Hello (From Here)

Trigger Warnings: Covid-19, death of a parent, AIDS, generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks,

Max and Jonah bump into each other at the grocery store right when the Covid-19 lockdown was beginning in California. Max's part-time job as a personal shopper begins to transform into a bit of a nightmare and Jonah's pre-existing anxiety disorder is becoming a daily struggle. Can the two come together even though they must stay apart? Hello (from Here) jumps into the first two months of the quarantine and the love lives and two teenagers trying to figure out this new world.

This wasn't my favorite book on the planet, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. I will also keep it on my shelves and possibly come back to it another time (when the show more Corona Virus isn't still running wild). Like most who have reviewed this book, I feel like it may have been too soon.

The main characters were okay, but not amazing, I did find them a little whiny towards the end... Olivia, Jonah's sister, was probably my favorite out of everybody and I'd kind of like to hear some more of her story! Also Arlo and his story! Kate and Jonah's "step-parent replacing late parent" trope was shown well in the novel. I thought the development of their relationship was well handled and realistic. I was happy with the end result for them.

I also thought the anxiety disorder representation was handled well in this novel too. As someone with anxiety who has had panic attacks (though not quite like Jonah's), I felt like one could still understand what he was going through, especially in his current situation.

I feel like this novel fell short - mostly by tackling too much all at once. I felt a little anticlimactic by the time I closed it. So many things were brought up: important issues and themes, but then were finished limply in the end. Like searching and finding Winter... I felt like that could have finished off much better than it did .

The cheating storyline was just - bleh. It wasn't needed and was more of a distraction. I also felt like it didn't make much sense for how the character had been acting throughout the whole storyline.

Overall, I feel like this was just too soon. I'm sure it will be good in a few years time though, when we weren't all still going through the same pandemic. show less

This book was solidly okay. I read it, it was fine. There was nothing I hated, but nothing I particularly loved either. The characters made choices that were pretty stupid and hard to accept, but they were also often emotional choices in times of unprecedented duress. Plus they're teenagers so like the height of emotions, right?

The fights and conflicts in this didn't impress me. Despite the pandemic setting, the triggers for things felt somewhat insignificant and at times uncontrollable. That doesn't necessarily mean they aren't valid, just that reading about it without the investment of the person experiencing it made it hit pretty weakly. A kind of, "oh... that's what you're mad about??" reaction.

Of course the draw and main point of show more this book is that it's set during Covid 2020. That alone draws up a lot of conflicts, and one theme highlighted in here is the class difference of how folks were affected. The contrast of having to still go out and risk working face-to-face while living in a small apartment and desperately trying to make enough money to survive, versus an experience that borders more closely on a forced family vacation at a private villa. The same tensions that came to a peak during Covid are seen in here, so if that's the kind of thing you're looking for, this pretty much nails it. I can see this being an eerily good book to read for future generations learning about Covid 19. Excellent classroom book for sure as it has a lot of validation for experiences -- as well as experiences missed. show less

A romance book about being in quarantine sound interesting and spicy. I want to see how it will develop and the problems with mask. I wonder how they will get over their obstacles in the middle of a pandemic. This seems to be very realistic and I love me some amazing realistic fiction. It seems like a book that deal with very real and serious topics. Jonah seems to be a little bit creepy since his obsession with Max which usually leads to a bad or toxic relationship which would be frown upon in the real world. Max seems to be a bit naive which I don't like a lot but will see. I also like the alternating view points which I like in books as it allows us to grow closer to the main characters as we see things from their point of view which show more allows us to see why they do what they do. The writing is well done and the pacing of this story is very good as well. I will probably read this book in the future. show less