Tommy Wallach

"Question: How could you look the end of the world in the face and not go crazy? Answer: You couldn’t."

We All Looked Up has a wonderful cover. I think it’s one of the first things that drew me to the book. I’m pleased to say that I was not fooled by a pretty cover.

I found this story quite enjoyable, first of all, because it really makes you think. It’s about the end of the world, and what would you do if you knew exactly when it was going to end. I like how it was explored and I show more think it was very realistic.

The writing is so beautiful. Seriously. I would just stare in awe at a lot of paragraphs because the author really has a way with words.

"The best books, they don't talk about things you never thought about before. They talk about things you'd always thought about, but that you didn't think anyone else had thought about. You read them, and suddenly you're a little bit less alone in the world."

The book is narrated in 3rd person with the point of view various characters . Each character is completely different, but I really really enjoyed Eliza’s point of view most of all. I think that she was one of the most cynical voices of the lot. She had a view of the world that made her POV all the much more tragic. It made the book much more heartbreaking.

Eliza thought about all the things she’d hoped to do in her life, all the lives she’d wanted to live. She could see them now, jagged paths cut into the shadowy future, lit up in small bursts of light.

My only issue with this book is that it tried so painfully hard to be teenage. In some POVs, the word “like” was added to almost every other sentence. (I.e. “He, like, wrecked my life.” “I’d be, like,…” “Because, like…”). There was also some really obvious jargon that was meant to sound teenage (totes, totally, dude, bro) but came off as forced most of the time. There was also some chaos (and I mean chaos) at the middle of the book, where everything felt sort of disjointed and not really going anywhere. I had to force myself to get past that part.

However, once we get past that little rough patch, the book uses the wonderful and brilliant writing to end it on a very beautiful and poignant note. It’s an open ending, but in the very best way. It made the book feel almost alive.

Overall, Tommy Wallach uses wonderful prose and writing to deliver a story that’ll make you think about the preciousness of life and the importance of living.

“People talked about their days being numbered, but really, everything was numbered. Every movie you watched was the last time you’d watch that movie, or the second-to-last time, or the third-to-last. Every kiss was one kiss closer to your last kiss.” show less

"We all must surrender our angel's share."

What an amazing little hidden gem. I say hidden because, if not for some amazing reviews and early chatter about this book - I would have ignored this cover. It just doesn't show what an amazing book it is - how beautiful the writing is or how lovely and flawed and real the characters were.

And this story is lovely. It pulled me right in - I loved the style of the chapters, the struggles of the characters and the raw honesty of the lives they lead. show more They aren't perfect characters and that made them feel so much more real.

And I love that it wasn't all rainbows and unicorns. Life is tough and ugly and not always what we want. But this story has little moments of beautiful and many moments of humor that keep it funny and not too heavy. It's a perfect mix and I loved it! show less

It took me awhile to get to the point where I could write this; I really needed time to absorb and process everything that had happened on top of my emotions. If any story has ever given me a book hangover, it's this one. Zelda is an unbelievable character who [a:Tommy Wallach|2126339|Tommy Wallach|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442494054p2/2126339.jpg] somehow seems to make totally plausible and brings to live on his pages with a sort of surreal authenticity you want in a work of fiction. show more She truly feels like the driving force through out. A cross between a guardian angel and your subconscious self she makes Parker AND the reader reconsider how they've been living life.

Parker got a little tedious sometimes, but he was necessary, especially if this book was going to speak to people the way, I think, it does. At least it spoke to me and made me rethink some decisions, actions and emotions.

I'd highly recommend this novel to anyone and everyone, especially people who feel sort of stuck right now, like I do. show less

I'm doing something I've never done before -- reviewing this book before I finish it. Why? I somehow requested a copy of Outer Wilds through the Early Reviewers program without quite realizing what it was about. I'd never heard of Outer Wilds the computer game; but once I started reading and understood that I'd be in for massive spoilers, I had to set the book down, buy the game, and play it through to the end before I could continue. That took some time. And now I've reached Chapter 6 show more ("Loop Six"), and I see that it deals with the game's sequel/DLC, which I have not yet played -- and, for personal reasons, won't be able to start playing for a couple of months yet. But I figure I've read enough so far to get a sense of the book; so I'm reviewing it now, sans knowledge of the last two chapters. And if I later come to regret my initial rating, I'll adjust it in the future when I finally can finish reading.

With that out of the way, I can say that this was a pretty interesting book -- not simply because of the details about the game's narrative, components, and some behind-the-scenes conversation with its creators, but because of the way that Wallach critiques and analyzes these elements and connects them to a higher, thoughtful discussion of art, narrative, literature, and (less surprisingly) game design. His ideas are insightful enough that I think I might even have enjoyed reading this book having never played the game. (But I would definitely have been missing out.) So, a slightly odd conclusion: I would recommend this even to people who aren't especially into computer games. But if you're not into games, you probably won't have played Outer Wilds, and why would you do yourself the disservice of spoiling the game, since the book will probably intrigue you enough to want to play it if you haven't? So there's that. show less