I’m so excited to be sharing my spotlight review for 500 Words or Less by Juleah del Rosario, as part of Rich in Variety’s blog tour! Also, enter my giveaway to win a signed physical copy of the book. See all of the information below.
Summary
Nic Chen refuses to spend her senior year branded as the girl who cheated on her charismatic and lovable boyfriend. To redefine her reputation among her Ivy League–obsessed classmates, Nic begins writing their college admissions essays.
But the more essays Nic writes for other people, the less sure she becomes of herself, the kind of person she is, and whether her moral compass even points north anymore.
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In a Nutshell: At first, I thought this book was really good, but the more I thought about it, the less I liked it. I didn’t love it, that’s a definite. But I just didn’t like it as much as I wanted it to.
What I Liked: As much as I didn’t like the book overall, I did find some parts enjoyable. Like Nic’s interactions with Ashok, her classmate, were entertaining. Ashok was a funny, interesting character who knew how to push Nic’s buttons.
What I Wanted More Of: I think I wanted more of…everything? Nic seemed to have more emotions by herself, when her memories surfaced of her relationship with Ben. She clearly loved Ben, but there was something missing as soon as they got together. Most readers will probably side with Ben when Nic cheats on him with his best friend, Jordan. And for a minute, I did get on his side, because I was under the notion of “if you cheat on your significant other, then you’re an asshole and deserve no one”. I normally don’t condone cheating, period. But I understand why Nic did it. She and Ben were comfortable. Safe. Boring. But it wasn’t what she needed. She needed to be reprimanded and reassured. Something only Jordan could do, if only in that moment. But Jordan became an asshole. Jordan became the reason why Nic was even more miserable than before.
Writing Style: Speaking of Rosario’s writing, I found it to be very moving, but on a surface level. It’s all in-verse poetry, so I wasn’t used to a story this dramatic to be this way. Which made it harder for me to follow along properly. Also, the sentence structure and word placement were hard for me to really relate to Rosario’s writing. If it were in a general YA-novel kind of writing, like with paragraphs then I probably would have liked this book a lot more. But I only say that because I’m comfortable reading that way; I’m not comfortable reading any other way. But it’s good to be uncomfortable once in awhile, as long as it shows you something new.
Final Thoughts: I still wanted more from this reading. I wanted to love it, but didn’t. I still feel like it would have been better if it was in the general YA-novel format instead of in-verse. The emotion was there, but it wasn’t executed in the way I liked. I did not hate this reading though, and I’m glad that it exists for the people who needed it.
I received an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
My Review
In a Nutshell: At first, I thought this book was really good, but the more I thought about it, the less I liked it. I didn’t love it, that’s a definite. But I just didn’t like it as much as I wanted it to.
What I Liked: As much as I didn’t like the book overall, I did find some parts enjoyable. Like Nic’s interactions with Ashok, her classmate, were entertaining. Ashok was a funny, interesting character who knew how to push Nic’s buttons.
What I Wanted More Of: I think I wanted more of…everything? Nic seemed to have more emotions by herself, when her memories surfaced of her relationship with Ben. She clearly loved Ben, but there was something missing as soon as they got together. Most readers will probably side with Ben when Nic cheats on him with his best friend, Jordan. And for a minute, I did get on his side, because I was under the notion of “if you cheat on your significant other, then you’re an asshole and deserve no one”. I normally don’t condone cheating, period. But I understand why Nic did it. She and Ben were comfortable. Safe. Boring. But it wasn’t what she needed. She needed to be reprimanded and reassured. Something only Jordan could do, if only in that moment. But Jordan became an asshole. Jordan became the reason why Nic was even more miserable than before.
I would have liked to see some snippets of Jordan’s background. Jordan’s father is a janitor, and that’s how he was able to scrape up the tuition to go to their fancy, expensive high school. But Jordan never got the chance to become his own person, outside of pleasing his father. Even when he was cheating with Nic, he’d ghosted her right after Ben had found out!
It additionally would have been good to see the progression of Nic and her mother as she returns back into her life. By this time, we know a lot about how Nic feels about her mother’s abandonment. However, it’s hardly shown in the narrative. It’s hardly expressed between the two of them. It’s like one moment, Nic’s mother is a ghost, a figment of her imagination, and now she’s back, and everything is happy? How?! How is their relationship repaired after 2 years of silence? That projection wasn’t shown in Rosario’s writing.
Writing Style: Speaking of Rosario’s writing, I found it to be very moving, but on a surface level. It’s all in-verse poetry, so I wasn’t used to a story this dramatic to be this way. Which made it harder for me to follow along properly. Also, the sentence structure and word placement were hard for me to really relate to Rosario’s writing. If it were in a general YA-novel kind of writing, like with paragraphs then I probably would have liked this book a lot more. But I only say that because I’m comfortable reading that way; I’m not comfortable reading any other way. But it’s good to be uncomfortable once in awhile, as long as it shows you something new.
Final Thoughts: I still wanted more from this reading. I wanted to love it, but didn’t. I still feel like it would have been better if it was in the general YA-novel format instead of in-verse. The emotion was there, but it wasn’t executed in the way I liked. I did not hate this reading though, and I’m glad that it exists for the people who needed it.
Rating: 2/5 stars
Giveaway (International)
Click the photo graphic to check out the rest of the blog tour:
Sep. 17
Avery – B For BookSlut (Bookstagram Post)
Brooke – The Layaway Dragon (Giveaway)
Lili – Utopia State of MInd (2 Truths and A LIe)
Sep. 18
Danielle – Life of a Literary Nerd (Bookstagram Post)
Shealea – The Bookshelf Bitch (Giveaway)
Harker – The Hermit Librarian (Giveaway + Author Interview)
Sep. 19
Etinosa – Uwadis (Giveaway)
Kelly – Here’s To Happy Endings (Giveaway)
JM – Book Freak Revelations (Author Interview + Bookstagram Post)
Sep. 20
Sam – We Live and Breathe Books (Giveaway)
Danielle – PoetryBooksYA (Only Review)
Sep. 21
Chloe – Blushing Bibliophile (Giveaway + Bookstagram Post)
Rachel – Life of a Female Bibliophile (Bookstagram Post)
Have you read 500 Words or Less? Comment below and let’s discuss!
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