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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
totally heartbreaking, totally worth it, October 21, 2008
This review is from: I Know It's Over (Hardcover)
I read another review that said I Know It's OVer was going to break my heart, so I picked it up and was prepared to be totally heartbroken. I might have even been looking forward to it, because I like a good heartbreaking story (it's usually the happy ones that freak me out).
But as much as I thought I was prepared for this book, I totally wasn't. It doesn't just break your heart--that's putting it too mildly--this book will rip your heart out of your chest, break it a thousand times over and then direct you to the cupboard where the glue is so you can begin the process of pasting the pieces of your old heart into a NEW heart.
The good news: it's so worth it.
I Know It's Over is a book about a guy named Nick and his intense, all-consuming relationship with a girl named Sasha. The two are so full of each other they can hardly breathe. When they break up, Sasha citing a need for space, Nick is devastated. It's not what he wants and he struggles to understand how it's something she could.
And then Sasha comes back--not to tell Nick she wants to get back together... but to tell him she's pregnant. Together--but not--they must figure out what to do, how to cope and how to continue after the decision is made.
This is one YA novel that really impressed me. It tackles some big issues--teen pregnancy, sex, sexuality--but never once feels like an Issue Book. Martin never once goes for a melodramatic or heavy-handed approach, nor does she have an agenda, which is sure to make people on either side of the fence mad.
Nick is one of the most memorable male protagonists I've read in a long time. His observations are candid and devastating. He's a frustrated, 16-year-old guy, struggling with his own perceptions of himself and other people's perceptions of him. Martin drives home the fact that it's tough just to be a teenager, let alone one who is about to go through the things that Nick goes through. Martin is also excellent at taking down walls between characters and the reader. If you don't know these people, you will know them. I think that familiarity is especially important when considering the book's subject matter.
The writing is frank, brutal, beautiful and emotionally confrontational. I'm sure it'll force people to ask questions they don't want to ask. After reading I Know It's Over, I'm convinced there's nothing Martin won't say and that's good. That's what I want on my YA shelf. That's what I want on EVERY YA shelf...
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Emotionally captivating, May 6, 2009
A heart-strings pulling story about teenage love, friendships, and family, consequential life-altering decisions and understanding, and the evolvement of [forced] maturity within a brief span of time - while still holding on to the characteristical youth... as life goes on.
Not just your everyday, sappy "teddy bear love" type of teenage love that disintegrates almost as soon as it begins - but rather, the kind that unexpectedly takes your breath away and reformulates your heart's desire with its permanent indentation. The friendships, which give a solid glimpse into the the effects, pressures, and comraderie that can form within one's youth, and family events and actions that may feel like near tragic stories in the future - all become experiences that shape and guide the younger characters into the years of maturity and eventual adulthood that they inevitably face.
C.K.Kelly Martin portrays each character so accurately to their respected situation, that you will fluidly visualize and hear them speaking in the voices that you know they were intended. She also brilliantly narrates as a 16 year-old boy, and not for one moment will you ever imagine anyone else telling the story.
Although I am not a young adult, I was unable to put this book down for long! The story captures your heart (have I mentioned that yet?) and reaches into your emotions, pulling you into finding out where the path leads for Nick and Sasha.
There are brief moments in a few scenes that may be slightly graphic and heavy for some young readers. With that being said, those particular scenes really do provide for a more deeply rooted and precise understanding of why, how, and where Nick and Sasha are headed by the end of the story. Without those scenes, it may not have painted the picture that the author so beautifully literated for us.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
New take on a very real subject, June 2, 2011
I love young adult books, even though I am way older than most of the characters I read about; I still feel as though I can relate to most of the characters in books.
I have never read anything by C.K. Kelly Martin and I Know It's Over was an amazing book to start off with.
I loved that it was told entirely from 16 year old Nicholas' point of view. Not to often do you find a book about teen pregnancy told from the "fathers" point of view.
I couldn't relate to Nick personally, but I knew how it felt to be a teen and pregnant so I could relate to that aspect of his life.
I don't like the way things were handled between Nick and Sasha. Her parents were a little stricter than I remember any of my friends' parents being, their rules for Sasha dating Nick made sense to an extent, but I feel that when there are a ton of rules placed on teens that the parents are just asking for trouble.
The ups and downs that Nick goes through while waiting for word as to what Sasha is going to do about the " thing" inside her, are really heart breaking. I love that he acted like I believe a normal teen boy would in a situation like that. He didn't shun her or make it all her fault like some teen boys are known to do.
Even though I was not please with what happened in the book, I did enjoy reading it. Nick is a very lovable character.
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