😭 ( )

teen fiction (suicidal teen loosely based on Emily Dickinson; incidental/everyday ethnicity). I was hoping the author would've had some background with depression, because we sorely need the kinds of books that will speak to teens dealing with those issues (as well as books that more accurately reflect the diversity of American teens--which this book does well), but it appears she was more concerned about reproducing Emily Dickinson's life in the circumstances of these 3 fictional, modern-day women/teens who share her initials. The story probably reads better if you are actually a fan of the 19th century poet (read the author's note in the back); if you are not a poetry fan, all the references won't improve the experience and you might be better off reading something else.

This was sometimes boring, with typical teenage angst (if you read enough teen fiction, you get tired of that stuff), and an inadequately explained suicide attempt (apparently one of the girls feels "a monster" inside her) which I felt really didn't do justice to the seriousness of teen depression, or help others to understand what causes it. I did find it interesting to read the teacher's/peers' perspective of attempting to figure out if a person is needing help--you never know what a person might be going through. ( )

A surprisingly realistic story of two high school girls, each under pressures in different ways and each dealing with domestic stresses on top of high school social life. I appreciated the author's honesty in navigating difficult issues as well as the authentic voices. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it took me seven chapters to realize Emily and Elizabeth were two different characters — the similarity of names was intentional on the part of the author, but clearly I had not read the book description carefully beforehand! I also enjoyed how the poetry and life of Emily Dickinson were interwoven into the narrative. Recommended. ( )

A dual POV suicide novel. Lots of Emily Dickinson references and homages. A cool involved English teacher. (yeah!) This one wasn't bad, but I'm getting tired of reading suicide books. Bonus points for Latino characters, though. I'd give it 3.8, so i funded up to four stars. ( )

good literary allusions and very strong connection to emily dickinson's life. unfortunately most other elements of the novel were not that good - the head-hopping made the novel quite difficult to read. ( )