This Is All was Just Too Much.

You're telling me we still don't know this kids name? I would have rated it if we knew. I wish I could like this story, I really do, but I couldn't. Everything about it rubbed me the wrong way and I committed to finishing it because I hate myself—and I hoped it would get better, but it never did.

I love this book! So insightful about life, one's life's work, and love. I am so impressed by the level of understanding that Chambers has of growing up as a woman.

However, as several other reviewers have pointed out, I do feel that both the end is rushed and how Chambers choose to direct the plot at the end slightly lessened my opinion of the book. The situation with Cal seems convenient, and having Cordelia die ends her saga, stops her lovely voice narrating her life, instead of allowing the reader to imagine her life after the end of the novel. In addition, I wholeheartedly agree with another reviewer's assertion that ending the book with a male's voice, especially with such important events as the naming, marriage, and brief period of motherhood, curtailed Cordelia's voice about her own experiences.

From the above paragraph, please do not think that this book is not worth reading. Although I have a couple of quibbles with a few choices, overall, I highly recommend this book. In fact, just after I read the copy I got from the library, I ordered it for myself online.

I couldn't get into this. I think I read about 50 pages (and that is not saying much, because the book is something like 800 pages). I disliked the Voice. I thought she was too... too. You know, "I'm so sexually liberated" "I'm so smart "I'm a weirdo pregnant teenager who is wise beyond my years" "La La La" I just don't buy it.

The pillow book is actually more than one volume: journals of most intimate musings, modeled after a Japanese pillow book that Cordelia's friend Izumi gives her. The premise is that motherless Cordy, nineteen and pregnant, is recording the trials and tribulations of her young adulthood, mostly concerning her first lover, Will, and plans to give them to her daughter when she turns 16, so they can share them. The books are incredibly thoughtful; a poet wannabe, Cordy's voice is that of a gifted writer and even her prose (or, Chambers prose) has rhythm and symbolism and entendres and cadence. The British setting doesn't limit the audience; no glossary is needed. I never had any doubt of the character's authenticity, and Chambers deserves a medal for poking around the territory of female puberty so believably and frankly as a male author.

Book one is mostly concerned with the chase after the boy, much of the rest of the book is how to keep him, and how to cope when he's gone, but Cordelia addresses issues of family, other relationships, loss, and more. A dense 800 pages, there are only two troublesome spots: in one book, the story splits into 2, and you have to read all of the odd pages, then all of the even pages in the section for the story to make sense, and in a later book, a kidnapping is a slightly outlandish plot device to bring the estranged star crossed lovers back together. Still, the voice rings true, and the supporting characters are interesting and lushly drawn. It's not for all readers, but I can think of many girls who will delight in the opportunity to wallow for a while in the depths of this tome.

Chambers has said he believes life imitates art - that young readers look to their literature to discover how to BE - and Cordy is a model for supportive adult role models and mentors, planning and decision making, even reading for pleasure (she loves Shakespeare, whom she affectionately calls Shakes). A very strong character driven novel, this is the best book I've read this year, and a fine contribution to the canon of YA literature for it's style, content, and character study.

Ho letto questo libro parecchi anni fa e penso che sia stato uno dei primi libri "da adulto" per me e molto probabilmente l'ho letto troppo giovane per poterlo apprezzare davvero ma ricordo che è stato un viaggio davvero interessante. Questo libro apre le porte a qualcosa di completamente diverso - persino com'è strutturato è davvero particolare - e lo consiglio se si cerca qualcosa di molto realistico e, in qualche modo, un po' grezzo e rude (ma nel migliore dei sensi).
Purtroppo ricordo che, da 15enne (o forse anche meno, Oddio) ricordo di non essere rimasta soddisfatta del finale - che comunque prende alla sprovvista.

sto giudicando la me quattordicenne che ha reso questo libro la sua intera personalità per mesi.

I bought this book because it was the thickest one I could find (more for your money!) but it ended up being really interesting! Weird, not exactly what I'd think of as a realistic teenage girl, but it was really engrossing anyway and I read it multiple times.

BUT SHEESH THE ENDING IS SUCH A COP OUT. GOD.