500 Words or Less

by Juleah del Rosario

[katie]

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for a chance to read and review this book!

I love, love, love the idea of this novel; I'm slightly less in love with its execution. The story of Nic (and Jordan, and Ben, and Kitty, and Ashok, and and and) is a good story, and one I would almost certainly enjoyed more had it been in prose and not verse. Nic's voice felt real, her story felt real, her life felt real. Everything felt real, and honest, and vulnerable, and I love that. I think what's bothering me the most is that there isn't an ending the way I want there to be. There was no cliffhanger, but it still left me wanting more. I feel like I know Nic, and I'm glad I got to see her story and how she changed, but I wish I had gotten to see who everyone else was a little more. Ben and Jordan read like stock characters, and Kitty and Ashok feel like they have so much potential, but- what exactly do we know about them? Not much. Not enough. Not for me.

I wish I could have read this when I was trying to write my own college admissions essay, and I will definitely recommend it to anyone looking for examples and tips on writing their own, but I don't think I'll read this again.

3.5/5 stars (Rounded up to 4 on NetGalley and Goodreads)