when it comes to the triggering content of the book, which happens to be present all the time because, apparently, life is awful, i do have some points to make. essentially, the author gets you attached to the characters to then make them endure endless suffering because that's how life is. while i have no issue with the depiction of mental illnesses or diseases or anything of the such, i do have an issue when it ends up being almost romanticized and harmfully portrayed. all of the characters needed therapy and yet none of them had it and you could tell. and before you all come from me, i'm also a chronically-ill teenager, and i found it really hard to resonate with this story. I’m not well versed in commonalities, things everybody knows. Sarcasm, irony, idioms, sports. It all eludes me till Neo explains. Edit: As much as I love the book I think I'd like to tell my own criticism with the book, as an non binary person I don't think I *personally* thought the rep was good, I don't exactly know how to put it in words but a Goodreads review did put it properly. That's all.

Not when there’s a storm between your ribs.” Neo taps the scars of blood vessels climbing C’s collarbones. “Your veins brew lightning. It’s trying to escape.” Then their relationship was just Shakespeare and cheesy dialogue. It had no depth. And again, the fact that Sam confesses to/kisses her immediately after she’d cut herself is just so so so wrong to me.C’mon, C.” Sony puts her hands on her hips. “What would we be without irony but boring clichés, yeah?” last. THE ENDING, wtf was that. 😭 the main character? she turned out to be "just in hikari's head" that's literally one of THE worst tropes ever, no one can argue. i mean, even if one of the mcs die it's better than that! idk if the author meant to show how they were soulmates through every life or whatever, but making the main character become the ghost of a hospital? is so not the right path, thanks. The heartwarming and inspiring film ‘Hope’, directed by Lancali, has captured the hearts of audiences across America. It tells a touching story of love amid adversity set against an unforgiving landscape of a hospital- a desolate place where thieves roam free. The lead character, Hope, is a sun-eyed boy who brings joy to all around him and faces his trials with resilience and courage. Sony and Sam are two other characters who bring an air of freedom to this depressing setting.

Excuse me…” Sony waves her arms over her head to catch the cashier’s attention. His sidelong glance becomes a double take. Sony’s pretty. The kind of pretty that’s brutal, bright-eyed, and heavy-handed. But I’m guessing his stares have more to do with the breathing tubes trailing the space under her nose and around her cheeks. Lancali’s story inspires us to believe in ourselves and know that no matter how eerie fingers get or how many trigger warnings we face, we have it within ourselves to ignite a radiant hope that shall guide us through life’s toughest moments. Overcoming the OddsWe’re greedy creatures, but not ungrateful. You don’t have to partake in destruction to admire the weapons.

Lancali has expertly woven together a tale that explores themes like friendship, love, self-discovery, and hope in a world full of darkness. The movie follows Hope as he embarks on his great escape along with his little gang while being pursued by the authorities. Neo is another important character whose mischievous smile lightens up many scenes in this heartwarming movie. These characters didn’t really have personalities beyond the brief things I mentioned in their stereotypes list. C was just aloof and gentle, Neo was just mean and poetic, Sony was just chaotic and loud, and Hikari was just Shakespeare quotes and tears. None of the characters developed beyond this. of their smile. Passing an old landmark. Laughing at a joke they would've laughed at. You lose them infinitely. Sometimes the characters would say normal things, and for a moment my hopes would increase, but I would immediately deflate when someone spoke in poetry again. For being young adults, they were overly philosophical. They’re simply too young to be speaking they way they are; they don’t have the life experience for the type of things they say. On the other hand, they were also all incredibly childish, though I can sort of understand that part — they’re teenagers whose childhoods have been taken from them. I get it, but their childishness juxtaposed against their apparent proclivity for philosophy didn’t quite match. second. i felt so disconnected from the main character and the writing itself tbh, and i only ever cared about two of the side characters - neo and coeur, my beloveds. they both deserved everything in the world, and they just needed to be happy and ugh 😭❤️‍🩹 i'm sad. but i also loved their story so much.Our floor’s most notorious jailer (nurse), Eric, has a keen sense of timing. He raises a brow at Sony’s tone, his foot tapping away at the ground. His bullshit detector is a honed weapon, and when he gets mad, I wouldn’t wish his wrath upon actual prisoners.

Oh what can I say about these lovely characters, everything about them is just so good. Needless to say I loved them all. Sam at first was off putting but it's explained later on in the story as to why they seem so out of place. (This is where the writing comes in as Sam is the narrator throughout the whole story). Neo, Sony, Cœur and Hikari are just chefs kiss. And Sony is the love of my life so hands off her. You know you never wanted us to be happy, Sam. Happiness is a brittle, fleeting thing. You wanted us to feel loved, and we did I was throughly angry by then. Not only did Lancali skirt around genuine trans rep, but she didn’t even make her one and only genderqueer character HUMAN. This perpetuates the idea that trans/nb people are “less than human”. It also perpetuates a notion I hate with a burning passion, which is that “trans/nb characters only make sense if they’re shapeshifters”. It is SUCH a harmful notion, and this book is no exception. Do you think people will remember us?” Sony asks, staring at the sky, toying with her collar. C caresses his scars and the lightning in them. Neo shifts protruding bones against his seat. This book was so disappointing. I’ve loved Lancali for two years and have read her fanfics but this book was hard to get through. The characters are suppose to be young adults but they act like their 15. The romantic relationships felt forced to me and I honestly could not understand why Sam was into Hikari.Because of this, and out of respect, I won't go too much into why I think this book doesn't work. It's very clearly an important story, and will be for a lot of other people. But I did find this to be disappointing. It's definitely more thematic than plot- or character-centred, but the thing about writing something that is solely thematic, is that it's often done by people who are much older, and that's simply because you need time and life experience to truly understand what you're talking about. The author's experiences are valid, and there's some important messages here. But it's clear that she, and the characters, are not old enough to really begin to try and talk about what it is they're trying to talk about. The outcome is forced, choppy dialogue with characters who are far too self-aware, articulate, and philosophical, and don't feel their age at all. You know, the main character. After they find out their lover has been lying all this time, they don’t yell or get angry or throw things like you want them to. They just… stay.” And I ESPECIALLY didn’t like learning what C did to Neo. So, no, C wasn’t involved in Neo’s bullying, but he was a willful bystander. This especially applies to Hikari and Sam. Their interactions were just bizarre and oftentimes incomprehensible.