Hank Green’s voice jumps off the page.
This book was an easy read because it felt like Hank Green’s internal dialogue. There’s no sophisticated language or wordplay here. This made the book easy to pass through but also left me wanting more at times. I delved into the story without expectations and was left essentially as neutral as when I started. I felt neither wow’d or let down. It is exactly as promised.
Though I enjoyed the ease of reading Hank’s writing style, at times I felt as though his voice and personal perspective interrupted my experiences. I could lose myself in the story but it felt as though every word was filtered through Hank. The writing and the dialogue was consistently in his voice — even if the character was supposed to be VERY different than who Hank is himself. This left a lot of the characters feeling one dimensional to me. It became clear very quickly that the characters with their traits, faults, and decision-making were being written by someone who did not fully understand that character’s perspective. Im not one to make generalizations but — for this book — it nagged at me that a straight, white male was writing female, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ characters without understanding really how those intersections play into everyday life.
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I can tell Hank tried to make societal points with these characters’ identities but they were far too surface level, generic, and un-relatable at times. As a bisexual female myself, the internal dialogue for some of these characters, particularly relating to their relationships, just didn’t seem true to life. The stubborn, privileged mind of the white male in sexual encounters, intimate relationships, and mental health seeped into every character. This left me wanting more dimension and complexity with more tension between the differences of the cast. As a result of Hank’s writing style, I really wasn’t pulled to one character nor was I truly sympathetic for any of them. I found the main character particularly unlikeable and it left me rooting against her. I tend to appreciate faulted characters much more (since we’re all faulted in someway), but the faults of these characters combined with one dimensional writing did not turn them into realistic, complicated people. Instead I was confused by a lot of their choices and was given no resolve other than “Welp, thats me — Im a bad person.” Feels very “boys will be boys” forced into BIPOC, LGBTQIA female characters with a sprinkle of stereotypes to make it more realistic.
On a positive note, the story itself was well-told by Hank. This came as no surprise since the revolving topics were squarely in his expertise. He made interesting, thought-provoking points about celebrity and our culture that made me look at things from a different view. Many of the aspects of fame and internet content creation were so overly detailed that it made the story vivid to read. The story itself was not hard to follow and was very fast-paced consistently through out. Personally, his writing style did not excite me but I think this is more a testament to audience. This book would be great for a high schooler — though I enjoyed it as a quick read, I didnt feel like the target audience. Having lived quite a few years since my teens and high school days, I can look back and introspectively see my experiences as layered and messy. I think here lies why I was missing something in the characters. A younger audience, on the other hand, will happily see themselves in these characters without searching for the nitty gritty in their experiences.
I would highly recommend this book to a high-schooler or to the ages of 15–19. I’d recommend this book to someone around my age only if they are looking for a simple read, maybe to pull them out of a reading slump.
TLDR: A quick, easy read with a simple premise. Lackluster in character dimension and perspective. No frills and fast-paced.
