Monday, December 19, 2016

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven - OPTIONAL

Niven, Jennifer  Holding Up the Universe, 388 pgs.  Alfred A. Knopf, 2016.  $17.99  Content: Language: R  (100+ swears; 47 “F”); Violence: PG; Mature Content: PG.  

Libby is going back to public school after being homeschooled because of her debilitating weight.  She has lost hundreds of pounds, but she is still overweight, and when Jack Masselin targets her in the cafeteria Libby stands up for herself but with the consequence of being in a counseling group with Jack.  What Jack is trying to cover up with his mean behavior is that he has prosopagnosia or face blindness, and he hasn’t told anyone yet.  When Jack and Libby start to confide in each other, they begin to feel hope in their otherwise overwhelming teenage lives.  

This book was well written and easy to get caught up in.  The characters are interesting and have great chemistry.  The facts about face blindness were fascinating but I had issues with how realistic Libby’s character was.  That said, this book was a great read, but hard to recommend because of the insanely high swear count.  

HS – OPTIONAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.

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