Book Review #92: The Places I've Cried in Public by Holly Bourne

 

I've had this book for quite a while and was always intrigued by the premise. Plus I've heard great things about Holly Bourne as a writer.

Amelie is in love with Reese. But is love supposed to hurt like this? Is Reese supposed to make her cry this much? Now Amelie wants to look back at her relationship - and to do this, she will visit all the places that Reese made her cry. Because if she can remember where things went wrong, she might finally start to get over him.

I went back and forth with this book. I started off not really liking it, then I really warmed to it, then I started skimming it because I felt it was dragging a bit, but then I enjoyed the ending. So it was a mix of feelings for me.

The first thing that threw me off about this book was the age of the characters. I didn't go into this knowing that it was YA, and I was excited to read about the breakdown of an adult relationship. So the fact that the characters are teenagers took me a little while to get used to.

It took a while for anything to happen, but I appreciate the fact that the relationship needed to be established. For me the story didn't really get going until at least halfway through the novel. 

At the start, I didn't really connect with the character of Amelie. I found her quite frustrating and I didn't enjoy being in her head.

There were a few things about this story that reminded me of 'Out of Love' by Hazel Hayes. One thing that really stood out was that, Reese in this book was exactly who I wanted Theo in 'Out of Love' to be - that overt arsehole that everyone can see but the person in love with him. Reese is the character that makes this book work... as much as I hate him. The book gets better the worse he gets. 

I really liked the structure of the story, the way it goes back and forth in time through all of the important moments. This is done really well.

This kind of story makes you examine your own friendships and relationships - I really appreciate reading it at this exact point in my life.     

I found the progression of this relationship fascinating - I've never read abuse written quite like this, and I think the way it's written is the best thing about the book. You almost feel like you're in that situation too, and you see the way that Reese changes as Amelie falls deeper in love with him.

What was good?

I thought Amelie's development was great. I went from finding her annoying to really liking her and rooting for her. She is a real character, and the way that she grows as a result of Reese's actions was so interesting to read.

What was bad? 

One thing that I might have preferred would be if Reese's actions, and the way he changed, came as more of a surprise. Because Amelie has given us backstory, we are wary of Reese as soon as we meet him. It would have been nice if we could have been as blindsided as Amelie was.

Overall    

I think this story is important, especially for young people of Amelie's age. As a piece of entertainment I didn't love it, and it's not something that I'll read again. But I understand why it was written, and I think it's a story that does need to be told.

2.5/5 stars