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What Members Thought

Chrissy
Jul 02, 2014 rated it liked it
I should have liked this book more than I did. Precocious female narrator who likes history and getting lost in the woods? Gets along much better with gay men than straight ones? Lots of nods to musical theater fans with tons of references to South Pacific, sister relationships... There are lots of themes here I can relate to. I just couldn't hook into June's voice that well; I found her a little too cloying, I think. There were also lots of little things taking me out of the narration; too many ...more
Sarah
Feb 23, 2024 rated it liked it
This reminded me a lot of The Prettiest Star, but also of A Crooked Tree with the kids of a certain era having copious amounts of unsupervised time. I liked both of those books a bit better, but this was very good in many places and I think would make for a good book club book. June, who loves all things medieval, has experienced a loss that she and the world is unprepared for. She was sweet and I felt a lot for her little weird self. I also liked the role of the painting that it plays in the li ...more
Astrid Lim
I gave this book 4,5 stars actually, but decided not to round it up to 5 stars due to some reasons. But this book is definitely one of the best YA I've ever read. Tackling the issues of AIDS and LGBT in the 80s, dark past of a family, and sibling competition beautifully in a very well written storyline. The setting of NYC is also very believable, taking us back to the cool but sometimes scary era. I almost forgot how ignorant people were in the 80s on the issue of AIDS. And also how inconvenient ...more
Nicole
Jan 03, 2018 rated it liked it
Shelves: 2018
For a rather sad book, there was also something light and lovely about this book. The nutshell is that an isolated teenager deals with the aftermath of her uncle's death. This is a coming of age story set in the 80s that hovers around the emergence of AIDS. ...more
Miquela
Aug 25, 2018 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Captures the complexity and confusion of sisterhood well. Highly recommend.
Gayle
Mar 07, 2016 rated it liked it
(Book Club selection, met June 2016.)

Aimee
Feb 25, 2013 marked it as to-read
Tria
Mar 20, 2013 marked it as to-read
Bridget
Aug 21, 2013 rated it it was ok
Margaret
Sep 04, 2013 rated it really liked it
Shelves: new-york-year-7
Jennifer
Jan 31, 2014 rated it really liked it
Sarah
Jul 17, 2014 rated it really liked it
Grace
Aug 06, 2014 rated it it was amazing
Kim
Oct 17, 2014 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Abby Mannelin
Jan 12, 2015 is currently reading it
Katy
Feb 24, 2015 marked it as to-read
Jessica Sturges
Jun 19, 2015 rated it it was amazing
Melissa Wiebe
Sep 10, 2015 rated it really liked it
Shelves: fiction, 2015
Lela
Aug 19, 2020 rated it really liked it
Erin
Dec 06, 2018 rated it really liked it
Paulette
Jan 17, 2019 marked it as to-read
Meg
Aug 15, 2019 marked it as to-read
Joanna Hom
Jan 14, 2020 rated it really liked it
Lucinda
Aug 11, 2020 marked it as to-read
Michelle Marie
Oct 27, 2020 marked it as to-read
Shelby
Jan 14, 2024 marked it as to-read
Karen
Jan 09, 2025 marked it as to-read
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