Rating: 5 stars
Goodreads Book Description:
From the author of the New York Times
bestseller All the Bright Places comes a heart-wrenching story about what it
means to see someone—and love someone—for who they truly are.
Everyone thinks
they know Libby Strout, the girl once dubbed “America’s Fattest Teen.” But no
one’s taken the time to look past her weight to get to know who she really is.
Following her mom’s death, she’s been picking up the pieces in the privacy of
her home, dealing with her heartbroken father and her own grief. Now, Libby’s
ready: for high school, for new friends, for love, and for EVERY POSSIBILITY
LIFE HAS TO OFFER. In that moment, I know the part I want to play here at MVB High.
I want to be the girl who can do anything.
Everyone thinks
they know Jack Masselin, too. Yes, he’s got swagger, but he’s also mastered the
impossible art of giving people what they want, of fitting in. What no one
knows is that Jack has a newly acquired secret: he can’t recognize faces. Even
his own brothers are strangers to him. He’s the guy who can re-engineer and
rebuild anything in new and bad-ass ways, but he can’t understand what’s going
on with the inner workings of his brain. So he tells himself to play it cool:
Be charming. Be hilarious. Don’t get too close to anyone.
Until he meets
Libby. When the two get tangled up in a cruel high school game—which lands them
in group counselling and community service—Libby and Jack are both pissed, and
then surprised. Because the more time they spend together, the less alone they
feel. . . . Because sometimes when you meet someone, it changes the world,
theirs and yours.
Jennifer Niven
delivers another poignant, exhilarating love story about finding that person
who sees you for who you are—and seeing them right back.
My Review:
You are wanted.
You are necessary.
You are loved.
I’d like to point
out - even though I didn’t see the original synopsis of Holding Up The Universe on Goodreads - that this book did NOT at
all deserve the hate it received BEFORE it was released.
I hadn’t read any
of Jennifer Niven’s previous work although I’ve had a copy of All The Bright Places anxiously waiting to
be read. And yet, I was unable to comprehend the beauty and complexity she
brought to Holding Up The Universe,
an exploration of not only obesity but also prosopagnosia (face-blindness). I
was utterly gob-smacked by the amount of research Niven had put into this work
to create the characters of Libby and Jack as they both face their own
struggles.
Most books about
people who struggle with weight show them to be vulnerable and unable to accept
who they are, however Libby rocks it! She’s confident, fierce, strong and she
couldn’t give less of a damn what people think of her. People around her feel
threatened because she doesn’t sugar coat things, she tells people the truth no
matter how much it hurts. Her strength and dedication to make others see that
looks don’t define who you are is incredibly admirable!
Jack was unlike
any character I’ve met, not only is he the stereotypical ‘popular and broody’
guy in high school, beautiful girlfriend, amazing friends and yet he is lying
to everyone he’s ever met. I was completely mind-boggled when his prosopagnosia
was introduced, I went straight to Google to find out what it was and let me
tell you that I cried for a solid half an hour after conducting my research. It
crushed my heart into thousands of tiny pieces when I read that prosopagnosia
is “the inability to recognise faces of
familiar people”.
Now close your
eyes and imagine never being able to recognise the people who brought you into
the world and raised you to be the person you are today, not recognising your
best friend…it’s heartbreaking to know that there are people in this world who
go through that everyday due to prosopagnosia.
The romance in Holding Up The Universe was beautiful,
an example of true beauty. The love between Jack and Libby reminds us that it
does NOT matter how you look, what matters is who you are inside and to let
your inner beauty shine.
Jennifer Niven
sends the message to her readers that our imperfections are what make us
perfect and even though sometimes we may not believe it, we are all wanted.
Think Lovely
Thoughts xo
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