Alrighty book dragons, do I have a treat for you today! 500 Words or Less by Juleah Del Rosario is a novel told in verse that tackles the aftermath of a love triangle, and finding oneself told by a distant and unlikable protagonist who is a hell of a writer. Intrigued??? Check out the details, my 5 star review and your chance to win a signed copy below!
About 500 Words or Less:
About the Author:
IMHO: 500 Words or Less:
CW: Cheating, Alcoholism, Neglectful Parents, Accidental Death
500 Words or Less is....
amazing!!
- >>In verse.
- >>Includes the student's essays
- >>Yes the title using "or less" instead of fewer is incorporated. Very smart assy. +1
- >>Broken kids all in different ways, all shades of grey
- >>Even Golden Boy is tarnished
- >>Destroyed love triangle
- >>Parents are people too.
- >>Slowly reveals Nic's problems and history
- >>Flew by, couldn't stop reading it.
- >>Unexpected
- >>Ending is positive and hopeful.
Nic is not an immediately likable character. One of the first things we learn about her is that she cheated on her popular boyfriend the previous year. She was the don't get along with other girls type. Now she gets along with no one.
She's ostracized at school and your first gut reaction might be "it's for good reason". That societal training, those gut reactions, and jumped to assumptions is what 500 Words or Less works on undermining and disassembling.
I think it's told in verse to boil it down to the essentials and make reading between the lines part of the experience. I did love the inclusions of the essay's Nic wrote though.
Yes, poor rich kids BUT it deals with ivy league racism, sexism, double standards, mean girls, and parental negligence. I think being in verse helps avoid wallowing in this as well as the tropetastic death. Nic and her cohorts problems are common and so are their coping mechanisms. It's very relatable and in the end hopeful.
The ending is something else. Like you can literally SEE the path they're most likely to go down and they swerve on that shit. It's beautiful.
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This review was originally posted on The Layaway Dragon