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Two Roads from Here
Five high school seniors. Two different roads. One life-changing decision. For fans of Tommy Wallach and Patrick Ness comes a “must-have coming-of-age story” ( School Library Journal ) that explores what happens to five teens when they choose the road… and the road not taken.
Should Brian play in Friday’s football game, even though his head really hurts?
Should Allegra commit to college now that her mother’s illness has returned?
Should Cole cheat on the SATs for a chance to get into his dream school?
Should Nikki go all the way with her boyfriend?
Should Wiley tell his best friend that he loves her and risk losing her completely?
These five seniors are about to have an opportunity people only dream to experience two potential outcomes of a life-altering decision. When it’s all over, will they still recognize their futures?
Should Brian play in Friday’s football game, even though his head really hurts?
Should Allegra commit to college now that her mother’s illness has returned?
Should Cole cheat on the SATs for a chance to get into his dream school?
Should Nikki go all the way with her boyfriend?
Should Wiley tell his best friend that he loves her and risk losing her completely?
These five seniors are about to have an opportunity people only dream to experience two potential outcomes of a life-altering decision. When it’s all over, will they still recognize their futures?
448 pages, Paperback
First published June 20, 2017
19 people are currently reading
1478 people want to read
About the author
Teddy Steinkellner
4 books42 followersTeddy Steinkellner is a young adult, an author, and a young adult author.
He has written two novels, Trash Can Days: A Middle School Saga and Trash Can Nights: The Saga Continues. Both books tell the story of four middle schoolers -- Jake, Danny, Hannah, and Dorothy -- as they experience the hilarity and the humilation of junior high.
Teddy is a 2011 graduate of Stanford University, where he majored in English and American Studies, and where he began writing Trash Can Days. He currently lives in Los Angeles, CA. He was indeed dumped in a trash can himself as a seventh grader, but luckily he managed to avoid receiving any purple nurples or swirlies.
Learn more at teddysteinkellner.com, and follow him on Twitter @TeddySteinkelln.
He has written two novels, Trash Can Days: A Middle School Saga and Trash Can Nights: The Saga Continues. Both books tell the story of four middle schoolers -- Jake, Danny, Hannah, and Dorothy -- as they experience the hilarity and the humilation of junior high.
Teddy is a 2011 graduate of Stanford University, where he majored in English and American Studies, and where he began writing Trash Can Days. He currently lives in Los Angeles, CA. He was indeed dumped in a trash can himself as a seventh grader, but luckily he managed to avoid receiving any purple nurples or swirlies.
Learn more at teddysteinkellner.com, and follow him on Twitter @TeddySteinkelln.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
May 16, 2018
(1/5 stars)
This is quite possibly the worst book I've ever read
There is nothing redeemable about this book, it had an interesting premise but it wasn't executed well. The story claims to follow five high school seniors, each faced with a life-changing decision, and then the story follows what happens when they choose option A, and what happens when they choose option B, in alternate storylines.
First off, the layout of the book I found to be extremely confusing and very poorly executed. It goes back and forth throughout the seasons of the senior year, but I found myself getting confused as to what happened in each storyline. I couldn't remember if certain characters were speaking with each other, I couldn't remember who was dating who at that particular time. It was all just really confusing, and in the end I felt it didn't even matter if I could differentiate between the two.
Second, I didn't like or feel a connection to any of the characters. They all felt very flat with one characteristic to describe who they were. There was one character, Brian, who literally said he was fat so many times all I could think was okay, we get it, you're fat. It wasn't strictly positive or negative, it varied each time. I didn't find any of the characters to be redeemable, I wasn't rooting for any of them.
Thirdly, I didn't give a damn about the plot, I had no idea what was happening 90% of the time, and I really didn't care about it either. Throughout the book, they are working toward graduation, which I didn't really know until I finished the book, but the author introduces everything completely out of the blue like I was to simply assume they were going to happen because of the synopsis of the story.
Fourthly, the writing left much to be desired. The narration doesn’t even seem to vary from character to character. And if you see the quotes I’ve given from this book as I was reading it, you can see why I was eye-rolling the majority of the time reading it. I just didn’t feel the writing was done well at all. It seemed, at times, to be written by an immature, stereotypical high school male, but not in a way that made you relate to the male characters at all.
Lastly, I felt as though there were many things mishandled in the writing of this book. The main thing being mental health/suicide. There are many storylines that deal with these subjects and half the time they are just offensive, and the other half it seems as though the author got all their information from after-school specials written in the 80s despite the fact it was written in 2017. I mean, there is a point where an attempted suicide is used as a joke, and another where an attempted suicide literally comes straight out of nowhere. The 'r-word' is used at least four times throughout this novel, and is used simply as a way to describe a character. It is never condemned.
In conclusion, I really did not like any aspect of this book. I would not recommend it to anyone, and honestly I am confused how it was published the way it is.
This is quite possibly the worst book I've ever read
There is nothing redeemable about this book, it had an interesting premise but it wasn't executed well. The story claims to follow five high school seniors, each faced with a life-changing decision, and then the story follows what happens when they choose option A, and what happens when they choose option B, in alternate storylines.
First off, the layout of the book I found to be extremely confusing and very poorly executed. It goes back and forth throughout the seasons of the senior year, but I found myself getting confused as to what happened in each storyline. I couldn't remember if certain characters were speaking with each other, I couldn't remember who was dating who at that particular time. It was all just really confusing, and in the end I felt it didn't even matter if I could differentiate between the two.
Second, I didn't like or feel a connection to any of the characters. They all felt very flat with one characteristic to describe who they were. There was one character, Brian, who literally said he was fat so many times all I could think was okay, we get it, you're fat. It wasn't strictly positive or negative, it varied each time. I didn't find any of the characters to be redeemable, I wasn't rooting for any of them.
Thirdly, I didn't give a damn about the plot, I had no idea what was happening 90% of the time, and I really didn't care about it either. Throughout the book, they are working toward graduation, which I didn't really know until I finished the book, but the author introduces everything completely out of the blue like I was to simply assume they were going to happen because of the synopsis of the story.
Fourthly, the writing left much to be desired. The narration doesn’t even seem to vary from character to character. And if you see the quotes I’ve given from this book as I was reading it, you can see why I was eye-rolling the majority of the time reading it. I just didn’t feel the writing was done well at all. It seemed, at times, to be written by an immature, stereotypical high school male, but not in a way that made you relate to the male characters at all.
Lastly, I felt as though there were many things mishandled in the writing of this book. The main thing being mental health/suicide. There are many storylines that deal with these subjects and half the time they are just offensive, and the other half it seems as though the author got all their information from after-school specials written in the 80s despite the fact it was written in 2017. I mean, there is a point where an attempted suicide is used as a joke, and another where an attempted suicide literally comes straight out of nowhere. The 'r-word' is used at least four times throughout this novel, and is used simply as a way to describe a character. It is never condemned.
In conclusion, I really did not like any aspect of this book. I would not recommend it to anyone, and honestly I am confused how it was published the way it is.
July 15, 2017
This book wasn't bad, in fact the characters and ideas were actually pretty good. But I wasn't able to enjoy this book because of how it was formatted. It took a lot of brain power to remember which "road" was which and how each of the characters were reacting to it separately. I think this could have been done better if the plot and "roads" and character perspectives didn't jump around as much.
June 2, 2020
If I could give this lower than one star, I would. Seriously this book was pretty terrible. I really try to be kind to authors bc writing a book can be hard. But this is too bad I have to be mean.
This book could have been good. The concept behind it was strong. A bunch of teenagers with choices to make, seeing how their choices affect each other, seeing how it plays out when they make either choice. But this author has never spoken to another person, especially not a high school kid. This dialog was agonizing. Everything was horribly unrealistic. Every character either talked like they were from the 1950s at the earliest, or like he'd googled "2017 teen slang" and tried to convince every single term he could into one sentence. It was just painful. Absolutely agonizing.
And the fact that no matter what choice they made, they ended up in the same place? Annoying. And unrealistic. Allegra turned down Stanford and then changed her mind both times. I'm preeeeettty sure a school like that, with a wait list, wouldn't be cool with that.
Also? The fact that people who were shitty or absent for the whole book were suddenly present and redeemed at the end felt extremely unnatural.
ALSO we just aren't going to talk about how Wiley is human scum? No apologies from him for how he treated Allegra? He just gets to treat people like complete shit and we're supposed to forgive him because his horrible decisions resulted in him a) being isolated and b) not graduating so he wants to commit suicide? Is that supposed to make me feel for him? He treated his best friend like shit. In the timeline where he asked her out, he called her a cunt for rejecting him. In the timeline where he didn't ask her out, he stopped talking to her and thought of her as a slut who betrayed him bc she dated someone else. And in one timeline she just starts dating him for a hot second? Despite being very obviously uninterested in him in both timelines????????? He's trash and so is the author for pulling this friendzoned bullshit and making her date her unattractive, rude, manipulative "best friend" anyway.
Also we need to address what the author did as far as representation. He tried to be inclusive. And missed the mark. By a whole lot. His characters were diverse, but pumped to the eyeballs in stereotypes to the point where any good he may have done by including diversity was undone by how stereotyped they were. I mean, Cole. Cole was so uncomfortable to read. He was every gay stereotype in one. Also, he was the only character who never got a love interest? Why's that? Bc the author didn't want to have to write another gay guy? Bc the author included his sexuality exclusively to make it seem diverse? Bc the author didn't know how to write a gay person as a person and not a stereotype, so he couldn't make another gay character without him just being Cole 2.0?
Between the dialog that shows this author has clearly never met another person (my mom asked if this was written by a young child when I read her examples of it) and the uncomfortable and problematic stereotyping and the bullshit concept of "your decisions are meaningless, your life is predetermined and will turn out the same no matter what you do" I hated this. Like, every second of it. Not going to lie, I only read the title and saw the cover and thought "a road trip book! Fun!" And was severely disappointed. And was even more disappointed by a solid concept being completely and utterly destroyed by terrible writing. Seriously, this sucked. A lot.
This book could have been good. The concept behind it was strong. A bunch of teenagers with choices to make, seeing how their choices affect each other, seeing how it plays out when they make either choice. But this author has never spoken to another person, especially not a high school kid. This dialog was agonizing. Everything was horribly unrealistic. Every character either talked like they were from the 1950s at the earliest, or like he'd googled "2017 teen slang" and tried to convince every single term he could into one sentence. It was just painful. Absolutely agonizing.
And the fact that no matter what choice they made, they ended up in the same place? Annoying. And unrealistic. Allegra turned down Stanford and then changed her mind both times. I'm preeeeettty sure a school like that, with a wait list, wouldn't be cool with that.
Also? The fact that people who were shitty or absent for the whole book were suddenly present and redeemed at the end felt extremely unnatural.
ALSO we just aren't going to talk about how Wiley is human scum? No apologies from him for how he treated Allegra? He just gets to treat people like complete shit and we're supposed to forgive him because his horrible decisions resulted in him a) being isolated and b) not graduating so he wants to commit suicide? Is that supposed to make me feel for him? He treated his best friend like shit. In the timeline where he asked her out, he called her a cunt for rejecting him. In the timeline where he didn't ask her out, he stopped talking to her and thought of her as a slut who betrayed him bc she dated someone else. And in one timeline she just starts dating him for a hot second? Despite being very obviously uninterested in him in both timelines????????? He's trash and so is the author for pulling this friendzoned bullshit and making her date her unattractive, rude, manipulative "best friend" anyway.
Also we need to address what the author did as far as representation. He tried to be inclusive. And missed the mark. By a whole lot. His characters were diverse, but pumped to the eyeballs in stereotypes to the point where any good he may have done by including diversity was undone by how stereotyped they were. I mean, Cole. Cole was so uncomfortable to read. He was every gay stereotype in one. Also, he was the only character who never got a love interest? Why's that? Bc the author didn't want to have to write another gay guy? Bc the author included his sexuality exclusively to make it seem diverse? Bc the author didn't know how to write a gay person as a person and not a stereotype, so he couldn't make another gay character without him just being Cole 2.0?
Between the dialog that shows this author has clearly never met another person (my mom asked if this was written by a young child when I read her examples of it) and the uncomfortable and problematic stereotyping and the bullshit concept of "your decisions are meaningless, your life is predetermined and will turn out the same no matter what you do" I hated this. Like, every second of it. Not going to lie, I only read the title and saw the cover and thought "a road trip book! Fun!" And was severely disappointed. And was even more disappointed by a solid concept being completely and utterly destroyed by terrible writing. Seriously, this sucked. A lot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2017
I loved this book. I guarantee you will fall in love with the characters, and will be thinking about their choices long after you finish the book. My favorite character was Brian, but you may have a different choice.
Also not to judge a book by the cover...but how cool is the cover!? Once you read it, see if you can identify who is who.
Also not to judge a book by the cover...but how cool is the cover!? Once you read it, see if you can identify who is who.
June 20, 2017
Teddy Steinkellner once again delivers a funny, poignant, and awesomely creative take on being a teenager and grappling with all the ups and downs of that time of life. As with his earlier books, he has created something that resonates with teens and adults alike. Such a great read! Keep 'em coming, Teddy.
June 23, 2017
I loved this book. I read it in one day because the characters and unique structure of the book sucked me in. I had to know what happened to them and I appreciated the way their individual stories were weaved together so beautifully. Some really lovely and moving moments and as well as laugh out loud stuff. Highly recommend!!
June 20, 2017
Highly recommended!!! A fun and smart read that is hard to put down. It's a YA novel that manages to resonate with older readers too.
May 26, 2018
As a graduating senior, I thought this book would be something I could relate to regarding end of high school feelings and college decisions. However, it wasn't; the characters kind of treated their senior year like any other high school year except with college in mind (which I guess it was senior year is like). But there was no real excitement which was a bummer.
I was really looking forward to reading about all of the characters after reading the very short questions on the dust jacket; however, I found that I really didn't like any of the characters. Wiley was especially annoying and th ought he was entitled to every little thing. It seems as though each character was given two characteristics and the author made sure they stuck to them. They were not complex or relatable, and they became even more annoying as the book went on.
Also, I thought writing about both roads that the 5 characters could follow was interesting at first,but then I got confused about what happened in each one. Also the dialouge was confusing because when a new line of dialouge was shown, sometimes the same person was still talking.
The beginning of the book was great and entertaining but it really fell short of my expectations.
I was really looking forward to reading about all of the characters after reading the very short questions on the dust jacket; however, I found that I really didn't like any of the characters. Wiley was especially annoying and th ought he was entitled to every little thing. It seems as though each character was given two characteristics and the author made sure they stuck to them. They were not complex or relatable, and they became even more annoying as the book went on.
Also, I thought writing about both roads that the 5 characters could follow was interesting at first,but then I got confused about what happened in each one. Also the dialouge was confusing because when a new line of dialouge was shown, sometimes the same person was still talking.
The beginning of the book was great and entertaining but it really fell short of my expectations.
November 23, 2017
I really really like the author’s middle school books, and I like the format of this one as well. Five characters, distinct but overlapping storylines. This one got slightly confusing to follow towards the end, as it follows two different paths of each of the five characters. Still an engrossing read. Definitely way more YA and mature in theme and subject (definitely not for middle school).
My only issue is simply that I felt no empathy for the characters. They were mostly terrible people (and not even just in that “you’re a misguided teenager and you don’t know any better” kind of way), and the ones that weren’t heinous lacked any qualities that made me sit up and CARE about them or their problems.
My only issue is simply that I felt no empathy for the characters. They were mostly terrible people (and not even just in that “you’re a misguided teenager and you don’t know any better” kind of way), and the ones that weren’t heinous lacked any qualities that made me sit up and CARE about them or their problems.
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September 13, 2017DNF-Ing this one. I just couldn't take the writing style nor the story any longer. It is one of those books that has female perspectives that are obviously written by a man, which is one of my least favorite things in books. And, some of the characters don't use proper grammar in their speaking, which is fine, but the author carried it over to their prose as well. No thank you. This read more like a John Green contemporary (which is not my cup of tea whatsoever) rather than the somewhat speculative fiction I was expecting.
July 27, 2017
Bleh. Writing was bland. Flat characters that I could care less about. The second star is for the premise which sounded really neat. Wanna see what would happen if you made a choice or didn't? It sounds cool but the execution was poor. I wouldn't bother. This served as another "make sure you research your books before you buy them" moment.
August 7, 2017
Four words: he's done it again! Do yourself a favor and find a spot to curl up with this book, you won't be disappointed.
June 10, 2025
I couldn’t even finish it… I got 9 pages in and dropped it it’s genuinely fucking awful I’m sorry. The descriptions for things made me gag like I’m sorry what is “My brain was about to give birth to a radioactive midget”?? Or the obsession with asses?? I cannot tell if it’s satire because it’s so bad.. “with the crowd still climaxing” the writing sounds like it was written by a horny 13 year old boy who just learned swear words. It’s embarrassing. And the way Brian talks about women is just so objectifying it’s gross. I skimmed through a little more and all the female characters have no personality, and all the boys are insufferable. I might give it an actual read through but I will definitely be skipping Brian’s chapters. Also the dialogue hurts my brain.
Edit: apparently they just throw around the r word a few times too? I only found it once while flipping through, crossed it out because wtf? I cannot fathom how people can read this and enjoy it
Edit: apparently they just throw around the r word a few times too? I only found it once while flipping through, crossed it out because wtf? I cannot fathom how people can read this and enjoy it
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 4, 2022
This book had an interesting premise but the writing style was not my favorite.
August 25, 2017
Rating: 3.5/5
I picked this up because I saw it on BookTube and knew nothing about it. This is a book I would have never chose on my own, but I'm glad I read it. Two Roads from Here follows five teens through their last year of high school and examines how one decision can change their lives. Steinkeller then shows both outcomes of the main decision in a unique take on the traditional YA genre. However, an interesting premise does not a good novel make.
My main problem with this novel is that most of the characters are so dang unlikable . Wiley in "Road Two" becomes super creepy and slacker-y because of , and Cole in both roads is a piece of literal garbage. I understand making a character flawed to show relatability, but neither of these people have any redeeming qualities; and when you don't like a character, you don't want them to succeed. My other issue is the writing is very obviously a young man's voice. The language is very crude in certain persepctives (Brian and Cole) and definitely how a teenage boy would talk and think. This can be considered a strength for Brian and Cole, but I noticed certain phrases shifted over to Allegra and Nikki's perspective as well.
The two-option structure did not lend itself well to completely explain character motivations, like Allegra . Overall, this novel was enjoyable to a fault, but not something that deserves a reread. I would recommend this book to reluctant male teenage readers or young high schoolers, but beware that there is some more mature content especially in Nikki's section.
I picked this up because I saw it on BookTube and knew nothing about it. This is a book I would have never chose on my own, but I'm glad I read it. Two Roads from Here follows five teens through their last year of high school and examines how one decision can change their lives. Steinkeller then shows both outcomes of the main decision in a unique take on the traditional YA genre. However, an interesting premise does not a good novel make.
My main problem with this novel is that most of the characters are so dang unlikable . Wiley in "Road Two" becomes super creepy and slacker-y because of , and Cole in both roads is a piece of literal garbage. I understand making a character flawed to show relatability, but neither of these people have any redeeming qualities; and when you don't like a character, you don't want them to succeed. My other issue is the writing is very obviously a young man's voice. The language is very crude in certain persepctives (Brian and Cole) and definitely how a teenage boy would talk and think. This can be considered a strength for Brian and Cole, but I noticed certain phrases shifted over to Allegra and Nikki's perspective as well.
The two-option structure did not lend itself well to completely explain character motivations, like Allegra . Overall, this novel was enjoyable to a fault, but not something that deserves a reread. I would recommend this book to reluctant male teenage readers or young high schoolers, but beware that there is some more mature content especially in Nikki's section.
September 17, 2017
Two Roads From Here by Teddy Steinkellner (439 pages)
Overview: We've all wondered how much control we really have at our lives at one time or another. This book takes this question head on, following five high school seniors, each with life changing choices and questions, through both paths set in front of them. After the set up chapters, the book is divided into homecoming week, winter, springs, and graduation before tying it all up with a nice epilogue. Further, these sections tell the story of road one and road two. What happens because of the choices they make, and how could it have gone differently? And, ultimately, do these choices really matter or are we all headed to the same results no matter what we choose. This is a thought provoking exploration of a question that simply cannot be answered, and, therefore, it is captivating. Overall: 5
Characters: 5 There are five POV characters in the novel. I was blown away by how authentic and unique each voice was. There is no mistaking one character for another. Each of the five represents a high school stereotype or trope while giving it more depth, unique facets, and humanity. Because, really, these groups or stereotypes have arisen because they are true to reality, a problem only arrises when the shell is all that is exhibited.
First, there is Brian who plays defense for the school's football team. After getting a concussion because of a stupid choice, he must choose whether to sit out and take the heat from his teammates or play and risk making the injury far worse. While he first comes off like the typical, jerk, bone headed jock, each storyline shows us there's much more.
Then there's Allegra who gets into her dream school, Stanford, but with her mother's ovarian cancer returning and her family depending on her, she must make a tough choice. But she also must deal with complicated relationships with her friends.
Wiley is originally faced with deciding whether to risk his friendship by telling his best friend he loves her and risk loosing her or to keep his feeling to himself. Of course, as with all of these initial questions, this is only a springboard to more complex questions.
Niki is a beautiful, proper southern girl, and this works out for her until her secret past gets revealed. Deciding how far to take it with her boyfriend quickly becomes one of the least prevalent things on her mind, but it is the tipping point.
Finally, there's Cole who's spent his life rightfully resenting everyone. After enduring years of both racial and homophobic slurs his whole life, he only wants to finally get what he wants, to rise above them all and start a new life at Stanford. He's smart too, but struggles with math, so he devises a plan to cheat which would ensure him scores that would give him admission, but at what cost?
Plot: 5 Following these separate plot lines and matching how different events fall into place despite different choices is endlessly fascinating. Piecing together the plot is like one big jigsaw puzzle making the story unputdownable.
Writing: 5 I am in awe of the author. Beyond the amazing concept, there is the execution of two entirely separate plot lines that intertwine with events that happen regardless of the choice. Beyond writing nearly two different books, what he did with the characters, creating distinct voices for each and filling them out more through the eyes of the other characters, was spectacular. It was such a well written book, I could feel no mark of the author as I read from the character's section. It was simply the character voicing the story which is what you can only hope a book will achieve.
Overview: We've all wondered how much control we really have at our lives at one time or another. This book takes this question head on, following five high school seniors, each with life changing choices and questions, through both paths set in front of them. After the set up chapters, the book is divided into homecoming week, winter, springs, and graduation before tying it all up with a nice epilogue. Further, these sections tell the story of road one and road two. What happens because of the choices they make, and how could it have gone differently? And, ultimately, do these choices really matter or are we all headed to the same results no matter what we choose. This is a thought provoking exploration of a question that simply cannot be answered, and, therefore, it is captivating. Overall: 5
Characters: 5 There are five POV characters in the novel. I was blown away by how authentic and unique each voice was. There is no mistaking one character for another. Each of the five represents a high school stereotype or trope while giving it more depth, unique facets, and humanity. Because, really, these groups or stereotypes have arisen because they are true to reality, a problem only arrises when the shell is all that is exhibited.
First, there is Brian who plays defense for the school's football team. After getting a concussion because of a stupid choice, he must choose whether to sit out and take the heat from his teammates or play and risk making the injury far worse. While he first comes off like the typical, jerk, bone headed jock, each storyline shows us there's much more.
Then there's Allegra who gets into her dream school, Stanford, but with her mother's ovarian cancer returning and her family depending on her, she must make a tough choice. But she also must deal with complicated relationships with her friends.
Wiley is originally faced with deciding whether to risk his friendship by telling his best friend he loves her and risk loosing her or to keep his feeling to himself. Of course, as with all of these initial questions, this is only a springboard to more complex questions.
Niki is a beautiful, proper southern girl, and this works out for her until her secret past gets revealed. Deciding how far to take it with her boyfriend quickly becomes one of the least prevalent things on her mind, but it is the tipping point.
Finally, there's Cole who's spent his life rightfully resenting everyone. After enduring years of both racial and homophobic slurs his whole life, he only wants to finally get what he wants, to rise above them all and start a new life at Stanford. He's smart too, but struggles with math, so he devises a plan to cheat which would ensure him scores that would give him admission, but at what cost?
Plot: 5 Following these separate plot lines and matching how different events fall into place despite different choices is endlessly fascinating. Piecing together the plot is like one big jigsaw puzzle making the story unputdownable.
Writing: 5 I am in awe of the author. Beyond the amazing concept, there is the execution of two entirely separate plot lines that intertwine with events that happen regardless of the choice. Beyond writing nearly two different books, what he did with the characters, creating distinct voices for each and filling them out more through the eyes of the other characters, was spectacular. It was such a well written book, I could feel no mark of the author as I read from the character's section. It was simply the character voicing the story which is what you can only hope a book will achieve.
September 30, 2018
Summary:
This young adult novel follows the lives of 5 teens during their senior year of high school. They all are faced with a choice that changes their lives forever.
Should Brian play in the football game even if his head is pounding?
Should Cole cheat on the SAT’s to get into his dream school?
Should Allegra leave for Stanford and leave her family behind?
Should Wiley tell his best friend that he is secretly in love with her?
Should Nikki go all the way with her boyfriend?
These teens have a big decision ahead of them, who knows what they’ll choose.
What I thought of it:
For the first “section” of the book, it basically just explains what the problems these 5 teens all have and the two options each has. It switches between the perspectives of each teen each chapter. I love/hate these types of books because 1) I love the fact that they all have intertwining lives (it gives more than one story, which is interesting), but 2) I dread the cliff-hangers because once a chapter ends, it begins with the next character. Honestly, I was loving the book so far because it depicts the issues some high schoolers might deal with, how they deal, and what goes on around them.
This book is really cool because it switches between the plot for what would happen if they chose ‘Road One’ and what would happen if the chose ‘Road Two’. I enjoy the interesting sentence structure and chapter structures. The underlying meaning in certain parts really have me thinking about the symbolism in this book. I love all of the unexpected twists and turns and the metaphors ...SOOO many metaphors. But, I dislike how this book keeps on adding random bits of info out of nowhere. It is very confusing and erratic. This book touches on a lot of societal issues. It is very relatable in the sense of the thought processes of the teens and what is going through their minds. At the end of the book, Allegra gives a final summary to the Road One plotline with her senior graduation speech that ties the entire book together, which I thought was a nice touch. The epilogue had me surprised. The endings to these stories all were unpredictable and had me startled. All in all, a pretty mediocre book.
Why I rated it the way I did:
I rated it a 3 out of 5 stars because it wasn't an AMAZING book but it wasn’t horrible either. It had it’s cool aspects with the whole ‘Road One vs. Road Two’ thing, which gave it a little edge. To be honest, you didn’t really connect with the characters as much as you wanted to. Teddy Steinkellner did not do a good job at making it easy to remember which stories go with ‘Road’. Towards the end of the book I was having trouble distinguishing between the two ‘Roads’. In the end, I would recommend reading this novel.
This young adult novel follows the lives of 5 teens during their senior year of high school. They all are faced with a choice that changes their lives forever.
Should Brian play in the football game even if his head is pounding?
Should Cole cheat on the SAT’s to get into his dream school?
Should Allegra leave for Stanford and leave her family behind?
Should Wiley tell his best friend that he is secretly in love with her?
Should Nikki go all the way with her boyfriend?
These teens have a big decision ahead of them, who knows what they’ll choose.
What I thought of it:
For the first “section” of the book, it basically just explains what the problems these 5 teens all have and the two options each has. It switches between the perspectives of each teen each chapter. I love/hate these types of books because 1) I love the fact that they all have intertwining lives (it gives more than one story, which is interesting), but 2) I dread the cliff-hangers because once a chapter ends, it begins with the next character. Honestly, I was loving the book so far because it depicts the issues some high schoolers might deal with, how they deal, and what goes on around them.
This book is really cool because it switches between the plot for what would happen if they chose ‘Road One’ and what would happen if the chose ‘Road Two’. I enjoy the interesting sentence structure and chapter structures. The underlying meaning in certain parts really have me thinking about the symbolism in this book. I love all of the unexpected twists and turns and the metaphors ...SOOO many metaphors. But, I dislike how this book keeps on adding random bits of info out of nowhere. It is very confusing and erratic. This book touches on a lot of societal issues. It is very relatable in the sense of the thought processes of the teens and what is going through their minds. At the end of the book, Allegra gives a final summary to the Road One plotline with her senior graduation speech that ties the entire book together, which I thought was a nice touch. The epilogue had me surprised. The endings to these stories all were unpredictable and had me startled. All in all, a pretty mediocre book.
Why I rated it the way I did:
I rated it a 3 out of 5 stars because it wasn't an AMAZING book but it wasn’t horrible either. It had it’s cool aspects with the whole ‘Road One vs. Road Two’ thing, which gave it a little edge. To be honest, you didn’t really connect with the characters as much as you wanted to. Teddy Steinkellner did not do a good job at making it easy to remember which stories go with ‘Road’. Towards the end of the book I was having trouble distinguishing between the two ‘Roads’. In the end, I would recommend reading this novel.
February 18, 2019
I really liked the concept of this book. I didn't realize what was happening when it first happened, and I was wondering why everything was different, but I quickly picked up on it and then thought, wow...I like this approach a lot!
Giving us two alternative storylines, two alternative outcomes to two different decisions made, that's really cool.
Brian, Allegra, Wiley, Nikki and the abominable Cole. Five characters, five decisions, with 10 different ways it could go.
Some characters I just couldn't get behind, because they were so disgustingly nasty, that no matter what decision they made, the minute their name came up on the page, I wanted to skip straight ahead. I was not invested at all in their journey and couldn't care less what happens to them. Mainly Cole.
Then there was Nikki...she was another character that I didn't really like. I didn't hate her or think she was despicable like Cole. Not at all. She just seemed stupid. Like...stupid stupid. She came off as very childish and immature and her inner thoughts were boring as hell.
Wiley was even more stupid. Like, dude, she doesn't like you, get over yourself. In one of the alternative scenarios he completely loses it, and I hated that.
Brian was endearing. Both scenarios were realistic, the pressure of playing with a concussion, versus making the right decision of not playing and the bullying that followed. Brian may have seemed like a "simple" character, but I liked him and really enjoyed his storyline.
Allegra though was the most realistic and had a good head on her shoulders. I really appreciated her, and I liked how both ways, her decision was the same.
All in all, it was an interesting concept, and some parts were good, but overall, it wasn't the best story, because I just couldn't get behind the characters.
Giving us two alternative storylines, two alternative outcomes to two different decisions made, that's really cool.
Brian, Allegra, Wiley, Nikki and the abominable Cole. Five characters, five decisions, with 10 different ways it could go.
Some characters I just couldn't get behind, because they were so disgustingly nasty, that no matter what decision they made, the minute their name came up on the page, I wanted to skip straight ahead. I was not invested at all in their journey and couldn't care less what happens to them. Mainly Cole.
Then there was Nikki...she was another character that I didn't really like. I didn't hate her or think she was despicable like Cole. Not at all. She just seemed stupid. Like...stupid stupid. She came off as very childish and immature and her inner thoughts were boring as hell.
Wiley was even more stupid. Like, dude, she doesn't like you, get over yourself. In one of the alternative scenarios he completely loses it, and I hated that.
Brian was endearing. Both scenarios were realistic, the pressure of playing with a concussion, versus making the right decision of not playing and the bullying that followed. Brian may have seemed like a "simple" character, but I liked him and really enjoyed his storyline.
Allegra though was the most realistic and had a good head on her shoulders. I really appreciated her, and I liked how both ways, her decision was the same.
All in all, it was an interesting concept, and some parts were good, but overall, it wasn't the best story, because I just couldn't get behind the characters.
June 20, 2017
FIVE STARS X2
I can't stop thinking about this book.
Who hasn't made a tough choice, then wondered what life would have been if you'd gone the other way?
Elements of Cloud Atlas, Sliding Doors, and Groundhogs Day blend with a Breakfast Club quintet of quirky characters, as the question "Free will or fate?" is tackled in a year-in-the-life of five high school seniors who all make super-tough choices, with massive consequences for themselves, and each other. Then: RESET! Each makes the other choice, and the dominoes fall a whole new way. A simple idea told five complex, realistic, hilarious, quirky voices - it's riveting.
TWO ROADS is my favorite kind of fiction: It makes you stay up all night to see what happens (both ways); then makes you stay up all the next night to discuss what it all means IRL.
I can't stop thinking about this book.
Who hasn't made a tough choice, then wondered what life would have been if you'd gone the other way?
Elements of Cloud Atlas, Sliding Doors, and Groundhogs Day blend with a Breakfast Club quintet of quirky characters, as the question "Free will or fate?" is tackled in a year-in-the-life of five high school seniors who all make super-tough choices, with massive consequences for themselves, and each other. Then: RESET! Each makes the other choice, and the dominoes fall a whole new way. A simple idea told five complex, realistic, hilarious, quirky voices - it's riveting.
TWO ROADS is my favorite kind of fiction: It makes you stay up all night to see what happens (both ways); then makes you stay up all the next night to discuss what it all means IRL.
May 12, 2023
Wonderfully written! I really felt like I knew the character in this book by the way Teddy Steinkellner describes them. I love the way he tells the story from both of the “roads” the characters take. My favorite character is Nikki, the way she overcomes her challenges and pushes through hard times is very inspiring. Would recommend this book to anyone.
August 7, 2024
um i don’t even know what happened it was kinda fun until the end the end ruined it i don’t understand ksjxjakskkx goodnight
November 13, 2024
I picked up this book because I wanted to read something. Reading nothing would have been better.
I love a good alternate timeline story. I love the way they show how a character's decision impacts their life, and therefore, them. I adore when alternate timelines offer many different endings, and demonstrate how the characters have changed over the course of the book because of whatever is different in that timeline. Unfortunately, I felt there just wasn't enough of that here, which felt really unsatisfying to me. Both timelines ended up being fairly similar, which showed me that either the decisions weren't that impactful to begin with (probably) or the book was trying to tell me that it's not that big of a deal what you do, because things will work out in the end. It just wasn't what I wanted out of this kind of book.
My biggest problem with this book? Every single highschool-aged male character is an asshole. Every single one. All of them apparently "respect women", until inevitably said woman doesn't like them back, doesn't want sex, or (god forbid!) wants too much sex, and then she is refered to as a bitch, slut, whore, or any other of the many words out there that shame women and their bodies. In fact, literally every second page contained at least one of these words, and it was just... disappointing, to say the least. This book could have been impactful. It could have had the characters learn to be a bit more respectful, or at least acknowledge and do something about the toxic misogyny that was so prevalent. But no. Every character walked away without apology or realization of their words and actions, which really pissed me off. This book didn't even talk about the impacts of football on the brain, or the dangers of it, EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS AN OPENING RIGHT THERE LIKE. Ugh. The worst part is that some of the female characters blamed themselves for the guys' actions towards them, and some of them partook in the slut-shaming (Hi there, internalized misogyny, it's been a while). This was a disappointment. I expect better from books. Where's the goddamn message? You committed the crime of wanting sex, so you deserve the title of whore? You committed the crime of not returning my feelings, so you deserve to be called a word-I-feel-wrong-uttering? Every guy in this was a three year old child. And not one got called out on their shitty behaviour.
Also, I really couldn't care less about Wiley, he had no redeeming qualities, and it pisses me off that he got exactly what he wanted in one of the timelines. Guy over here either gets mad at his best friend for not being in love with him and calls her a shaming word, or he gets mad at her for daring to date someone else. Either way, this dude acts like a spoiled toddler who throws a big fit when they don't get what they want, and then he spends the rest of the book drowning in self pity. I hate this guy.
All in all? I wish I never read this toxic dumpster fire filled with misogyny of a book. All my faith in men has been destroyed. Honestly, not that there was much in the first place.
I love a good alternate timeline story. I love the way they show how a character's decision impacts their life, and therefore, them. I adore when alternate timelines offer many different endings, and demonstrate how the characters have changed over the course of the book because of whatever is different in that timeline. Unfortunately, I felt there just wasn't enough of that here, which felt really unsatisfying to me. Both timelines ended up being fairly similar, which showed me that either the decisions weren't that impactful to begin with (probably) or the book was trying to tell me that it's not that big of a deal what you do, because things will work out in the end. It just wasn't what I wanted out of this kind of book.
My biggest problem with this book? Every single highschool-aged male character is an asshole. Every single one. All of them apparently "respect women", until inevitably said woman doesn't like them back, doesn't want sex, or (god forbid!) wants too much sex, and then she is refered to as a bitch, slut, whore, or any other of the many words out there that shame women and their bodies. In fact, literally every second page contained at least one of these words, and it was just... disappointing, to say the least. This book could have been impactful. It could have had the characters learn to be a bit more respectful, or at least acknowledge and do something about the toxic misogyny that was so prevalent. But no. Every character walked away without apology or realization of their words and actions, which really pissed me off. This book didn't even talk about the impacts of football on the brain, or the dangers of it, EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS AN OPENING RIGHT THERE LIKE. Ugh. The worst part is that some of the female characters blamed themselves for the guys' actions towards them, and some of them partook in the slut-shaming (Hi there, internalized misogyny, it's been a while). This was a disappointment. I expect better from books. Where's the goddamn message? You committed the crime of wanting sex, so you deserve the title of whore? You committed the crime of not returning my feelings, so you deserve to be called a word-I-feel-wrong-uttering? Every guy in this was a three year old child. And not one got called out on their shitty behaviour.
Also, I really couldn't care less about Wiley, he had no redeeming qualities, and it pisses me off that he got exactly what he wanted in one of the timelines. Guy over here either gets mad at his best friend for not being in love with him and calls her a shaming word, or he gets mad at her for daring to date someone else. Either way, this dude acts like a spoiled toddler who throws a big fit when they don't get what they want, and then he spends the rest of the book drowning in self pity. I hate this guy.
All in all? I wish I never read this toxic dumpster fire filled with misogyny of a book. All my faith in men has been destroyed. Honestly, not that there was much in the first place.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 14, 2018
3.5 stars
Teddy Steinkellner's latest young adult novel, Two Roads from Here, revolves around the lives of five seniors and their life-changing decisions.
Brian is a football player. In an accident shortly before the homecoming game, he falls and has a concussion, and his head still hurts. He needs to decide whether or not he'll play in this football game, but it's not so black and white with the forces of peer pressure weighing on him.
Allegra is a Stanford acceptee, but doesn't know if she should commit. Her mother's deteriorating health is the largest factor in her life, and with the state it's in, being so many hours away seems like such a huge decision to her.
Cole, devious mischief-causer extraordinaire, cheats on the math portion of the SAT, using a younger high school boy and math genius he's befriended. But as much as he may not want to believe so, his moral code is stronger than he thinks, and he needs to choose between turning himself in or living with the guilt.
Nikki switched schools after an unsavory video of her having sex with her boyfriend got around school. Now, she's started afresh, but she's not sure if she should go all the way with her new boyfriend, DeSean.
Wiley, best friend of Allegra, has been in love with her for who knows how long. He's hoping to take himself out of the friend zone, and telling Allegra with an awesome band performance might just be the way to do so. Is he willing to take this chance, or should he play it safe and continue to enjoy their friendship?
Two Roads from Here was a unique novel that followed along the cast of characters if they chose one decision, or if they chose another. It's a very interesting premise, and I didn't expect the book to be formatted this way (nor realize so until part 3).
It wasn't like a choose your own adventure book, but rather followed along with one history, then the other.
To explain it better, there's a prologue-ish beginning that applies to both roads (with alternating POVs for all the characters), and then there's what happens in Road One for a time period, i.e. Fall (with alternating POVs as well, and multiple per character). After, we reset back to how the prologue ended and follow the story (alternating again) as the characters make a different decision. And then jump back to storyline one for winter, then two for winter, then one for spring, then two for spring, and so on and so forth.
Unique, right?
Indeed. But I have no idea what actually happened.
The way this novel structured is very different, and a warning ahead of time would have been appreciated. I only realized we restarted once I was halfway through the first second road.
What makes it worse was that I was constantly forgetting which road I was reading. Was it road one, or road two? What happened in which road? The polyvocalic nature, of this novel in no particular order scrambled the happenings further.
At the very least, some labeling on the margins of the page about which road I was reading (maybe near the page number) would have greatly helped me follow along with the story.
The nature of this story caused me a giant headache as I attempted to figure out what was going on.
To add onto my piles of woes, the two roads were so uncannily similar that I had an even harder time distinguishing who's who. It's like a Where's Waldo game gone wrong--except they forgot to print Waldo.
Likewise, it becomes harder when you don't read the Goodreads summary. In the Goodreads summary, it says "These five seniors are about to have an opportunity people only dream about: to experience two potential outcomes of a life-altering decision," but on the actual dust cover, it only recites the central paragraph in the Goodreads summary. So if you pick this book up on a whim from the library, there is no warning about the formatting.
Obviously, that doesn't mean it was a bad book, just that it wasn't the book for me. I read this in short spurts instead of binge reading, and I ended up forgetting what I read. My suffering reading experience should be attributed to both my lack of research and foresight before jumping into this novel and the book's faults in not providing helpful page headers and/or a description/author's note on the time-skip alternate dimension structure.
In Lauren Oliver's Replica, she includes a note at the beginning on how the book can be read--one story, then the other or alternating between one chapter of this and one chapter of that. Something like this would have been useful before I'm started.
Because of this, I'm not qualified enough to tell you about the plot besides the basics that were prevalent in both stories (as I summarized above). I'm still not sure how the book actually ended, but I know I enjoyed the journey (journeys?).
I still connected very well with the characters. I'm honestly surprised at how realistic and well written the characters were because I didn't actually care whether or not I knew what was happening because I liked reading about the characters and their struggles.
Steinkellner has a very unique voice which spreads to the characters. I enjoyed reading it because it instilled a dry sort of humor into some of them.
Here's a quote from the first line, in Brian-the-football-player's point of view:
They act like actual teenagers, not adults in teenage bodies which makes this novel so realistic. They go to a typical rah-rah-football! high school and come from a variety of backgrounds.
I got to know them increasingly well as the novel went on, and none of them were carbon copies of another. They all had flaws and struggles and played on some clichés, but weren't a full trope.
I connected well with all of them, although some more so than others. And even though I wasn't particularly fond of some, as in I wouldn't want to befriend them in real life because they're a manipulative gossip-monger (ahem Cole), I still liked reading about them.
I did find it somewhat repetitive when I read the second road after the first, which dulled down the pacing a bit, but I treated this novel more character-based then plot-based by the halfway point.
There's diversity present throughout the novel as some of the characters have different races and ethnicities (Allegra's Hispanic & Cole is black) as well as different issues (Allegra's somewhat chubby while Nikki has been slut shamed).
I still managed to interpret the profound messages about choice and other topics as all of the seniors are faced with hard decisions. Some more mature topics are mentioned such as drugs (marijuana) and sex.
Two Roads from Here is a unique YA debut, one that I think I would enjoy more during the reread compared to the first time reading. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a meaningful read about high schoolers in America--as long as you have the patience and unwavering concentration to distinguish between the plot lines.
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Teddy Steinkellner's latest young adult novel, Two Roads from Here, revolves around the lives of five seniors and their life-changing decisions.
Brian is a football player. In an accident shortly before the homecoming game, he falls and has a concussion, and his head still hurts. He needs to decide whether or not he'll play in this football game, but it's not so black and white with the forces of peer pressure weighing on him.
Allegra is a Stanford acceptee, but doesn't know if she should commit. Her mother's deteriorating health is the largest factor in her life, and with the state it's in, being so many hours away seems like such a huge decision to her.
Cole, devious mischief-causer extraordinaire, cheats on the math portion of the SAT, using a younger high school boy and math genius he's befriended. But as much as he may not want to believe so, his moral code is stronger than he thinks, and he needs to choose between turning himself in or living with the guilt.
Nikki switched schools after an unsavory video of her having sex with her boyfriend got around school. Now, she's started afresh, but she's not sure if she should go all the way with her new boyfriend, DeSean.
Wiley, best friend of Allegra, has been in love with her for who knows how long. He's hoping to take himself out of the friend zone, and telling Allegra with an awesome band performance might just be the way to do so. Is he willing to take this chance, or should he play it safe and continue to enjoy their friendship?
Two Roads from Here was a unique novel that followed along the cast of characters if they chose one decision, or if they chose another. It's a very interesting premise, and I didn't expect the book to be formatted this way (nor realize so until part 3).
It wasn't like a choose your own adventure book, but rather followed along with one history, then the other.
To explain it better, there's a prologue-ish beginning that applies to both roads (with alternating POVs for all the characters), and then there's what happens in Road One for a time period, i.e. Fall (with alternating POVs as well, and multiple per character). After, we reset back to how the prologue ended and follow the story (alternating again) as the characters make a different decision. And then jump back to storyline one for winter, then two for winter, then one for spring, then two for spring, and so on and so forth.
Unique, right?
Indeed. But I have no idea what actually happened.
The way this novel structured is very different, and a warning ahead of time would have been appreciated. I only realized we restarted once I was halfway through the first second road.
What makes it worse was that I was constantly forgetting which road I was reading. Was it road one, or road two? What happened in which road? The polyvocalic nature, of this novel in no particular order scrambled the happenings further.
At the very least, some labeling on the margins of the page about which road I was reading (maybe near the page number) would have greatly helped me follow along with the story.
The nature of this story caused me a giant headache as I attempted to figure out what was going on.
To add onto my piles of woes, the two roads were so uncannily similar that I had an even harder time distinguishing who's who. It's like a Where's Waldo game gone wrong--except they forgot to print Waldo.
Likewise, it becomes harder when you don't read the Goodreads summary. In the Goodreads summary, it says "These five seniors are about to have an opportunity people only dream about: to experience two potential outcomes of a life-altering decision," but on the actual dust cover, it only recites the central paragraph in the Goodreads summary. So if you pick this book up on a whim from the library, there is no warning about the formatting.
Obviously, that doesn't mean it was a bad book, just that it wasn't the book for me. I read this in short spurts instead of binge reading, and I ended up forgetting what I read. My suffering reading experience should be attributed to both my lack of research and foresight before jumping into this novel and the book's faults in not providing helpful page headers and/or a description/author's note on the time-skip alternate dimension structure.
In Lauren Oliver's Replica, she includes a note at the beginning on how the book can be read--one story, then the other or alternating between one chapter of this and one chapter of that. Something like this would have been useful before I'm started.
Because of this, I'm not qualified enough to tell you about the plot besides the basics that were prevalent in both stories (as I summarized above). I'm still not sure how the book actually ended, but I know I enjoyed the journey (journeys?).
I still connected very well with the characters. I'm honestly surprised at how realistic and well written the characters were because I didn't actually care whether or not I knew what was happening because I liked reading about the characters and their struggles.
Steinkellner has a very unique voice which spreads to the characters. I enjoyed reading it because it instilled a dry sort of humor into some of them.
Here's a quote from the first line, in Brian-the-football-player's point of view:
I sat outside Coach’s office with a feeling like my brain was about to give birth to a radioactive midget.
They act like actual teenagers, not adults in teenage bodies which makes this novel so realistic. They go to a typical rah-rah-football! high school and come from a variety of backgrounds.
I got to know them increasingly well as the novel went on, and none of them were carbon copies of another. They all had flaws and struggles and played on some clichés, but weren't a full trope.
I connected well with all of them, although some more so than others. And even though I wasn't particularly fond of some, as in I wouldn't want to befriend them in real life because they're a manipulative gossip-monger (ahem Cole), I still liked reading about them.
I did find it somewhat repetitive when I read the second road after the first, which dulled down the pacing a bit, but I treated this novel more character-based then plot-based by the halfway point.
There's diversity present throughout the novel as some of the characters have different races and ethnicities (Allegra's Hispanic & Cole is black) as well as different issues (Allegra's somewhat chubby while Nikki has been slut shamed).
I still managed to interpret the profound messages about choice and other topics as all of the seniors are faced with hard decisions. Some more mature topics are mentioned such as drugs (marijuana) and sex.
Two Roads from Here is a unique YA debut, one that I think I would enjoy more during the reread compared to the first time reading. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a meaningful read about high schoolers in America--as long as you have the patience and unwavering concentration to distinguish between the plot lines.
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July 11, 2017
I loved this book. Steinkellner takes five high school seniors who're each confronted with a tough decision (to go to college or not, to play football with a head injury or not, etc.), and gives us both versions of each of their stories. Every single one of the ten storylines is written in a way that gets you hooked, and I was so impressed by the way details about the characters' alternate lives get revealed. I'm sure it was a huge challenge puzzling this together (especially since all of the characters interact and many of their decisions affect each other), and the structure and pacing came out perfectly. I think this book really speaks to the truth about being 18–that you're making big decisions that could change your life for a long time to come, but you're still so young. I'm sure I would've loved this book as an 18-year-old struggling with a few major decisions of my own. As a twenty-something, I love the questions the book poses around how much these types of decisions really matter. If there was another version of you out there somewhere who'd made a few different choices along the way, how different would their life be from yours today? If the other you ended up at the same place in life as you are now, what does that mean? How much control do you have over your life, and is it about the journey, the destination, or both? Whatever the answers are, it's fun to wonder. I can't wait to gift this to my 18-year-old nephew as a college going away present!
January 26, 2018
i really wanted to love this book. and for the most part I really liked it. I think the premise is interesting, and I love the overall message. it was a little confusing to me to remember which "path" I was reading about and what had happened to the characters thus far. idk overall i just had weird feelings about certain elements of the book but I also really liked a lot of the book. i thought it was weird that the only gay character is actually the worst person in the book. i thought the way he bribed his "sidekick" was weird and not very well thought out. but i also really liked the message about slut shaming. then I thought it was weird with the messages about the friend zone like i definitely didn't hate the book but I also didn't love it
January 20, 2024
This book… oof. It wasn’t great. Arguably, it’s really not even good.
Steinkellner was trying so hard to make each of his characters sound different and unique that none of them sounded real. Teenagers don’t sound or talk like that. The inner monologue and dialogue was SO cringey. And usually I can look past that but this time it was tough. These characters are supposed to be high school seniors but they sounded like a bunch of middle schoolers. (This makes sense when you look at the previous works of the author and realize they are all middle grade books.)
Also, the young adult girls/women in this story were especially awfully written. You could tell they were written by a man. Especially with regard to Allegra, her actions in both story lines made no sense for her character.
All the characters fell into major stereotypes that were one dimensional.
On top of all of that, the structure of the book was so confusing to follow. Having two different “roads” makes sense but how they were divided up and delivered was hard to follow. By the end I gave up even trying and it didn’t even really matter.
Steinkellner was trying so hard to make each of his characters sound different and unique that none of them sounded real. Teenagers don’t sound or talk like that. The inner monologue and dialogue was SO cringey. And usually I can look past that but this time it was tough. These characters are supposed to be high school seniors but they sounded like a bunch of middle schoolers. (This makes sense when you look at the previous works of the author and realize they are all middle grade books.)
Also, the young adult girls/women in this story were especially awfully written. You could tell they were written by a man. Especially with regard to Allegra, her actions in both story lines made no sense for her character.
All the characters fell into major stereotypes that were one dimensional.
On top of all of that, the structure of the book was so confusing to follow. Having two different “roads” makes sense but how they were divided up and delivered was hard to follow. By the end I gave up even trying and it didn’t even really matter.
December 10, 2021
This book had a very interesting concept and I love books from different perspectives and lives but there all connected in one way but I couldn't after the 60 or 70 pages when Big Mac lost all his friends and Maddy's boyfriend which is the leader of the football team and turned his back against him and embarrassed him in front of the whole school and that's when I stopped reading there were other reasons such as when Allen wanted to ask his best friend Alleza out and it was just awkward in the book it even though he didn't ask her out yet due to the fact that her mother got cancer for the second time it just seemed uurrgg , but the one character that I found the most interesting would have to be Maddy and her back story it was the only thing in the book that felt natural like it was real but the others felt like they were just putting on a show and there was no depth to them they were just dry people trying to do something that wasn't working.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2017
This book was really addicting! I thought it was so cool how in both roads, each choice one person made affected someone else's choice too. Even though there wasn't a whole lot of action, I still stayed engaged with this book all the way through. There were some characters that I hated as people, or didn't really understand their actions, but there were no characters that I didn't enjoy reading about! One reason however why I rated this book only 4 stars, was that it was a little confusing, with so much going on, about which road we were currently reading about, and who had made what choice in each road. However, besides decreasing the number of perspectives we as readers followed, this problem is almost unavoidable. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, and definitely felt like it had a strong underlying message that came out in the end. :)
April 26, 2020
I’m not sure what I make of this book. The only characters that particularly stood out or were interesting were the girls. But Allegra is kind of boring as a person even though she had so much potential to be something more than a “goody two shoes” whereas Nikki was interesting to see from the sexuality side but again not too much was done with her until the very end and it was very one note. The other characters were just kind of grimy guys. Brian got a little bit better but it didn’t really seem like it was because that was who he was it was kind of what the story needed.
I liked the idea of choice versus fate but I’m not sure if this book was long enough to really dive deep into that especially with the multiple characters and point of views.
I liked the idea of choice versus fate but I’m not sure if this book was long enough to really dive deep into that especially with the multiple characters and point of views.
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January 30, 2022i dont see how people actually thought this is a good book when it's not. it's very racist and homophobic of the author to make every poc character a stereotype. the amount of slang in here is cringey. just because teenager use it doesnt mean it looks good in a book.
the shifting of povs is very confusing and it seems rushed how everyone's story is written lazily. the description was actually really good that's why i bought it in the first place. i expected a wholesome coming of age teen book when it's literally just typical american high school drama where the popular football jock gets the popular girl.
why use the r slur too? the author has serious issues. im actually not surprised that a straight white man would write something like this.
stories i read online are way better than this
the shifting of povs is very confusing and it seems rushed how everyone's story is written lazily. the description was actually really good that's why i bought it in the first place. i expected a wholesome coming of age teen book when it's literally just typical american high school drama where the popular football jock gets the popular girl.
why use the r slur too? the author has serious issues. im actually not surprised that a straight white man would write something like this.
stories i read online are way better than this
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