Everything I Never Told You
I truly enjoyed reading this book and I can say that this was my favorite FYRE experience book I have read over my years of being on this committee (maybe this is more my genre that I prefer, but I liked this book a lot). It was a good length, had an approachable but not too easy writing style, and the characters were relatable and each had their own interesting story line. I think our students will relate to this book well and the issues the characters struggle with are relevant to our students and will be good discussion points in class (academics, finding your passion, diversity, judgment, expectations of others).
Rating: 5/5 Stars.
-Amorette
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I enjoyed reading this book and it was a good length. It was interesting and the story line kept me captivated enough to want to pick it up each night and read more, which I think would be good for our Freshmen. It brings up many interesting topics and diversity issues, although I wish it did this more. This maybe could be a good discussion point about what would happen to A if he woke up each day across the country or even in different countries. It brought up many issues such as respecting the opportunities the day and life presents to you, personal integrity, and respect for other lives which is an excellent message for our students. The main character is relatable and A’s experiences could be related to what the first-year students are experiencing as new college students (waking up in a new environment, not knowing anyone, starting over with a clean slate, respecting others etc). The romantic element became slightly repetitive.
Overall: 4/5 Stars
-Amorette
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First, this book is too long at 451 pages. It is an easy read, but I think maybe a little too easy. While it brings up some interesting themes about homosexuality and domestic and relationship abuse, it is very repetitive and revisits these issues over and over without much other content. I worry that the main character will not be relatable to a lot of our students. There are some concerns about language that is often used in the book. I enjoyed reading the book but I don’t see it working well for LSEM.
Overall rating: 1/5 stars
-Amorette
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How can I best summarize this book? Parts of the book are poignant, parts of it were completely unnecessary. Ignoring the frequent language and descriptions, I have other numerous concerns about it. The book comes in at 451 pages and while the text was easy enough to read, it is rather long in comparison to any other book the committee has reviewed. I also worry about the protagonist not being relatable enough for our students, and I could see the story being very triggering for others. While I understand why the book has gotten the praise it has, and I personally enjoyed it (I read the entire book within a few hours), I can’t see it working well within LSEM.
Overall rating: 2/5 stars
Laura
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Celeste Ng’s debut novel, on a personal level, put me on an emotional rollercoaster. From an academic perspective, however, I loved the book. Like Jen mentioned, it is seamlessly easy to read, a number of the characters are relatable to the students, and the setting of the novel is in a small, nondescript town, much like Farmville. The book has the potential to create a number of different discussions in LSEM regarding academics, diversity, perceptions of others. Despite being set in the late 1970s, the conflicts the characters struggle with are just as relevant and prevalent today. What was the most intriguing theme to me for our purposes was how expectations, whether from family or from ourselves, can define us and “what do we do” if we struggle to meet or simply can’t meet those expectations. I think that theme would resonate with many of our students, especially those who have already faced difficulties.
If we do choose to move forward with this selection, I believe other colleges have already used this book and I wouldn’t mind investigating how those colleges explored the concepts in the book on behalf of the group.
Rating: 5/5 Stars.
Laura
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