Where I Live

by Brenda Rufener

• ISBN13: 9780062571090
• Publish Date: 5 April 2018 (first published 27 February 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 22 August 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperTeen
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

This book, this book, this book! Talk about a makes-me-happy read. This one gets all the stars, all the hearts, all the rainbows. I just loved it so much! ❤️

I had originally re-arranged my weekly TBR to read a light-hearted romance before this one, because I suspected a story about a homeless teen and an abused teen would make me a little sad, and there were some parts where I felt sad (and mad), but mostly, this book made me feel happy.

•Pro: Linden was so easy to root for. She essentially had so many things working against her and so many obstacles in her way, but she kept chasing her dream, day after day. I will always root for a survivor, especially one, who was able to own my heart by the first chapter.

•Pro: Linden chose wisely, when she picked Ham and Seung as her friends. They both had so many wonderful qualities to admire, but mostly, they cared for Linden, and would do nice things for her on the sly, just to make her life easier. I adored these three together.

•Pro: Believe it or not, family was a big theme in this book. Linden's family was explored as well her "family", those friends that took her in and treated her as their own. Seung's mom was quite incredible. She would do all these lovely things for Linden, which made me totally understand what Linden meant when she compared Mrs. Rhee to her jersey jogger pants. Calling them "as cozy as she is".

•Pro: This book really gave me a new appreciation for all the little things I have and take for granted on a daily basis.

•Pro: I was quite impressed with the way Rufener tackled teen homelessness and abuse without neither diminishing the gravity of the topics nor making the story too heavy. It was quite a balancing act she accomplished, and I applaud her for it.

•Pro: This story is drenched in hope, and I have to tell, I really needed an injection of hope.

•Pro: The romance was precious. I adored watching these two tip toe around the attraction, as they grew more and more aware of their growing feelings.

•Pro: So. Many. Feels. But mostly, happy feels.

•Pro: Hooray for that ending! We got a jump ahead that was beyond my expectations, and gave me so many answers. Endings like this one are the best.

There's a line in one of Ham's mob movies that defines family as who you are sworn to, not who you are born to. Friends included. My friends have become my family. My family is my friends.

Overall: A wonderful story of one girl's struggle to survive, and her desire to find a place where she fit, which left me elated, hopeful, and full of joy.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS

[Amber]

I've never read a book about a homeless person before, so when I saw Where I Live pop up on Edelweiss, I had to grab it. I have incredibly mixed feelings about this book, and I struggled to figure out how to rate it after I read it. Having sat on it for a couple of days, I think I've finally figured it out.

On the one hand, it was great to read about Linden, who had been homeless for a while. I've never read a YA book that explores poverty in this way, or even to this extent. I wish poverty would come up more in YA, because it's something that needs to be talked about and put in the spotlight.

I felt huge sympathy towards Linden, who was living on the school grounds and had all of her belongings in her school bag. While she wasn't relatable because, let's be honest, who out of us has lived like that? I mean, I was raised by an abused single mother who barely had enough money to buy food each week, but at least I had a house to live in. An incredibly cramped house, but still.

That said, I didn't really like the book. Don't get me wrong, I liked the representation, but the book itself was poor. Firstly, I thought the writing was all over the place. The author tried to tackle a serious topic while also including over the top characters and quirky friendships that just didn't work. The characters' actions and dialogue was weird.
There was also a lot of domestic abuse, which, again, was great for representation, but not so great for my delicate emotions. I've said so many times that I struggle with domestic violence or abuse when it comes up in books and shows, but this is definitely a Me Problem rather than a Book Problem.

Another plus, however, was the gay best friend/almost main character, and the half-Korean American best friend/love interest. Representation!

So aside from the choppy writing (it seriously felt all over the place) and odd dialogue, this was a good book to read. Unfortunately, I have to rate it down because the writing just wasn't that good, and it really took me out of the story. So I kind of recommend it?