Please Ignore Vera Dietz

by A.S. King

When her best friend, whom she secretly loves, betrays her and then dies under mysterious circumstances, high school senior Vera Dietz struggles with secrets that could help clear his name.

• ISBN10: 0375896171
• ISBN13: 9780375896170
• Publish Date: 12 October 2010 (first published 1 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 Stars

I love A.S. King more and more with each book I read. Her books are always emotional and though provoking. I will never stop screaming about how well she uses magical elements in her books either. King explored grief, loss, the cycle of abuse, friendship, fatherhood, and so many other things. She expertly wove all of this together too. There were a few things I really loved. One was the additional POVs. The character choices were great and they were employed just enough to make an impact. I also loved watching the relationship between Vera and her dad evolve. From what we saw and what information was relayed to us by Vera and her dad, it was obvious there was a lot of love and affection, but they had obstacles to overcome. It was great to see them working through it.

Overall: Another incredible book from King, which moved me in many ways.

[Kelly]

Charlie Kahn's life is told on small, crumpled corners of napkins, hastily written just as Charlie lived. In frenetic moments. The Khan family lived next door to Vera Dietz, the daughter of a teen mother and former stripper, raised by her thrifty and practical father. At Charlie's, his father is an abusive wife beater in a town where almost half the residents live below the poverty line. Life is tough but Vera and Charlie have always had one another. Until Charlie's life spirals out of control before his death, with only crumpled corners of napkins to clear his name.

The nonlinear narrative follows the journey of eighteen year old Vera Dietz, as she comes to terms with Charlie's death. Towards the end of his young life Charlie was a troubled young man, which wasn't always the case. Once a supportive and loyal friend, Charlie and Vera explored the world around them but as the two children begun to mature, Charlie's behaviour became increasingly disturbing.

I loved Vera's voice as she attempts to move forward with her life after Charlie. Her father, a thrifty accountant, has instilled a strong work ethic in his daughter. His expectations although honourable, place Vera under pressure to balance school with working full time. It's always been Vera and her father, even when her mother was still present in their lives. A teen mother not seemingly ready to devote her life to her child, all becoming too much when she fled to Las Vegas with her new boyfriend. The relationship between Vera and her father is cold and distant, his points of view often discuss his fear of Vera using alcohol to numb the loss of Charlie, her father a former alcoholic who understands the downward spiral of despair.

The chapters from a deceased Charlie show his self destruction, drinking and taking drugs with a group of troubled teens he met while in detention. He begins to push Vera away, isolating her and only using their friendship when it's to his own advantage. It was difficult to see the carefree and charming boy beneath the exterior, the boy Vera fell in love with. In his afterlife, Charlie manifests to play on Vera's subconscious and until she is able to clear his name, she will truly never be able to let go.

My issue is that although I liked Vera, Charlie was horrid. His character was mean spirited, degrading and self centered. It also discusses how we are often a result of our environment, Charlie's father abuses his mother, suggesting this may be the cause of Charlie's behaviour. We're all products of our environment but Charlie made the decision to push Vera away, to abuse her trust and her love for him and I had absolutely no sympathy for him. The highlight was Vera's turbulent relationship with her father. As she matures, they begin communicating with one another and grow closer. It was lovely and gentle.

I liked it. Sort of. I had read a few reviews beforehand from trusted reviewers so I had expected a wonderfully warm although confronting storyline. I expected emotion and perhaps tears but I felt nothing. I feel as though I've missed something profound and honestly, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. It was well written and I really enjoyed the rawness and confrontation of the underlying themes but the storyline let me down. Especially the usage of animal abuse to show one character as the villain of the story.

I wanted so desperately to love it but sadly was left feeling empty.

[Bianca]

Today I am in control because I want to be. I have my fingers on the switch, but have lived a lifetime ignoring the control I have over my own world. Today is different.

— Takeaway: Your family background does not dictate your life. Just because they made mistakes doesn't mean you're bound to do the same. You can escape your "preset destiny" if you're willing to.

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King is a poignant novel about the price one pays for staying silent. The story follows Vera, who is a quiet girl just trying to make it through high school following the sudden death of her best friend, Charlie.

The story is told by Vera after Charlie’s death. She looks back on their friendship—where it started and where it ended. It seemed natural to tell the story through flashbacks while moving forward. Vera’s exploration of key events and conversations in her relationship with Charlie reminded me of my own inner dialogue when trying to make sense of something that didn’t go quite right. There were key points in the story where I wanted to hug her and tell her it was going to be okay.

I wasn’t a fan of some of the other viewpoints that popped up in the story. A local landmark gets a spotlight as does Vera’s father. Vera’s father’s story was better than the local landmark. Vera’s father’s thoughts on Charlie’s death and Vera did provide a bit of added dimension to Vera and her personality, but most of it seemed somewhat obvious based on the information Vera shared. I truly didn’t understand why the landmark had to give its omniscient view of events. It didn’t seem to fit with how the rest of the story was being shared. People where sharing their thoughts and then suddenly this inanimate object is sharing its observations…weird.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz could be a difficult book for some to read. Charlie’s secrets that are slowly revealed over the course of the novel are not easy ones to read about. The story is a lesson on why, when we are knowledgeable about difficult actions, it is not okay to remain quiet. While it may be uncomfortable speaking up, we need to do it as our actions will stop others and perhaps save a life.


This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews

[Joséphine]

Actual rating: 2.5 stars

Initial thoughts: Despite the dark themes that Please Ignore Vera Dietz deals with, I felt oddly indifferent throughout the book. The prose was strong, Vera was a smart protagonist who displayed a believable level of (im)maturity for her age and she had a strong yet complex relationship with her father. In fact, there were interspersed alternate points-of-view which also included snippets from her father. Those I appreciated. Then there were the views from a pagoda which hardly added anything to the story besides failed quirkiness. In the end, I felt decidedly lukewarm about the book.

[Angie]

Please Ignore Vera Dietz was an interesting read and definitely different than other YA novels I've read, but I didn't fully connect with it, and in fact, became completely disconnected at the end. Vera's friend Charlie has recently died, although he had been dead to her for months before. The story alternates between the present with Vera being haunted by hundreds of Charlie ghosts, and the events leading up to their falling out and his death. There is an air of mystery here, since we don't know how Charlie died at first, and he was blamed for something completely horrendous. But Charlie didn't do whatever it was, and the only one who knows that is Vera, and she's letting her anger at him keep her from clearing his name.

What a premise, right? It's great, but I don't think it all came together was well as it could have. I did really enjoy Please Ignore Vera Dietz up until almost the end. I liked Vera and I enjoyed her narrative a lot. I also liked how there were chapters mixed in from her father, Charlie, and the Pagoda. Vera is just trying to get through the rest of high school, save money for college, and generally stay under the radar. But the truth about what happened to her best friend is steady catching up with her. Should she tell? Does it even matter since it's been nine months? Can she let go of her hurt to tell the truth? I desperately wanted to know what happened, and that's what drove me to keep flipping pages. Unfortunately, that ending just did not work for me.

It's clear that something truly awful happened the night Charlie died, and hints are dropped throughout Vera's story. In the beginning, all we know is that it involved animals, which had me super nervous, and once we're told what happens, I expected to be extremely upset. Well, I wasn't, because I was preoccupied with one question that was never addressed. I'm not going to spoil anything, but Charlie tells Vera what's going to happen and asks for her help. Even though she's beyond mad at him, she'd rather be safe than sorry, so she arrives at the location. Vera points out that it's around 7PM and the place doesn't close until 8PM. The doors are still unlocked even though the sign says closed (probably flipped by the evil doer) and the person responsible is setting up for what they're going to do. How in the world is this even happening, if the place is suppose to be open for business?! Where is the owner or any of the employees? Why didn't this person wait until after hours?! It doesn't make sense, and felt like a huge oversight. I also just had trouble believing that they would go that far, but we are told that they're "crazy" several times, so maybe that was motivation enough? Not for me.

In the end, I liked Please Ignore Vera Dietz, but that ending lost me completely. I was waiting for a punch in the gut when it came to Charlie, and nothing really happened. He tells us how he died (probably), and reveals to Vera what led up to this disaster, but it all felt disconnected to me. I'm sure things like this happen every day, everywhere, but I didn't believe it in this case. I still liked the story for other reasons, particularly how Vera is dealing (or not) with everything, but the Charlie mystery fell flat.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

THIS. BOOK.
OH, IT'S SO FREAKING GOD!!!!

[rakesandrogues]

Originally published at: http://muggle-born.net/please-ignore-vera-dietz-by-a-s-king-book-review/

I admit it: I have Reader’s Guilt because I felt like I did not like PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King as much as everyone else out there. PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ has the elements of being a fantastic book, but when it came down to it, the book just did not excite me as much as I wanted it to.

PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King has the elements that I usually adore in contemporary books: a huge secret, multiple perspectives, and a funny main character. But unfortunately, the elements just couldn’t come together to blow me away. Maybe it’s the fact that I know the book won a Printz Honor and I had pretty high expectations coming in.

There wasn’t anything about Vera that made her really relatable. I like her as a character, but I don’t think that she made a lasting impression on me. I was able to empathize with her character, and I truly admire her loyalty to Charlie no matter how many things happened between them. Their friendship was the strongest aspect of the book.

Furthermore, PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King is a very gripping book. It’s the kind of book that you want to read straight through just to uncover the big secret. The problem with this however, that it led me toward a tendency of skimming. I just wanted instant gratification as a reader. I would constantly have to remind myself to slow down and appreciate King’s writing just to get to the good part.

Additionally, PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King is not the best book to read in digital format. The various flow charts that weave into the storyline were hard to read on a 6″ e-ink device. If I had read this on a print book, I probably would have enjoyed the flow charts a lot more.

Overall, PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King was a quick and enjoyable read. But because of the fact that I had high expectations, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I probably should have.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

Vera Dietz is such an angsty girl, but she is dealing with a lot. The death of her lifelong friend Charlie; in which she was also in love with really throws Vera into the unknown. Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a dramatic and dark novel of exploring the issues a young teenage woman would have to go in an extreme way. The whole concept of love and loss has been done many times but not often done well. This book is no Looking for Alaska that’s for sure but it is still one of the better YA novels I’ve read. Vera is a fantastic character; she works a 40 hour week (seems rather extreme for a teenager) and still goes to high school while trying to come to terms with the loss of Charlie, the truth of his death as well as dealing with her relationship with her dad. While I did enjoy this book, I would say there are better YA novels out there; but that doesn’t mean this one isn’t work a look.