ARC, 310 pages
Release Date: March 26, 2019Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Read from: March 22-26, 2019Stand-aloneSource: Publisher (I received a copy of this book from the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)TW: N/AFor fans of: Contemporary, Romance, Stand-alone, Humor, YAFiercely funny, honest, and poignant, this story of a growth spurt gone wrong is perfect for readers who love Becky Albertalli and Jesse Andrews.
Will Daughtry is a late bloomer–at least that’s what everyone tells the high school sophomore, who is just shy of five feet. By his sixteenth birthday, Will is resigned, bitterly, to being tiny forever. His only comfort is his best friend and stepbrother, Drew (6’3″), and their pal Monica (5’10”), the girl Will’s secretly pined for since fifth grade. With them, he feels whole; everyone else sees him as a half man. But when Will stumbles onto Drew and Monica kissing, he realizes he’s on his own.
That’s when he starts to grow. And grow fast. Astonishingly fast.
For the first time in his life, Will is happy with his height, and with himself. He can barely keep up with the new possibilities that are opening up to him: sports come naturally, girls are throwing themselves his way. But as his growth spurt shows no signs of slowing, it starts to affect his relationships with Drew and Monica, the people who’ve meant the most to him. Now Will has to figure out what to do with himself–and all of this new “himself” he never expected to have.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Coming from someone who’s short (with no chance of beanstalk growing overnight) this was such an interesting read. I can only relate to half of it, but I definitely got it. This isn’t something I’d normally read, but the fact that he got to see both sides of being short and being tall was really interesting to me.
The writing style in this book was ok. The jokes were there, but I didn’t really find them all that funny. Besides that, I enjoyed the writing style. However, at times I found myself skimming because there was too much about gorilla poop. Like I get it…. that’s funny to some people, but I am not one of them. So the humor was lost on me. And of course this carried on throughout the book which made me not care for it as much.
As for Will, I wasn’t really a fan of him. I was at first, but once his attitude started changing, so did my feelings about him. Coming from someone who is stuck being short, maybe it made him change so drastically because he’s a teen, but I felt it was a bit extra lol But that’s just me. I don’t see myself doing something like that if I suddenly became tall. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.
What I liked most about this book was the way the author treated both sides of being unlike everyone else. The reader gets a chance to look at how people talk about and treat those that are very short and those that are very tall. The MC experiences them both and gets the “tall basketball” jokes and the “short shrimp” jokes. It shows that both can make a person feel uncomfortable, and that’s not usually shown for people who are tall. (My husband complains about it all the time.) It gives an interesting look at both sides.
Overall this book I guess wasn’t exactly for me but I still enjoyed it. It was a fun read for those that like dry humor. Definitely check it out, whether you’re tall or short!
What I liked most about this book was the way the author treated both sides of being unlike everyone else. The reader gets a chance to look at how people talk about and treat those that are very short and those that are very tall. The MC experiences them both and gets the “tall basketball” jokes and the “short shrimp” jokes. It shows that both can make a person feel uncomfortable, and that’s not usually shown for people who are tall. (My husband complains about it all the time.) It gives an interesting look at both sides.
Overall this book I guess wasn’t exactly for me but I still enjoyed it. It was a fun read for those that like dry humor. Definitely check it out, whether you’re tall or short!
Overall, I give this
