Tonight the Streets Are Ours

by Leila Sales

From Leila Sales, the author of This Song Will Save Your Life, comes a compelling and relatable story about the hazards of falling for someone you haven't met yet.

Seventeen-year-old Arden Huntley is recklessly loyal. Taking care of her loved ones is what gives Arden purpose: it makes her feel like she matters. But she's tired of being loyal to people who don't appreciate her - including her needy best friend and her absent mum.

Arden stumbles upon a blog called 'Tonight the Streets Are Ours', the musings of a young New York City writer named Peter, and it feels like she's finally found a kindred spirit. When Peter is dumped by the girlfriend he blogs about, Arden decides to take a road trip to see him.

During one crazy night in NYC filled with parties, dancing and music - the type of night when anything can happen, and nearly everything does - Arden discovers that Peter isn't exactly who she thought he was. And maybe she isn't exactly who she thought she was either.

• ISBN10: 1447284143
• ISBN13: 9781447284147
• Publish Date: 24 September 2015 (first published 15 September 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 23 December 2022
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Macmillan Children's Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Joséphine]

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

Initial thoughts: I liked Tonight the Streets Are Ours so so much! That's quite a feat on Leila Sales' part because the characters weren't exactly loveable. They did have grit and realism to them, though, in a manner that made me relate. Some parts were a little predictable but the overarching book was well-crafted nonetheless.

Also, I'm a sucker for metafiction, so there's that :)

[Bianca]

Sacrificing everything that you care about in order to make another person happy is not love. It’s not really that some people are gardeners and some people are flowers. It’s that we both must be both, each in our own time.

[ellieroth]

entonces, ¿los bloggers/escritores somos mentirosos por naturaleza? Pues sí e.e


Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Leí Tonight the Streets Are Ours inmediatamente después que Lying Out Loud y me fue un poco chocante pasar de una relación de amistad tan bonita como la de Amy y Sonny, a una un poco desesperante entre Arden y Lindsey, tuve que dejarlo por unos días o lo terminaría odiando. Además, la premisa de Arden siguiendo a un blogger desde su ciudad hasta New York, lo que es básicamente stalking, me ponía demasiado nerviosa.

El personaje que Leila Sales trae con Arden me hizo pensar mucho en cuando yo era más chica y tenía una idea parecida a la de ella, el de estar por las personas que quieres sin importar qué, una especie de cheque en blanco, con los años uno se va dando cuenta que eso no es ni saludable ni correcto, Tonight the Streets Are Ours es sobre el momento en que uno llega a la realización de que no todo es blanco y negro, y por más que no quieres, terminarás lastimando a muchos personas a lo largo de tu vida.

Al terminar el libro algo que entendí, y me hizo entender completamente el inicio y del porqué se me hizo tan difícil congeniar con los personajes en los dos primeros capítulos, fue que todo depende de la versión de la historia.

Tonight the Streets Are Ours me recordó mucho a esa frase de Red Queen "no importa si es verdad, lo que importa es lo que creen".

Cuando empecé el libro, la idea que tenía de varios personajes, por como Arden lo contaba, tenían personalidades que no me gustaban nada, pero una vez que avanzas en la historia y empieza el ahora, te vas dando cuenta que uno no puede guiarse por la primera impresión o solo una versión de la historia. Lo cuál es otro punto en que gira la todo el libro.

TONIGHT THE STREETS ARE OURS

Mi parte preocupante sobre este libro era la de trackear al blogger hasta encontrarlo *escalofríos* Me gustaría decir qué no fue como parece, pero sí lo fue. ¿Has visto ese episodio en How I Met Your Mother, donde dicen que depende mucho si la persona te gusta para que lo que sea que haga sea creepy o lindo? Es por eso, que algunos libros que muchos encuentran creepy a otros nos gustan demasiado.

Leer este blog creado por Leila, me hizo pensar mucho en cómo yo bloggeo. Y, la verdad, es que kitten; no te he estado diciendo toda la verdad *gasp* Pero tampoco he estado mintiendo.

Volviendo a lo mismo de hace un rato "todo depende como cuentes la historia". Y, quizá sea mi lado que sueña con ser escritora algún sumado a mi cinismo, entiendo a Peter. Demasiado.

Me ha gustado bastante como Leila Sales desarrollo la historia, sobre todo por el epílogo, hay varias cosas que no me terminaron de convencer; lo obvio que eran algunas cosas, lo el hecho que Arden sea un tanto ingenua y no pueda separar la realidad de la fantasía en algún momento o el no darse cuenta de cosas bastante obvias, no quiero decir que fue injusta con Peter, pero es que soy de las personas que no se toma todo lo que está en Internet como 100% serio o cierto.

***

Se me hizo difícil reseñar Tonight the Streets Are Ours, me ha gustado y a la vez sin embargo hay cosas que me han dejado insatisfecha.

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[Rowena]

Leila Sales has written some pretty fantastic books that have entertained the socks off of me. I completely adored both Past Perfect and Mostly Good Girls so I went into this book with high hopes. Unfortunately, the book fell short for me.

The story itself wasn’t bad, I’m sure there will be plenty of people that enjoy Arden’s journey but I just couldn’t connect with her. She’s a shy girl by nature so she has a tendency to stalk boys that she likes and while I’ve done my fair share of stalking my crush back in high school, Arden takes it a bit further by stalking a guy she doesn’t even know all the way to New York (she lives in Maryland).

This book starts off with a note that says:

Like all stories, the one you are about to read is a love story. If it wasn’t, what would be the point?

Yes, this was a love story but not the kind I was expecting. This was about all kinds of love. The love of different parents (the one that left but loved with all she was and the one that is there physically but mentally, etc…), the love of kids for their parents, the love of friends and the love between two people. It’s all in here but for me, the reading was slow going for most of the book.

Arden was the protagonist and I wanted to like her but when I finally put the book down, my feelings for Arden were lukewarm. I didn’t necessarily hate her but she wasn’t my favorite either. She was just okay. It kind of surprised me that I didn’t like her as much as I thought I would considering she’s a pleaser. She is nice. She’s there for people when they need her but I don’t know, I just could not connect with her.

I thought it was weird that she stalked Peter (the blogger whose blog she became addicted to) all the way to New York just so that she could be there for him since her boyfriend Chris ditched her on their anniversary. She made these grand plans for their one year and Chris had the nerve to not show up so Arden packs up her car, picks up her best friend and off they go to New York City. The city where her Mom now lives.

Once she gets there and meets Peter, she starts to realize that Peter isn’t the guy she pictured in her head. She built him up to be so much more than he actually was and over the course of one night, she starts realizing little things about everyone in her life.

Other things that I didn’t understand or connect with were Arden’s Mom. She up and left her family behind because what??? She was mad at Arden’s Dad? She wants Arden to understand that things haven’t been good between her and her Dad so she had to leave Arden and Roman (Arden’s brother) behind? Yeah, I wasn’t a fan of that.

I also wasn’t a fan of the way Arden’s Dad was too. It made me stop and think about how involved I am in my blogs and social media and what not. I don’t want to be Arden’s Dad so I need to start paying attention to my kid. Paying more attention to her.

Peter was something else but I ended up liking Bianca and Lindsey? She was great.

Overall, this book fell flat but there were things that I enjoyed. I enjoyed watching the friendship between Arden and Lindsey. I enjoyed Peter’s blog and I enjoyed seeing Arden come to terms with everything in her life but that was it.

Grade: 2.25 out of 5