Nothing - Annie Barrows (ARC Copy)

I won an ARC copy of Nothing by Annie Barrows through a Goodreads giveaway contest. I was very excited, as I do enter a ton of giveaways on Goodreads, but this was one that I had my eye on. The cover is super catchy. However, the cover is also extremely accurate. NOTHING HAPPENS IN THIS BOOK.

What I was hoping to get out of this book is that so many things happen, but that teenagers often overlook these small moments that end up being very important or special later in life. That whole idea of, 'you don't know what you've got til it's gone' type of feel. In reality, the book is 224 pages. Of which, there is maybe 30-35 pages where something actually happens. Beyond that, there is a hodgepodge of characters, none of which you get to really know, some superficial conversation (which I will let slide due to the concept of the book and age of Frankie and Charlotte - superficial typically goes hand-in-hand with teenage girlfriends). I really can't even give an in-depth review of this book because there really is Nothing to say about it. 2 stars...barely.

read below to see my thoughts in real-time as I was reading. I keep a log of these to look back at my progression/thought process. Possible mild spoilers.

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Initial thoughts - stoked I won this, the cover is great and I smell teen angst all over the synopsis.

P 20 - so far it feels very scattered, which may well be intentional since the premise is essentially a 15 year old girls stream of thoughts and everyday life.

P 22-25 - woah we just briefly introduced like 4 new characters and I'm so confused.

P 56 - still insanely confused by the onslaught of characters that I don't know much about other than their names. An early 2000's mall emo reference was made and I giggled.

P 146 - I think we’re finally getting to the major plot point. The only problem is it also seems to be the only plot point.