NOTHING is actually a book that focuses on the lives of two high schoolers where nothing happens in their lives, maybe a little something happens but their life is rather bland. Here starts my problem with the book. By 40%, I had put down, picked up and put down the book numerous times because I could not engage with the lack of anything happening. Reading to the end involved skimming and forced motivation.

The book focuses on the friendship between Charlotte and Frankie, both equally bored by their own existence and wanting some excitement to appear. Their family lives were mildly interesting and their loyalty to one another was sweet. A major struggle was the narrative voice throughout the book as it was like listening to two 14 year olds prattle on about very little. The banter was painful, full of OTT swearing that didn't always seem to fit. I appreciate the talent in an author being able to write through the mind of YA characters but it was hugely irritating and this further disengaged me with the book. In my opinion a good YA narrates the story with a more focused voice, with less chaotic dialogue.

I'm sorry that I haven't got much more to say that has positivity. I would be willing to give this author a second try if she writes a more mature YA.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through Edelweiss in return for a honest review.

I wouldn't rated this book a lot higher if not for the beginning of the book - the author has her characters criticize modern YA novels that deal with real life and difficult subjects. This rubbed me the wrong way. Sure, it's okay to tell stories of characters who aren't dealing with those real life things, but to criticize any story with mental health or LGBT+ characters? That's in bad taste. Normally, I wouldn't rate by the author, but she decided that her characters should say it and thus it's part of the story.

I feel as if the girls in their limited view of the world do grow as people and learn from each other. So, if the first part had never happened I would've probably rated this 4 stars instead.

When I saw that Annie Barrow had written a new YA book, I bought the Audible version immediately. I love The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which Annie helped write. And while I didn’t love The Truth According to Us, I had to know what Barrows would do in the YA realm.

The premise of this book is that nothing exciting ever happens in real life, like it does in YA fiction books. Charlotte is determined to prove this point by keeping a journal of her sophomore year of high school. It’s a pretty short book, and it mostly chronicles Charlotte’s friendship with Frankie. The book alternates between segments of Charlotte’s book, Nothing, and real life – told in 3rd person. It was a little hard to keep straight what was happening in real time and what Charlotte was writing. Perhaps different fonts are used in the print version?

Anyway, something does kind of happen in the book even though it’s called Nothing, but it is rather uneventful, which shouldn’t have been surprising to me, right? Given the premise of the book. I don’t know. I didn’t love this one. It may have been all the swearing. (There is a lot.) Or the drug use. (There is some.) I don’t know. I thought maybe for once a YA book might actually reflect what my teenage years were like, but even though these two girls were supposed to be super boring, they were still more rebellious than I was at 15.

It’s a cute friendship story with a road trip and first romance, but it wasn’t as great as I was hoping.

http://opinionatedbooklover.com/review-nothing-annie-barrows/

This book is... um... nothing.
SID sounded like an a hole I know.

I just....no

This novel achieved the extraordinary feat of reminding me (a middle-aged old lady) what it was like to be 15. I was not reliving personal experience, but I could connect with the mentality of that time. The author used humor and truth to capture the essence of being a "regular" teenage girl. I enjoyed the writing, and I appreciated the format and perspective devices. I'll be keeping an eye out for Annie Barrows in the future.

Refreshing, fun, real.

2.5 stars.

Abandoned. It was awful.