebbed and flowed as I've gotten older and I've floated along with my own trauma and experiences.
I think what I love most about this book, besides its relatability and its incredibly important story, is the truth in it. I think so much of Melinda's experience and her story and the way she copes or doesn't cope is left in the things she doesn't say, in the things that aren't explicitly written. I think you take as much as she gives and then some more. I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but that's what I get from it.
I'm still a firm believer that everyone should read this book before high school and before college, but now I just think that everyone should read it every once in a while. I'm definitely going to check in with this book again in a couple of years and see where I find myself with it again.
Veronica Pena (690 KP) shared own rating
Jan 31, 2020
Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated Thirteen Reasons Why in Books
Jan 6, 2020 (Updated Jan 31, 2020)
I first read this novel almost 7 years ago, I think. Maybe 8. Either way, it's been a decent amount of time since I last read this book and to be honest, I've been really nervous to revisit it. I know that there is a lot of controversy about it, and even more when it comes to the show, and ever since I first read the book, I've always been very protective of this story, these characters, this novel, all of it.
I find it incredibly amusing to read reviews of the show and the book of people that hate it and don't understand Hannah and think she just blamed everyone else and never took responsibility for her actions, and I partially understand. I can see why they think that but I think what makes this book so special and this story so special is how relatable it is. I think that unless you've been in Hannah's shoes, in her mindset, in that place than you can't understand. I think what people are most afraid to admit is that when someone dies by suicide, they do it for a culmination of reasons, and a lot of them are because of people - what they said, what they did or didn't do, what they say behind another person's back, etc. You hear stories in the news all the time about kids dying by suicide because they were bullied or because a bunch of people told them too, over and over and over again. People are mean and cruel and they do things that affect other people and it resonates. Each of the 13 people on her tapes all played a part. You can say she was blaming them or whatever you so please, but each of their actions created the circumstances for her to feel like she had nowhere else to go.
Again, I love this book. I love these characters, I love this plot, I love how real it is. I love the show, I love everything about it. I'm sure there are people who disagree with me. I'm sure there are people who vehemently protest this novel and its corresponding series, but I think this is a book that I will forever love, reread, and protect.
In a lot of ways, I am Hannah Baker. I think everyone is a little bit.
I find it incredibly amusing to read reviews of the show and the book of people that hate it and don't understand Hannah and think she just blamed everyone else and never took responsibility for her actions, and I partially understand. I can see why they think that but I think what makes this book so special and this story so special is how relatable it is. I think that unless you've been in Hannah's shoes, in her mindset, in that place than you can't understand. I think what people are most afraid to admit is that when someone dies by suicide, they do it for a culmination of reasons, and a lot of them are because of people - what they said, what they did or didn't do, what they say behind another person's back, etc. You hear stories in the news all the time about kids dying by suicide because they were bullied or because a bunch of people told them too, over and over and over again. People are mean and cruel and they do things that affect other people and it resonates. Each of the 13 people on her tapes all played a part. You can say she was blaming them or whatever you so please, but each of their actions created the circumstances for her to feel like she had nowhere else to go.
Again, I love this book. I love these characters, I love this plot, I love how real it is. I love the show, I love everything about it. I'm sure there are people who disagree with me. I'm sure there are people who vehemently protest this novel and its corresponding series, but I think this is a book that I will forever love, reread, and protect.
In a lot of ways, I am Hannah Baker. I think everyone is a little bit.
Veronica Pena (690 KP) shared own rating
Feb 10, 2020
Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated The Perks of Being a Wallflower in Books
Jan 6, 2020 (Updated Feb 10, 2020)
I am hopelessly in love with this novel. I remember reading it for the first time when I was in middle school at some point - I'm thinking 8th grade. I remember crying my eyes out at the end and then having to go downstairs for dinner and being unable to think about anything else other than Charlie and his story and everything that he'd been through and how I related and understood and just wanted to give him a hug. I have that same feeling now.
When I read this book initially, I was in a really bad place - probably one of the worst places I have ever been in my life and I remember how much I wanted to feel like Charlie did at the end of the novel. Now, almost 9 years later, I am working to get to that place, to heal and take care of myself and put pieces back together that I forgot about or pushed away or that just didn't really fit right in the first place. Coincidentally, my therapist told me that this is the perfect book for me to read right now with everything I have going on in my life and I couldn't agree more.
I love all of these characters, I love the plot, I love that Charlie's innocence just radiates off the page but it's not a boyish innocence that is underwhelming and sometimes frustrating like it is in other novels, but it's pure and he's just doing his best and he fiercely loves and protects those he cares about. It's like his innocence is his love and he loves so well.
I think this book will be one that I tell my kids about, urge them to read, and hope they tell their kids and they tell theirs. I love this book that much.
When I read this book initially, I was in a really bad place - probably one of the worst places I have ever been in my life and I remember how much I wanted to feel like Charlie did at the end of the novel. Now, almost 9 years later, I am working to get to that place, to heal and take care of myself and put pieces back together that I forgot about or pushed away or that just didn't really fit right in the first place. Coincidentally, my therapist told me that this is the perfect book for me to read right now with everything I have going on in my life and I couldn't agree more.
I love all of these characters, I love the plot, I love that Charlie's innocence just radiates off the page but it's not a boyish innocence that is underwhelming and sometimes frustrating like it is in other novels, but it's pure and he's just doing his best and he fiercely loves and protects those he cares about. It's like his innocence is his love and he loves so well.
I think this book will be one that I tell my kids about, urge them to read, and hope they tell their kids and they tell theirs. I love this book that much.
