Wednesday, January 2, 2013

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Review of How I Got Here by Hannah Harvey

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Synopsis:
How I Got Here is a young adult novel. It takes us through River's story, a young girl who has been in hospital for a long time. She's incredibly withdrawn and lonely. Nobody around her tries to understand her symptoms, choosing instead to brush it aside. Until Oliver, a young doctor who works hard to figure out what's happening with her.Through a series of letters to him, River starts to open up about the painful details of her past, until she's explained the story of how she got to where she is. (Taken from Goodreads)

Stars Given:




Overall View:

I couldn't help but to feel angry and sad at the same time while reading this book. It got me to rethink about my school, to imagine what could really be happening to people behind the scenes. The story that River slowly tells throughout the book was sad, and started with just one party. It got me really angry because of all the people who were turning against her because of one girl. The book was so believable and real that I felt like throwing my phone away after finding out what Kim and the other kids did to her.

The story concept really focuses on bullying and how Oliver got her through the hard times at the beginning. In the middle, a little love starts to burst out of the book, and it all ends with R O M A N C E! (Which I love) This is one of the books that has really focused so much on another important topic, bullying, than love. The balance between the amount of love and serious problems is just right. There were no grammar mistakes so it just makes it even better!

The characters are fully developed and their personalities shine. Although River was still a little depressed when Oliver had approached her, it was still possible to sense her fighting spirit within her. She has a reason to do what she does, which is to protect the people that she loves around her. Without River, everyone's life would've shifted greatly. (An example performed by Oliver later in the story)

Overall, this was one of the best stories that I have read in a long time that did not involve anything...magic like. Actually scratch that, this whole book was hidden with magic behind each page. If you are finding for a nice story to read that's realistic and has nothing to do with paranormal stuff or fantasy things, then this is the right book for you!

Characters:

River - 
Description of Character: River used to be just a girl in high school, until everything changed. Now, she is hospitalized for different reasons like anorexia and isn't speaking to anyone, not even her parents.  The trauma that she had to suffer had changed her forever, making her strong, yet weaker and vulnerable.


Review of Character: River's character has completely inspired me.  She had to suffer through so much to get to this point.  Not many people know about her problems, and so they shake their heads as they made no progress with her whatsoever.  At first, it kind of irked me that River would stand quietly and let people torture her like that.  She was very strong at first, but when her marks were inflated, her confidence started deflating.  Although I thought that she was very naive into believing that she was fat (although she really wasn't), her character made me realize that anorexia is something that is much more serious than most people think.  Her character is very inspirational, along with her quotes.

Oliver -

Description of Character: Oliver is a young inspiring doctor who arrived in New York for a job in the hospital.  He then meets a hospitalized girl named River, who stays silent.  He is caring and puts a lot of effort into his job.  He tries to make the best out of this which gives him his sweet personality.

Review of CharacterAs for Oliver, well let's just say that he was...genuinely too nice. Maybe that's because I know an Oliver who is the complete opposite but I thought that he was a bit to naive at first. But near the middle, when I got to know him better after reading, he truly cares about River 

(and only treats River 'that way'!). I can't believe that I would actually like Oliver's character, to be honest! The Oliver that I know, who is a brat, has influenced me to hate and judge (too quickly) all Olivers, which I know is wrong but I do it unconsciously. After reading this, it made me fall in love with the book Oliver. He is so nice and tries to do the best for River.
*Supporting characters not listed

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