Na ich hab zumidnest gelacht

Holding Up the Universe
von Jennifer Niven

Bewertet mit 2 Sternen

The face is a road map of life, what if you can't remember them? Ever since All the bright places, Niven has managed to get quite popular with the readers. Even before the publishing date, customers would come by and ask about the book. When would we get it? Would we be delivered on time? Is pre-order available? I've read "all the bright places", but in a row with many many other teenager having depression and wanting to commit suicide- books, so that this one didn't hit a nerve with me. Somehow it just couldn't stand out, so why were people loving it so much? Bitten by curiosity, I checked out "Holding out the Universe" on Goodreads and the comment section was bursting with not so nice comments about the blurb. Oh my, this intrigued me! And then the blurb! Oversized girl and boy with prosopagnosia fall in love? This could be good right? I do like it when the round girl is getting loved no matter her size, and an illness that's not as common. This should totally hit a home run with me. Also, I'm a huge believer in second chances for writers! Huge thanks to NetgalleyDE for approving me this title, which I was looking forward very much. I was actually in the middle of another book, but prioritized this one. I even cancelled on an evening out, just to continue reading this. Sadly it wasn't as outstanding as the blurb wants you to think. Again the characters weren't anything extraordinary. Somewhat forgettable, to be honest. While I didn't dislike any of the characters, I also didn't root for anyone. With the two perspectives, I preferred Jake's one. Even with his swagger. His struggling was well developed and explained, as well as not forgotten over night, but a constant, which I liked. Libby reminded me so so much of Dumplin of the book with the same name by Julie Murphy that I was waiting for Libby to start singing some dolly parton songs the whole time. With all the Popcultur references it felt as if the author desperately wants to please the audience. It screams of "PLEASE LOVE ME" towards the reader, "SEE I'M LIKE YOU!! SAME INTEREST! I KNOW WHAT YOU LIKE" while it most of the times, is only cringeworthy. ( Supernatural reference to explain where she found a certain song? Really? ) As much as I preferred Jakes POV, I did have some problems with him handling his "problem"... why not tell someone? For example his family? You cannot get me to believe his family wouldn't have noticed this problem early on? In many reviews it's compared to colorblindness. Why be ashamed by it, if he is apparently the cool swaggerful kid from school? Why not be yourself and own it? The characters contradicts itself there. This led me to think that the author did her research halfheartly and just picked any topic she stumble over to make it dramatic. "hmm the boy needs something strange... something that helps him bonding with the girl ( because a normal beloved boy would never fall for the oversized girl, right? ) , what hasn't been used yet? oh I know, I somewhere heard someone talking about Face Blindness!" ( <- How putting the book together seemed to me, I'm not the author, so it was probably completely different ;) ) Also, I was hoping for the oversized girl to be accepted as she is, to find out right in the beginning that she had to lose around 200 pounds before being allowed by the author to get a lovestory. Don't get me wrong, she get's her romance and is still oversized, but only after she lost most of her weight. What was most disturbing was the romance. The first half of the book was actually not too bad. They had time to connect and in a friendly way they did. But halfway thru the writer remembered "Ahh I wanted it to be a lovestory... ehm what to do?" and WHAM ( seriously, it is indicated with an actual WHAM in the book) she realises that she is drawn to him and really really short after her, and very quickly he realises that he is into her that way too. Sadly for the reader it comes rather rushed and especially from his POV you're like "Ehm what's happening? Why now?" To check off all the "What to include for a Bestselling Young Adult Story" boxes from the list, Niven chooses a classic book to reference to regularly. No, not the almost always used Romeo and Julia... she did choose "To kill a mockingbird", an actually pretty clever pick. But after the 4th mention of Libby "putting herself in Jacks shoes, just as Atticus said" you get even tired of beloved Atticus. But let's forget about these things for a second and look at the big picture: I read it almost in one session. I didn't get tired of the story. I was actually curious about the storyline ( and when the universe comes into play ). It is a nice read. maybe not all to memorable, but definitely entertaining and informative about prosopagnosia. I'm sure this will find its audience, and many people gonna love it, and Libby and Jake. For me the extra spark was missing, but I'm strange that way. It could have been worse, and there definitely will be a third chance for the author after this.