Definitions of Indefinable Things

by Whitney Taylor

Reggie isn't really a she's been hurt too often, and doesn't let people in as a rule. Plus, when you're dealing with the Three Stages of Depression, it's hard to feel warm and fuzzy. When Reggie meets Snake, though, he doesn't give her much of a choice. Snake has a neck tattoo, a Twizzler habit, and a fair share of arrogance, but he's funny, charming, and interested in Reggie.

Snake also has an ex-girlfriend who's seven months pregnant. Good thing Reggie isn't a romantic.

Definitions of Indefinable Things follows three teens as they struggle to comprehend love, friendship, and depression--and realize one definition doesn't always cover it.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mental Health, Romance, Mental Illness, Fiction, Realistic Fiction

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 4, 2017

Reviews

[♛ may · Rating 1 out of 5]

book #4 done for the booktubeathon ✔️

I got me my tea and im ready to dish out a roast. I’m pretty much gonna be repeating the plot so yes SPOILERS AHEAD

For the pros which are sadly few
- I did enjoy the first 10% ish?? The humour was dark and made me laugh a few times.
- Um, there was some talk about depression and emotions and coming to terms with grief and loss
- there also was nice growth of friendship between reggie and clara and also with reggie and polka
- yeah that’s it

Okay time to dig into the fun stuff

So let’s start off with the flaming trash can that is the love interest
- not only is he a scum bag, but hes a cheating, manipulating one that is hella sleazy (in my opinion)
- the premise of the plot was that reggie, a depressed, snarky teenage girl meets this equally depressed teenage boy (with a weird as hell name) and they find out theyre working together. He coerces her to go on an “anti-date” with him, they kiss AND THE NEXT BLOODY DAY REGGIE FINDS OUT HE’S ACTUALLY DATING CLARA (their bosses daughter) AND SHES 7 MONTHS PREGNANT WITH THEIR KID I couldN’T even
- now reggie is super upset and she calls him out on it and hes kinda embarrassed but also BUSHES IT OFF like the trash he is
- and then he continues to make advances towards reggie and idk if anyone else noticed this but a lot of the time, she outwardly putt off by his flirting and tells him off but in her head shes like “yaaasss” but HES NOT A MIND READER SO WHY IS HE STILL SO CREEPY go AWAY
- anyways some boring ish happens, and YET REGGIE KEEPS SEEING THIS IDIOT even tho she audibly turns him down and insults him and STILL GOES TO MEET WITH HIM



- so events pass and clara and reggie become friends of sorts and they both know snake (trash boi) is lowkey stringing them both along which ugh and they keep letting him
- and whats great is that everyone blames his behaviour on his depression :) :) :) :) :)
- then reggie sneaks out with trash boi to watch a lightening storm and when she gets back her mom freaks out and in a streak of rebellion reggie walks out and goes to chill with trash boi and his moms at their cottage
- but her parents are freaking out and in a moment of !!lolz could this get any worse!! Her mom calls and shes like “you freaked us out so bad it gave your dad a heart attack and now hes in the hospital in a coma”
- which honestly is the most believable thing we’ve seen so far in this book
- anyways some stuff happens, everything gets rectified in a second, and somehow all three of them end up as great friends???
- also lets not forget reggie is THE WORST human being to her mom and her family, yes sure her mom is a piece of work herself but I literally cannot stand how rude and selfish and ungrateful she is to the people around her ugh what a mess
- needless to say, I was not impressed and id like a refund on my time
- goodnight everyone

[Meli · Rating 2 out of 5]

¡YAY! ¡Sigamos romantizando las relaciones abusivas!
¡YAY! ¡Sigamos estableciendo que ser depresivo es SÚPER COOL!
¡YAY! ¡Sigamos declarando que los mentirosos pasivos-agresivos son galanazos y lo mejor a lo que puede aspirar una chica!

Admito que disfruté del humor negro, pero esta novela tiene una de las relaciones juveniles más enfermizas que he leído. De verdad, me choca muchísimo. Los protagonistas se relacionan en base de agresión constante, no es simpático, no es socarrón, es violento y abusivo. Voy a repetir el término "pasivo-agresivo" porque es el que mejor describe a este libro.

Me siento conflictuada, porque el humor en serio que me gustó, pero todo lo demás está tan, tan mal. Da tantos mensajes torcidos.

Yo leí un arc y tengo la pequeña esperanza de que lo hayan mejorado, perooooo a menos que lo hayan reescrito de cero, no lo creo.

EDITO: No pasó. Lo publicaron con todas las cosas TERRIBLEMENTE MAL que tenía

[Katerina Kondrenko · Rating 3 out of 5]

6 out of 10

***Review in Russian and a link to the blog to come***

Short-Soundtrack:
Stumgzeit - Beyond Depressed​
SNCKPCK – With You I Feel Alive
Noah Guthrie - New Beginning

Genre: r-contemp, YA
Stuff: depression, teen pregnancy, family stuff
Fail: the main topic is not my cup of tea
WOW: wise thoughts
POV: 1st person, female
Love-Geometry: a weird one

Quote-Core:

"Depression is only as complex as the person who’s defining it."

I'm not a fan of teen-pregnancy books or school stories or angsty romances between young fools. Definitions of Indefinable Thing contains it all, but serves it in a unique and strangely appealing way, dressing it with sarcasm and an interesting structure.

We have only one POV, Reggie's. Reggie is a depressed girl who fights an emptiness inside her with medicine and hatred for the world and people around. At first, she seems too pretentious, too snarky, as if she's trying too hard to look cool and indifferent while being lonely and sad. But later we see that like everyone else she wears masks, hides pains, and dreams about feeling alive again.

Reggie meets Snake, another depressed guy who tries to taste life and see its colors, but fails again and again until Reggie appeared. It's not love from the first sight or something, it's just two people who make each other mad, angry and all, providing with emotions.

They could be a perfect couple, they could heal together, if not for Carla, Reggie's classmate and a girl who was made pregnant by Snake during a one night stand under alcohol influence. These two aren't in love either, but they're entwined forever through the child. Of course, Reggie doesn't like it. At all. But she starts to like Snake who wouldn't leave her be anyway. That's where her problems (and not only hers) start... or maybe this is the place where they start to disappear?

The strongest part of this book is its writing. At the beginning it seemed forced, as if the lines were trying too hard to create a pseudo-unique atmosphere, but when I got used to it, everything shined. There are a lot of good quotes, important topics, plus powerful meaning, many laughs, almost-cries and indeed-cries. And it's the writing's merit only, since I didn't like the plot or character's personalities. Words make wonders.

The plot is simple, but not boring. I mean, every contemporary is quite rather usual and knows no twists, but if an authors can accent right aspects of his or her story, mere thing would seem complex. Whitney Taylor achieved this goal.

The characters aren't likable, but that's the point. You don't like them, you hate their situation, but you understand them and and feel for them. It's easy to relate with someone who seems nice and does right things, but that's way more interesting to grow on someone who's not.

All in all, this is not your typical story about mean girls or bad boys and good chicks. Whitney Taylor wrote about family, losses, meaning of life and... other indefinable things. Wanna take a look at the world through depressed eyes? Go ahead.

***Thank you NetGalley and HMH Books for Young Readers for providing me with with this ARC***

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can also find this review here: https://devouringbooks2017.wordpress....

This is a story about two depressed teenagers as they struggle to find happiness and love. Reggie is a depressed teenage girl who meets Snake at a pharmacy while they both pick up their depression meds. These two lonely souls strike up an unlikely romance that is challenged by the fact that a pregnant girlfriend. Filled with betrayal, hopelessness and ultimately love, this story is about two teens struggling to find any meaning in life.

I always like to read books about mental illness because I don't feel like the general public really understands these types of issues. I feel like depression was shown relatively well in this book, but I also feel like at times it could have been shown better. It is difficult to portray these types of struggles realistically though, because they differ with each individual. I can only hope that this book might bring some awareness to even one person who didn't understand depression.

The characters were the driving factor in this story. Regime's character changed a lot through the course of this novel. While I wouldn't go so far as to say that she overcame her depression, but I think she learns to cope with it. She grows and starts to make friends and tries to find bits of happiness. Her relationship with Snake is actually a healthy one, not a codependent one like you would expect from two people who both struggle with mental illness.

The romance is sweet. It might not have started in the best way, but these two teenagers slowly begin to bring out the best in each other. It is a romance that builds slowly and faces all sorts of struggles. I really enjoyed this novel with its quirky characters and it's portrayal of depression. This is a cute young adult romance that brings awareness to mental illness.

[Anna Priemaza · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does anyone know they're depressed? You feel equally alive and dead and have no idea how that's even possible. And everything around you doesn't seem so full anymore. And you can't tell if the world is empty or you are. That's how I knew. I realized it wasn't the world that was empty.

DEFINITIONS OF INDEFINABLE THINGS is snarky and funny and beautiful and honest. Reggie Mason has depression, and she talks about all elements of it--the symptoms, the drugs, the side effects, the therapy, the impact on day-to-day life--with frankness and humour and pain. The entire book is basically one brilliantly sarcastic witticism after another, and every sentence simultaneously makes you laugh out loud and also want to wrap all these characters in a bear hug.

Though I'd want to wrap Reggie, Carla, and Snake all in bear hugs regardless, because they are all just so flawed and quirky and lovable and REAL. Their struggles--whether with depression or loneliness or pregnancy or family--are both heartbreaking and empowering; they're dealing with such hard things, but their lives aren't tragedies to be fixed. Their lives are just their lives, and they cry and joke and scream and laugh and live day-to-day the same way we all do, even when we're struggling.

It was no surprise to me that I loved this book, because a book that talks about mental health as candidly as this is always going to have a place in my heart:

"So, what are you on?" he asked.
"Zoloft."
"Clinical? Obsessive? Panic?"
"Clinical."
"Me too. Another thing we have in common."

[Danielle (Life of a Literary Nerd) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“But every indefinable thing has a beginning, and the beginning of understanding depression is simply this: You’re never as alone as you think you are.”

This was a surprisingly refreshing story about depression. I feel like the story was uniquely presented and had a fresh take on such an important topic. We follow Reggie Mason and Snake Eliot, two teens with depression, as they meet and develop an unusual and compelling relationship.

Things I Liked :
I really enjoyed the humor that was all throughout the story. I found it to be self-deprecating and candid, which I personally enjoyed. Both Reggie and Snake were very open about their depression and lonliness, how it’s unique to them. They have different histories and reactions to their illness. The humor really helped this feel unique as a story that focuses on mental illness and depression.

Besides the humor, I felt that this story was a unique take on depression and mental illness in YA. While both Reggie and Snake constantly talk about their depression, medication, therapy, neither ever mentions suicide. I thought it was nice to showcase that the two terms aren’t interchangeable - you can be depressed without being suicidal. I also appreciated how Snake said he couldn’t identify his triggers, there wasn’t a specific event that he can identify as the start or cause of his depression. While acknowledging triggers and understanding them can be very important in managing your depression, it was another unique and valid perspective to see that a tragic event or accident is not the only precursor to depression.

The story also challenges the love-cures-mental illness trope that we’ve unfortunately seen in other YA books. While Reggie admits to feeling happier and more alive while with Snake, they both recognizes that they are not each other’s cure. It is not the other person’s responsibility to ‘fix’ them; they can survive on their own.

There were so many great and unexpected dynamics in this book! Snake and Reggie are a humorous and entertaining pair, not afraid to poke fun at each other and speak their mind. Reggie and Carla, Snake’s pregnant girlfriend but not girlfriend, was a highlight for me because there was absolutely NO boy drama between them and that was fantastic. Snake, Reggie, and Carla develop the quasi trio of reluctant friends that is actually incredibly supportive and caring. I also loved the little glimpses we got of Reggie and Polka, her tutor/partner/friend. It was nice to see Reggie’s life apart from Snake.

Things I Didn’t Like :
I feel like it took too long to get answers about the phone number Reggie was calling. I appreciate the buildup and the tension it created, but it felt a little drawn out.

This was a surprisingly great read! I honestly wasn’t expecting much but I got a story with great characters, fantastic relationship, incredible humor, and an honest look at the lives of two depressed teens. This was a strong debut by Whitney Taylor, and I’m looking forward to see what she does next!

I received a copy of the book from HMH Teen via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Chelsea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn’t expect to dislike this book as much as I did. YA contemporary is typically my favorite genre, but quite a few of the books in this category that I have read recently have been ranging from disappointing to just plain bad.

This novel follows a teenage girl named Reggie who is dealing with depression. She meets a boy from her school, Snake, who is also dealing with depression while picking up her medication. You know what happens from there.

I’ll be nice and start off with the things that worked: there is a small amount of humor that I liked. Reggie develops a friendship with Carla, Snake’s pregnant girlfriend, that is kind of sweet. There are a few paragraphs here and there about depression that felt very real.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot more that didn’t work for me.

The table closest to the door was for the boys soccer team (see: assholes)...that table was reserved for the girls volleyball team (see: skanks in Spanx)...that turf belonged to the cheerleaders (see: blonde brigade), in the one beside it to the drama club (see: future fast food employees of the world)...

Yeah, it’s one of those contemporaries.

Also, what editor let those incessant (see: blank) things happen throughout the entire book? Annoying as hell.

It reminds me a lot of All the Bright Places, a book I didn’t like either. We have the pretentious depressed boy following the depressed/grieving girl around, and I didn’t like the way this was depicted in this book anymore than in AtBP.

One the subject of pretentiousness: this book is one of the best examples of how not to write teenage characters. They have this annoying “I’m so different and I don’t conform to society” vibe, they have these deep John-Green-level-unrealistic conversations, they quote obscure pop culture references…

"Some people are so touchy."
"I'm not touchy. I just don't give a damn what you think."
..."I'm starting to believe you don't give a damn what anyone thinks."
"I don't."

Edgy alert over here. *eye roll*

I wasn’t a fan of the romance at all. Snake is the worst: a total stalker, and he kisses Reggie while he has a pregnant girlfriend...

Anyway, this just wasn’t very good. I wouldn’t recommend this one at all, as there are certainly better books about depression, like the somewhat similar My Heart and Other Black Holes. Hopefully I’ll have better luck with my next contemporary.

[Bel Hernández · Rating 1 out of 5]

- Te queda bien.
- Qué cosa?
- La depresión.

¿Cómo reseño un libro que tiene ese diálogo? Además, presenta:
Relación tóxica.
Romantización de la depresión.
Chica conoce chico y no tiene más enfermedad mental.
ROMANTIZACION DE LA DEPRESION.
Personajes crueles sin sentido y sin coherencia.
"El pibe capaz es malo por la depresión. O no, capaz simplemente es un forro. No se sabe."
Personajes mentirosos, manipuladores, que no hacen nada bien en todo el libro.
“Yo soy mejor que todos y por eso sufro, porque soy inteligente. Mi depresión se debe a mi gran intelecto”
Triángulo amoroso cualquiera.
ROMANTIZACION DE LA DEPRESION Y RELACION TOXICA Y ABUSIVA.
Sí, eso, básicamente.

Esperaba amar este libro y lo odié como a pocos.
No se guíen por este libro si están tratando entender algo sobre salud mental, amistad, romance, o la vida en general porque hace TODO MAL.

[Stacee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think 3 stars might be too high, but I really don't know how I feel about this book.

There were a lot of things I didn't care for. I pretty much loathed Reggie. I did not like being in her head at all. I hated the underlined words, followed by a (see: {enter fake snark here}) that constantly happened. The take on depression was intriguing and entirely different than any other portrayal I've read. I don't know if that's good or bad.

There were some sweet moments and some great pieces of banter. I was amused the dynamic of Carla and Reggie. I really liked Snake and I'm pretty sure he was the only reason I kept reading.

I was taking to a friend about this and she said the word pretentious and that's a perfect description. Everything about this book comes across as pretentious and that made me struggle with it. However, there was something compelling me to finish, but I have no idea what that was. And even the ending left me feeling like it wasn't quite enough.

Overall, I might have more concrete feelings if I did a reread, but I don't have any sort of ambition or want to do that. I know this review is weird, but so is the aftermath of finishing.

**Huge thanks to HMH for providing the book free of charge**

[Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite The Novel Idea ~ Words from the Clouds

Guys. GUYS. THIS BOOK. Ohmygod. Read it. Don't even read this review. Just go read this book. Please. Shoo. Go. You'll thank me later.

NO NO NO WAIT, just kidding. Please read this review? You'll hurt my feelings if you don't and I'm very fragile right now after finishing this book. So please read this review, then go read this book, okay? Okay. Great. Because, seriously guys, this book was all kinds of amazing. And I really didn't expect it to be at all.

Definitions of Indefinable Things is about Reggie, who is in the midst of a serious depression. Capital-D, Zoloft-prescribed depression. She keeps people at a distance and doesn't get close to anyone because that way they can't hurt her either. But then Snake appears in her life. Twizzler-chewing, full-of-himself, aspiring-filmmaker Snake. Who has a pregnant (ex-)girlfriend. And whether she wants to or not, her life gets completely turned upside down.

I'm all too familiar with depression. And reading about it can be a difficult thing. BUT why it's difficult can go two ways.

1. It is not represented well and thus makes me want to toss the book out of the stratosphere and sulk in my room for the rest of the year.
2. The book gets it SO right it gets too real and it hurts my feels and I need to go build a blanket fort and curl up in it for a few weeks to recover.

This book is one of those rare ones that falls under neither option. Well... Kind of option two? But also not? Because I feel like I have to start off with this first because mental health in books is SO important and it needs to be done right. And in this book it is. It absolutely is and I weep with joy because of it. It did get very real sometimes and punched me in the feels because of how real it got. BUT that was very nicely balanced out by lighter moments and humor and it softened the blow a bit for me which I liked a whole lot. It made the book less heavy emotionally. Oh and no, romance didn't cure anything. Just in case you were wondering. So again, points to this book for that. But seriously, A++++ on Mental Health representation. All the brownie points for this precious book.

I really had very low expectations going into it. It sounded like it would end up being a super-dramatic love triangle with teen pregnancy and yeah... I was very scared it would end up that way. I'm very iffy about teen pregnancy in books and I loathe love triangles with the passion of a thousand suns. Especially if they're overly dramatic and done so very wrong (which they often are). But this book wasn't like that! It never got too dramatic? Like, there is some drama of course but it felt needed and realistic and that makes all the difference to me.

What drew me into the book though, was the voice. The writing. Reggie's voice hooked me right from the start and I loved her. This book is SO funny. The banter and Reggie's narration made me laugh out loud so much and I didn't expect that from a book dealing with depression. Though, to someone else it might not be funny at all because humor is subjective and all that. Reggie's humor and her voice were just really my thing and I laughed a lot. And I love funny books. I love fantastic banter. And this book had lots of it. It's 2000% quotable and of course I will share a few of my favorites at the end of the review. Please be patient.

But next to that this book did this wonderful thing where it made me laugh SO hard one chapter and then punches me in the gut with feels, stabs me in the heart and makes me tear up the next. Delicious. I love it. Who needs a heart anyway?

Though, of course, a book is nothing without great characters. Luckily this book had lots of them. Like Snake's moms were the best. And Reggie's parents were great too, even though her mom took a while for me to warm up to. AND all the points for this book for giving awesome parents in YA, which I recently shouted about in a post. Also a quick shout-out to Polka. He's adorable and I want a spin-off about him. Make it happen?

NOW the most important characters. Starting with Carla. She's a pretty rich girl and used to be super-popular before she got pregnant and going into this novel I expected to hate her because I thought she'd be one of those stereotype characters and I hate those. She was NOT what I thought she would be and I loved her for it. She's not some cliche stereotype at all. She's actually quite lovely and I loved her more and more as the book went on. There's more than meets the eye with her and I seriously shipped her and Reggie so hard as friends. They're perfect for each other, really.

Next up is my darling Twizzler-chewing Snake. He's not just a random rich bad boy that knocked up the head cheerleader. NOT AT ALL. He's sweet and sassy and a bit full of himself but he's also supersweet and struggles with depression and I felt the strong need to cuddle him and protect him from harm. He's an aspiring indie-filmmaker, has crappy tattoos, two awesome moms and again, so much sass. I loved him so much.

And of course, lastly, our main character Reggie. I love her. Simple as that. She was super-relatable to me and her voice was perfect. I love her snark and sarcasm and her no-nonsense attitude. I loved how she viewed the world because I could relate to it. Because I've been there and I understood what she felt. But she's also super-funny and she grew SO much throughout the book and I'm so incredibly proud of her. And I need to repeat that I'm SUPER happy that romance didn't cure her depression. Or Snake's. And their romance was handled perfectly and it never felt like an icky, messy love triangle of doom. It was sweet and realistic and I shipped them so very very much it's not even funny.

So in the end, Definitions of Indefinable Things is definitely a must-read for 2017 and will most likely have a spot in my top ten at the end of the year. Unless this becomes a ridiculously good reading year and I read ten books that are so much better than this one. Which would be lovely, of course. But still. Put this on your calendars, people. And please read it at your earliest convenience.

My Favorite Quotes

(These quotes were taken from an eARC and are subject to change.)

He turned to me, earnest and eager. “I think it’s the same way with caring. Caring about things, no matter how utterly wasted the effort, is just a way to survive. Everything we do is. It’s like that old saying.”
“What old saying?”
“You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.” He shrugged. “Might as well do, I guess.”
~ eARC p. 41

“You want me to go on a date with you? And you’re paying for the pleasure of my company in ice cream?” “This is called hitting rock bottom. A concept not unfamiliar to either of us.”
“I’m rock bottom?” I awwed sweetly, touching the spot above my heart. “That is the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“I came up with that gem while you were discarding my opinions. Yes or no?”
I tapped my chin. “Tomorrow night? Nope. Sorry. I’ll be busy doing nothing and hating it.”
~ eARC p. 29

Disconnect was either the best or the worst stage, depending on how you looked at it. It was numbing. It was staring for half an hour at a spot on the ugly wall Karen insisted on painting yellow to make me stupid (see: happy) while the piano from my earbuds spilled into every bone and vein and fiber. Numb. That was what made it the best stage. It didn’t hurt. It was also the worst, because I could feel nothing for only so long.
~ eARC p. 33

“What do you think?” he asked. I couldn’t concentrate with the crooked bow tie beneath his chin.
“You look ridiculous.”
“I think I look like James Bond.”
“Maybe his deranged stepson twice removed.”
“You’re a harsh critic.” He grinned, unbuttoning the tuxedo jacket to reveal his white T-shirt underneath. “I’ll have to remember to never come to you if I need an ego boost.”
~ eARC p. 159

[Betwixt the Pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

This heartbreaking, humorous novel is about three teens whose lives intersect in ways they never expected.

Reggie Mason is all too familiar with "the Three Stages of Depression." She believes she’s unlocked the secret to keeping herself safe: Nobody can hurt you if you never let them in.

Reggie encounters an unexpected challenge to her misanthropy: a Twizzler-chomping, indie film-making narcissist named Snake. Snake’s presence, while reassuring, is not exactly stable—especially since his ex-girlfriend is seven months pregnant. As Reggie falls for Snake, she must decide whether it’s time to rewrite the rules that have defined her.

Rating: 4.25/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: life changer; this tackles some important, heavy subjects...and does so with sensitivity and tact; don't expect a miracle cure, penguins; this paints mental health in a realistic, complex, true-to-life way; these characters are just...GAH

Huge thanks to Whitney Taylor, HMH Books for Young Readers, and Netgalley for providing me with early access to a free digital galley of this title in exchange for an honest review! This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.

"That wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to me today."

"And the worst would be?"

"Waking up."

He looked mildly surprised for a moment, like he didn't know what kind of response I was expecting from him. And then, as if on cue, he erupted with laughter. "I'm starting to think you waking up was the worst thing that happened to me today."

I'm going to be honest, penguins. This book is messy. The characters are struggling with some very heavy burdens...and Whitney Taylor doesn't once mince her words, or sugar-coat the emotions. From page one, you will be taken on a whirlwind ride of snark, angst, and depression. There is no miracle cure waiting at the end--even at the end, these characters are hurting, and they know it. They acknowledge their invisible struggles in every word, in every action, in every single moment--and you'll be forced to step outside yourself and live their pain with every flip of the page. This book does not offer an easy solution, a cure, or an answer--because honestly, in reality, there isn't always one.

This is, instead, a small glimpse into the ways depression wreaks havoc on an individual--and their loved ones. Whitney Taylor took a very heavy subject and approached it with sensitivity and tact. The characters are realistic and beautiful and flawed and struggling--and I so, so appreciated that in this read. While this was a difficult journey for me, as it forced me to step outside myself and back into a darker state of mind... I also appreciated the way Whitney Taylor approached this journey. I also ADORED how much snark and angst followed these characters throughout the read--their interactions with and reactions to each other/the world were undeniably some of my favorite moments.

"When you stopped talking to me, I was in the worst place I'd ever been in. I couldn't eat or get out of bed or do anything, really. It was horrible. I thought I wouldn't survive it. But seeing you at the hospital changed something. I realized it wasn't your job to make me better. Only I could do that. And I can. I can survive without you. I can survive without needing you to fix me. And maybe I'll never be completely okay, but I know I'll never be completely broken, either. And that's life, I guess. Survival. That's the tightrope."

While there is a bit of a love triangle and there are some pretty lofty mistakes made...this book is unarguably REAL. The morals imparted? The messages explored and spelled out? Only helped to cement this in my mind as one of the best, most emotionally-challenging reads of the year so far. This is the sort of book that makes readers think, and leaves them changed--I know, for sure, that it's changed me.

I just... this book is important, penguins. Whitney Taylor handled this journey with tact and sensitivity. The characters are snarky, adorable...and battling some dark demons. There is no miracle cure waiting at the end--and I adored that about this, because it's so realistic and true-to-life. I'd recommend this to lovers of contemporaries with heavy subjects, honest implications, and journeys bound to change you. If you had to define indefinable things, what would be on YOUR list?

[PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps · Rating 2 out of 5]

**I received a complimentary copy of DEFINITIONS OF INDEFINABLE THINGS from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review**

DNF
Reading is my happy place, an escape. Joy. Life is too short to continue reading when I'm not having fun.

Two depressed teens meet in a pharmacy while refilling their meds. How do we know they're depressed? Narrator Reggie, a female, keeps reminding every other page. Snake, a male and soon-to-be baby daddy, falls insta-love. They're snarky, quirky and fairly unlikable.

This story might appeal to some. I skipped the middle see the ending. Meh.

[Atlas · Rating 2 out of 5]

You're never as alone as you think you are

* *
2 / 5

Reggie Mason is depressed. She meets the equally, if not more so, depressed, nihilistic, terrible indie film-maker Snake. Snake's sort-of and entirely one-night-stand girlfriend Carla is seven months pregnant with his child. What intrigued me about Definitions of Indefinable Things is this entirely bizarre triad relationship and the scenes that involved this odd dynamic were definitely my favourites. Unfortunately, I found the book to be unbearably pretentious and Reggie and Snake to alternate between quite realistic and unbearably insufferable. Carla was definitely my favourite.

"You want to know a secret? Something's killing me too. It's called depression. And it's not a symptom of anything but me"

I sympathise a lot of Reggie's depression. She hates therapy thinking it does nothing for and her mother thinks she's depressed because she doesn't pray enough and God is punishing her. That sucks. Taylor also nailed that sort of blank empty feeling where you don't want to do anything but lie there and listen to music pounding in your ears. Reggie meets Snake and finds him intriguing - then he ends up getting a job at the same ice-cream van as her, and they go on a terrifically cringey "anti-date" which involves sitting on a trash heap whilst telling each other they hate the other.

Unsurprisingly, Reggie's mum (who she unironically addresses as Karen all the time to piss her off) doesn't like Snake. It might be the weird film he's directing called The Sheer Uselessness of Our Condition, it might be the lesbian mums he has, or it might be the fact that he impregnated "Little Carla", as Karen affectionately calls her, on a one-night stand. Obviously, the parental disapproval encourages Reggie to spend more time with Snake.

How does anyone know they're depressed? You feel equally alive and dead and have no idea how that's even possible. And everything around you doesn't seem so full anymore. And you can't tell if the world is empty or you are. That's how I knew. I realised it wasn't the world that was empty"

Reggie spends a lot of time thinking about how she feels about Snake. He insists he doesn't really like Carla that much, but will call her "babe" and gush over the baby in front of Reggie. He'll kiss her and invite her to his house, then go to a birthing class with Carla. And then Carla seems to decide that Reggie is her new best friend, despite them sorting of sharing the same guy. This is all both hilarious and interesting, because it is a really good dynamic that Taylor has created here. I've never read anything like it.

The main disappointment about this book for me is that nobody, nobody, not even depressed teenagers, have conversations like Reggie and Snake. It's sort of got that The Perks of Being A Wallflower feel but a thousand times more cringeworthy and pretentious. Snake says things like:

"I am but a pebble in the sand. I am sitting on a pile of garbage eating pizza that tastes like paper with a girl who hates me almost as much as I hate myself and I am but a pebble in the sand"

And Reggie's inner monologue runs along the lines of: there would always be something standing in the way of me becoming one of those stupid and ordinary people. And there's this:

My world view is that we are all spiralling towards a vast and gaping obscurity we can't escape, and if we're lucky, we're doing so alone. Also, I despite you. And by you, I mean the general human population

I'm fairly sure this is supposed to be tongue in cheek, but it's just irritating after a while.

I was going to give this book 3 stars because it does have a lot of good points, but then I remembered how I had to struggle through the beginning. It also took me a relatively long time to read this book, considering how short it is. I did like the ending - it definitely ends on a positive note. Reggie and Snake turn their backs on some of their "life is pointless" rhetoric and the three main characters settle into a comfortable dynamic. I was very pleased to find that Carla does end up happy. The best thing about this book was how absolutely spot on the depiction of depression is - this could be really helpful to some people.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book.

Read this review and more on my blog: https://atlasrisingbooks.wordpress.co...

[Jordan Davidson · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I learned anything from reading this, it's that I think I've officially outgrown YA. This book is pretty much a symbol of everything that is popular, and everything that is wrong with, YA: hamfisted attempts at approaching complex and serious topics, "edgy" characters who are just grating pretentious jerks, and an overarching heavy "issue" theme added to make the book Relevant and Important with Something to Say to Start a Conversation about whatever issue of the week YA has decided to address.

The protagonist of this book is one of the worst I've come across in recent memory. She was basically the embodiment of all of the WORST stereotypes of mental illness, and depression in particular. I found it odd that a book that, I assume, wanted to treat mental illness and depression with compassion and understanding 1) chose to make its sufferer, whose perspective we're (unfortunately) put in, such an odious brat and 2) seemed to encourage the mentally ill to identify with their illness at the expense of identifying with anything else.

Full disclosure here (why I'm deciding to get super personal on Goodreads is beyond me, but here we are; at least now I can stave off the naysayers who'll inevitably flock to say I didn't like this because I "don't understand"): I have clinical depression. I've had it since before I was in junior high. I've been placed on suicide watch because of it. I've been medicated for it for the last five years to varying degrees of success. I know what it's like to ride through your brain's malevolent cycles of heightened emotion and disconnection (and in the author's defense, THAT part of the book was done well). I know what it's like to feel sick and wrong and want everyone to see how sick and wrong you are so they'll stay away from you. I know what it's like to want out of your own brain so badly that it adds a whole new layer of insanity to your already fragile mental state.

And you know what else I know? I know that the very WORST thing you can do when you have depression is allow it to become your defining characteristic. Yet that's just what these characters do, and it's never challenged or questioned or positioned as a bad thing. These people can't go more than a few pages without dramatically opining about their depression and how it makes them so much *better* and *smarter* than everyone else because they *see the world how it really is* and everyone who isn't depressed is just a *dumb sheep* who could never understand their sorrow and their intellectual depth. Gag. I wanted to hurl. And hurl this book across the room. Haha pun.

As I mentioned before, the protagonist is also just one of the absolute worst narrators I've ever had the misfortune of reading. She's an enormous dick to everyone she comes in contact with, which I'm guessing we're supposed to find cute and charming and quirky, but I mostly just wanted to wring her neck. She went out of her way to be as cruel and unpleasant as possible and caught almost no flak for it except for from her long-suffering and much-villainized mother, who she insufferably refers to by her first name throughout the book for some irritating, wannabe-rebel-without-a-cause reason.

Ugh. At least the simplistic writing style meant this book was over quickly.

[Aneta Bak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitions of Indefinable Things was such a beautiful novel. It's sarcastic, funny, deep and emotional. I loved it from beginning to end.

Reggie is depressed, she is moody, sassy, and will tell you exactly why she doesn't like you. The last thing Reggie expected, was to meet a boy at the pharmacy. Snake has to start a part time job, and when he runs into his new co-worker Reggie, he can't stop himself about asking her out. The only problem is that Snake is having a baby with Reggie's old co-worker Carla. Even though Reggie and Snake are getting better in dealing with their depression together, Reggie knows that they can't end up together, not with a baby on the way.

Honestly, I was completely surprised about how much I liked this book. I'm usually not a huge fan of this type of contemporary books, but I read an excerpt and the writing instantly had me hooked.

Reggie was a fantastic main character, it was great to read in her point of view and see exactly how she deals with her situation. While putting up a tough girl front on the outside, we also get to see the sad and lonely girl on the inside. There were so many moment where Reggie's story really hit me in the feels. I could definitely sympathize with her, and understand why she was acting the way she was. Her character development throughout the book was absolutely great.

The other characters in the story were all very unique and I enjoyed most of them. Snake wasn't my favourite character ever, but I really enjoyed reading about him and Reggie together, just to see how much they helped each other and how happy it made them. I really did love Carla's story, I haven't read a book about teen pregnancy, but I was so happy with the way her character development went, her story really impressed me. The one character I wish we got to see more of was Polka, he was hilarious and probably my favourite character in this book, I would have loved to read more about him.

The plot of the story was fairly good. While there wasn't too much action in the beginning of the book, the book had a fantastic climax, and I could not put the book down once I got about half way in. The author did such an amazing job making the story interesting, and keeping the reader entertained.

There wasn't a lot of world building, especially since we mostly see the main characters at school, work or at their houses. The descriptions were a bit bland, and I definitely couldn't picture myself in the story.

Overall, it was still a wonderful story, and I definitely recommend it to any contemporary lover. This book will definitely hit you in the feels and you'll probably stay up all night reading it.

Happy Reading,
Aneta

[Colleen Scidmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Despite his shaggy hair, I could see his eyes sparkling as they teased me. He was some piece of work (see: smug bastard)."

This is a very thought provoking book. There's teen depression, pregnancy, extreme religion, and even LGBT relations.

Depression is an issue that I understand the basic concepts of but Whitney Taylor has me seeing it in a whole new way so that I now realize how seriously debilitating it can be from the person effected to the loved ones and friends surrounding this person. But the style in which she wrote about it made it fun to read instead of a depressing tale. Yes there's some hard parts to read but for the most part Reggies take no prisoners attitude and sarcastic humor made me laugh more than reflect.

Both Reggie and Snake are depressed teenagers that meet at a pharmacy picking up their meds. Snake sees something desirable in the angry and slightly violent Reggie and pursues her ever since their chance meeting.
Reggie is slowly being broken down when she finds out her co-worker/classmate Carla is dating Snake and he is the father of her unborn baby. Talk about an interesting love triangle! Even through this discovery Snake still pursues Reggie, but Reggies not so sure she can risk her heart once again even if he is the reason she starting to feel again.

It was refreshing to see two characters openly talking about depression and not acting like it's such a taboo. At least for them it wasn't. I always hear about depression but don't really think about it to much, but after reading this book I understand what depression can be more clearly now.
Reggies sarcastic and slightly mean attitude were definitely high points for me. I don't know why but I love a sassy MC and Reggie was definitely sassy (aka scary).
Snake was another really good character. Yes he was a scumbag for not telling Reggie about Carla but it was easy to forgive him when you could see he was making a difference in Reggies life.
I actually liked Carla too. She became a mature and humbled version of herself when she became pregnant and I respected her attitude and I have respect for anyone who can put up with Reggie AND Snake.

Definitions of Indefinable Things had lots of whit, lots of laughs, even some crying and a lot of honesty. Ms. Taylor is a very talented author and I look forward to more of her books.

[Mar at BOOKIVERSE · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was SOOOOO looking forward to reading this book and see how depression was depicted!

And I ended up SOOOO disappointed! And I little worried too.

The main character was downright YUK. A spoiled, mean, selfish, and entitled teenager. So, I worry that young readers reading would think it is OK to treat people the way the MC does because "she suffers from depression".

People suffering from depression often behave irritably, and come across very negative, snarky and sarcastic.

HOWEVER... Depressed people are not sociopaths!

They are not mean to people for no reason. They don’t disrespect their mothers for no reason. The way the MC treated her mother was downright deplorable. Below, in my Goodreads updates, you can see that I kept reading to see if her mother was mean to her  in any way. ANYTHING to justify the way Reggie treated her. But nope. That wasn't the case.

The Reggie's mother behaved like any normal mother that is concerned about her depressed child.

But all you get from Reggie is that her mother makes “stupid suggestions” for Reggie  to follow the directions of her therapist, its annoying enough to go get her medications at the pharmacy, and doesn’t talk but “babbles” about normal things like birthday cards. Whatever spoiled Reggie “didn’t care about” was totally stupid. Everything her mother did was stupid. Especially being a Christian was stupid. I’m not a Christian and I found all Reggie's references to this religion very disrespectful.

The way the two depressed teenagers “in love” talked and treated each other was just as bad!
So... nope!
I don't recommend this book, especially for young readers. It’s not a good depression rep. This book is about mean, abusive teenagers.

[McKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Overall, I liked it. It has a dark humor that encapsulates the experience of adolescence with mental illness. I thought the sharp quips were a little aggressive at times, which bugged me some; even with mental illness, I think it's important to recognize that having an illness doesn't excuse assholeish behavior towards someone, especially if its not acknowledged as being hurtful either at the present time or later on. So some of the protagonist's remarks towards several people she interacted with irked me some, more so in her interactions with love interest, Snake, since he struggles with depression as well. Without spoiling anything though, I guess the 'opposite' sort of speak (I-hate-you means I-love-you) becomes their own love language, and it could be my own sensitivity that was less than enthused by how her insults became an "endearing" part of Reggie's character.

I do appreciate that this isn't a novel that celebrates the idea of love being the cure to depression. Because falling in love, even staying in love, DOES NOT make it all just go away. Dependence on the idea of love between two people being some kind of saving grace is a lonely one, and it distances from the goal of being able to not only reach self-acceptance, but be able to do so for you on your own. I'll admit, there were times reading this that I thought it ~was~ going to be a 'depressed teens find love and yay happy ending' but the author does a good job in the end of creating a more complex, realistic picture of how interactions may occur between two people with depression that fall for each other.

Another really important thing I think the author was able to get across through "Definitions of Indefinable Things" is how depression can function differently from person to person. There is no one trigger, there is no one way a person experiences depression. The complexity of it is explored here, and I appreciate that. Even between Snake and Reggie, there's a scene where they realize that although they both struggle with the illness, they experience it in vastly different ways.

"Definitions of Indefinable Things" is well-written, quotable, relatable, shares some insightful messages about mental illness (#fightthestigma?), and explores family dynamics in a way that might be really comforting to teens and others who live with family that don't seem to understand depression. Also some LGBT rep, w00t w00t.

Not sure what I was expecting with this book exactly, but I think it was better than I was expecting? Mostly in regards to how the author crafts the common 'two depressed teens fall in love' story to fit a more realistic picture: that romance doesn't fix it all, but letting people in (family, friends, even a romantic partner) can be immensely helpful in the healing process.

[Natalie Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to read an early draft of this and can't wait to see the finished product. Hurry up, 2017!

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

So witty, sharp, and full of emotion! A slice-of-life look at two teens as they navigate love and family and psychiatric medications. :-) Sure to hit close to the heart for many readers.

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

not well written, but oh my god i cant stop crying this was incredible. the characters were so flawed but that’s what made them so good. phenomenal story and i’ve never felt so seen regarding mental illnesses.

[Kai (CuriousCompass) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loneliness. She was alive because she was breathing, and she was breathing because I was pumping air into her lungs. I was making her real. The louder she became, the deeper my resentment. But I didn't resent that she played these games with me, I resented that she always won.

4.5 stars for this hot mess of a YA debut that's rough around the edges but still super charming!

I bought Definitions of Indefinable Things for 3 bucks and figured, Hey, the day isn't a waste if I got a new book... I picked it up a few days later and really was not feeling it. The first few chapters truly annoyed me. It wasn't awful, but the main character was annoying and it felt a little too on the nose and cliche, like it had been written just to cash in on the contemporary YA wannabe John Green hype train like a million other novels in the genre. I decided to skim a bit before I actually made the decision to put it down, and some of the later passages I glanced over made it seem like the main character would eventually be called out for her condescending, judgy behavior, so I decided to stick with it, and I'm so glad I did!

It pretty quickly became my bathtub book; I'd pick it up every couple days while I was soaking in the tub, which meant for a while it was the only reading I was doing, because outside the bath, shiny gadgets were promising the kinds of distractions my shortened attention span can't resist, like pop music and TikTok compilations and Reddit threads. In that sense it felt like a TV show that I was reading in episodic little bursts.

Reggie, Snake, and Carla are all so easy to love and root for. Reggie is definitely annoying and condescending at times, I wanted her to just try at anything, but I also understand why she didn't. The Reggie and Carla scenes were always so funny and interesting, the two of them compliment each other very well.

There is a cheating element to this book Snake makes a move on Reggie before dumping Carla and takes her on a couple dates before he gets around to dumping his pregnant girlfriend but it didn't bother me or make me hate any of the characters. I absolutely understand why both Snake and Carla act the way they do, they're too young to be having their kid and they're scared, so it's natural for them to look for emotional escape pods. I think Snake deserves a lot more compassion than a lot of readers have shown him, but it's hard to get female readers to relate to realistic male characters sometimes, and vice versa, especially when the mistakes said characters make hurt other characters who those readers may relate to more already.

Snake is one of my favorite YA characters and male love interests in a long while. He's not perfect, he's not always smooth, in fact he's kind of a geek. He's adored by his two chill lesbian moms, and he's considered a mysterious bad boy by the locals, but in truth he's just a sad boy who loves film and is trying to make a home movie to capture the futility of existence while coping with his addiction to Twizzlers and figuring out what it means that he's going to be a father now, if it means he and Carla HAVE to be together, if he's cut out for any of that, etc. He's affectionate and funny, and very very soft in a way more male love interests should definitely be, he's endearing without having to puff up his chest and act super macho at all times.

Reggie is a pretty relatable character herself, despite her turning her nose up at everyone. Her loneliness and the complicated, often antagonistic relationship she has with her pushy, overtly religious mother who disapproves of Reggie's depression, of Snake, of Snake's moms and their sexuality, of basically everything Reggie does and feels, and her quietly affectionate, 'partners in crime' relationship with her more relaxed father, along with hints of what happened to her in her past, all combine to create a pretty complex figurehead for the story. Her complicated situation only gets harder to navigate when she somehow falls for Snake AND befriends his pregnant girlfriend, not only becoming the catalyst for their inevitable breakup, but also one of the most important people in both of their lives at the same time.

Then we have Carla, a soon-to-be teen mom whose friends abandoned her, who is considered stupid and shallow (and kind of can be, at times) but who has a hidden resilience and generosity that makes her stand out in contrast to Snake and Reggie's defeatism and pity parties a lot of the time. Carla's father own the ice cream shop where Reggie, and now Snake, both work, and she's always been a part of Carla's classes in school even though they were never close. But now that she needs somebody, she's going to rope in the weird goth girl her baby's father is falling in love with, because why not? Despite their constant eye-rolling at her, Carla often knows just what Snake and Reggie need to hear to snap them back to reality.

Watching the three of them become friends was very entertaining and at times I was pleasantly surprised by how complex their relationships got and how maturely they handled certain things. It didn't seem unrealistic at all, I was just happy Whitney Taylor didn't go for the cheap, low-hanging fruit of having characters be more immature than they need to be for contrived drama. This book is better than all that, and luckily, it knows it.

The main problem I had with this book is this: the dialogue and monologues got to be TOO MUCH, MAN, at a certain point. Like Reggie and her mother and Reggie and Snake going at each other with these long speeches about stuff. I understand characters have to talk about these things and people do make impassioned speeches and rants in real life, I've made a few myself, horrifyingly enough, but at least a few lines could've been tweaked slightly to be more realistic and less 'the author is speaking to me directly right now and it is very obvious' in nature. That said it didn't ruin the book for me, and it felt like it fit with the kind of book and story this is, if that makes sense.

Definitions is definitely a book I would have loved if it came out back when I was still this age, around 2013, 2014. I still enjoyed it very much now, and a lot of the material about depression and mental illness will ring true no matter how old you are, but around that time I was in high school and going through depressive episodes of total shut-down like Reggie and Snake, I think this would have given me a lot of hope and made me feel less alone.

I found the 'debut novel' aspect of this charming. Everybody knows a lot of debut novels FEEL like debut novels, and that's not actually a bad thing; they have a certain voice, it's hard to describe. A lot of them feel like books those authors HAD to write, and even though they can be rough around the edges, you feel the fun and excitement and love of writing and the craft bleeding through. I think a lot of writers build up a lot within themselves over years emotionally and philosophically that they muse and muse over for a long time, and then finally get to release with their first published book, so you get a heavy sense of who they are and what they're trying to do, there's a very straightforward, sense of effort and direction. I felt that here. It definitely read like a debut novel, but in a good way, and it made me excited to see what else this author has up her sleeve in the future!

I thought the ending chapters were perfect and truly tied everything together in a nice way. I'd love to see a Netflix movie of this, or even a miniseries. It could be so cute and fun, please!

All in all, this is fun, competent, emotional YA about growing up and crossing from teenager to adult and how it can feel like it happens very fast, in a rush, while also really being about the definition of depression, what it is, how it shapes us, how we come through it in different stages and what it looks like to come to terms with it and make a real breakthrough. I definitely felt a strong sense of kinship with the author while reading, and I felt a sense of nostalgia and felt like I was right back in my teenage years, which was a fun sensation. I think a lot of people will enjoy this if they give it a chance!

Also, I SAW WHAT YOU DID WITH THAT SECOND OR THIRD TO LAST CHAPTER, WHITNEY TAYLOR. That half a paragraph where I thought a certain character was dead WAS NOT OKAY. Don't scare a bitch like that.

Recommend!

THEMES: mental illness, depression, therapy, grief, growing up, family, religion, young love, complicated friendships, teenage years, teen pregnancy, coming of age.

[- ̗̀ jess ̖́- · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this ARC from Chapters Indigo.

While I think that this book was good in some ways, it was also very, very, frustrating to read. First of all, I didn't like Reggie that much. I feel like she was far too aggressive, disrespectful, and rude most of the time for me to like reading from her perspective. It seemed kind of unrealistic how she acted towards most people, actually, and how they still liked her, because when I'm pissy towards people Because Depression, people tend to never speak to me again. She was incredibly relatable, though, especially her mom. Because. That's my mom. Except whiter.

I did like how depression was portrayed as different between people and within people. Sometimes you have a trigger and sometimes you don't. There are good days and there are bad days. And the mood swings were also really realistic. What I didn't like about this portrayal is how Reggie was excusing her bad behaviour with "it's depression," because, yeah, depression can make you an asshole, but that's not an excuse for being an asshole. I also liked that it was, on the whole, pretty light and that there wasn't talk about suicidal thoughts, because as much as Suicidal Thoughts is a huge part of depression, depression without suicidal ideation is important and definitely not talked about as much as it should be. I'd say the portrayal of depression was really well-done.

I felt, partially, like the "love is a cure for depression" was happening a bit. I didn't particularly care for Snake, or Carla, or any of the characters, really. And I'm not a fan of the "happy people are just stupid" mentality, which is all over this book. And while it's a happy ending it came on too fast because, gee, it was too happy.

[el · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 24%. I actually enjoyed the main character Reggie’s narrative voice immensely, and her experience of depression was well-portrayed. However, I just can’t bring myself to continue, because I absolutely detest Snake who cheats, lies, and manipulates others, and not even the witty banter he shares with Reggie can offset my profound aversion to him.

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[Stephanie Fleck · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book does really interesting work with characters that are struggling with not only depression, but a bunch of life's other obstacles that get in their way. It has positive messages for its audience, and tries to captures young voices that need to be captured. I struggled a bit with the narrator's voice, being that she is seventeen and seemed a bit immature throughout. Also, having close friends, family members, and having gone through depression myself, I know that no one person's story or experience is the same. So I respect what this story is doing.

[Yaredi Pizano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nos muestra cómo afecta la depresión no sólo a la persona que la padece sino a los que están a su alrededor y que muchas veces no lo entienden, lo ven como si solo quisieran llamar la atención, pero no es así , la depresión es una enfermedad que te consume lentamente, te drena emocionalmente. A veces se logra salir de ella otras veces no, muchas veces se trata de encontrar la solución de mil maneras, pero la realidad es que la única manera de combatirla está en nosotros mismos, nadie puede sacarte de ella si tú no quieres, son tus demonios y solo tú puedes vencerlos, ni la pareja, padres, amigos, etc. ellos pueden ayudarte pero no vencerlos por ti. Es lo que nos muestra esté libro.

[Samantha Boudreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book at Teen Book Fest with a friend as an ARC, I dived into this book with no clue what it was going to be about and loved it. Reggie says everything that people are thinking and so realistic on things she made me laugh. Definitely recommend this to other people.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars ✨ just didn’t care for the ending.

[Samantha (WLABB) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a story of clinically depressed girl meeting a clinically depressed boy, whose burgeoning romance was complicated by the boy's pregnant girlfriend. For me, this book did not fit neatly into the romance category. I felt that it was more a story of Reggie coming to terms with her depression, and perhaps beginning to make her way out of it.

When I first met Reggie, this is the image that popped into my head:


Reggie was angsty and wore an armor of sarcasm. She struggled to see the good in anything, and she was battling with ghosts from her past. She found a perfect foil in Snake. Snake, though also clinically depressed, was trying to have experiences and connect with people. He was "bearable" in Reggie's eyes, and that was a good start. The first part of the book was filled with a lot of great banter and fun world observations.

Me during the first part of the book

But as Snake's and Reggie's relationship grows, Reggie revealed the triggers for her depression, and the heavier stuff sort of just keeps coming after that.


Me for a good part of the second half of the book

Romeo and Juliet meets Rosemary's Baby drama

I really loved Reggie and Snake together, but I have the admit, the Carla part was a little weird for me. It was an interesting complication, and I thought the relationship between Carla and Reggie brought something to the story, but from a romance POV, it was a little weird.

Hate. Apparently, it was my predominant behavior. I was hating again. But, for once, I wasn't hating him. I was hating the absence of him

I have read some reviews where people found the characters unlikable, but I liked them. Reggie wore this I-hate-the-world veneer, but we saw the softer sides of her. And Snake was flawed, but he was trying to be better, and make choices based on the right reasons. Reggie, Snake, Carla, and even Reggie's mom all experienced personal growth. They changed for the good over the course of the story, and I thought Taylor did a admirable job getting them there.

"Keep staring and I'll punch you in the jaw," I warned.
"I'm guessing you've never had a boyfriend." He smiled, "Guys stare."
"I've had a boyfriend, thank you. He didn't stare."
"Then he wasted his moments."

Overall: A very enjoyable read told by smart and snarky characters with struggles I could relate to.

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some people may be put off by this book because it's not one of the many fairytale rewrites so common and instead is a very realistic look at depression. However for those who take the time, they will find that Taylor has done a very good job of interjecting just the right amount of humor into the book and touches the reader with her honesty and openness in discussing depression.

Two of the three main characters in this book have depression. (See plot summary above.) This is a great plot point because we get to see how different and similar depression can be in different people. The author doesn't gloss over the mental illness; she gives us fully rounded characters showing us how the mental illness affects their actions and relationships with others.

One of the MC's, Reggie, finds herself in a seemingly impossible situation. We see her struggle with assignments her counselor gives her such as, "What does loneliness mean to you?" and "What does crazy mean to you?" However, it is the words that Reggie struggles with on her own throughout the book that result in some very meaningful passages. It is beautiful to see her struggle with words such as friends and love. Reggie seems to believe her definitions of these very difficult words will help her decide the right thing to do in her very difficult situation.

My favorite thing about this book, and what moved it from 3 stars to four stars, is the excellent dialogue. I can't remember the last book where I have enjoyed dialogue so much. Reggie exudes snarkiness and sarcasm to protect herself from making any real attachments. Snake lives off self-deprecating humor. Although he seems to have everything, he is not happy with himself and likes being put down. Add hormones and teenage angst and the dialog is surprisingly witty. But can two people with depression make a go of it? (And don't forget to add Snakes newborn baby, and the baby's mother to the mix!)

Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for a copy of this book!