Young Adult Book Reading Challenges discussion

Is I Heart You, You Haunt Me your first novel in verse? If yes, how do you like the format? Is it easy to read? Or do you prefer regular prose? If it's not your first, how does the writing of this book compare to the other novels in verse you've read?

It wasn't my first book in verse. I have read Ellen Hopkins and Samantha Schutz before it. I quite enjoy reading novels in verse. They're quicker to read for one ;) and there are no useless words and phrases, the story is kind of stripped to its essential bones.
IHY,YHM was my first book by Lisa Schroeder. Compared to Ellen Hopkins I didn't find her prose to be as artistic. It did sound nice but it wasn't as complex as Hopkins. I'm very willing to read her other books though :)

This was my second novel in verse (first was Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams). I expected to not really like reading verse, but I really can't imagine this book written any other way. I liked it better than Glimpse. And honestly, I like that I was able to read it in about an hour.

I have read a few books in verse and have to say, I Heart You, You Haunt Me is not my favorite. This format provides an opportunity to express raw emotions without all the fluff, but this novel mostly left me cold. I much more prefer Sonya Sones's works and David Levithan's The Realm of Possibility.

This
was my first
novel in verse.
And I
will wait
unitl I read more
to decide
if I enjoy
reading in verse.

Nevertheless,
I was very impressed
with Lisa Schroeder's
economy
of
words.

I've read a number of books in verse but they're written in the 'classical' meaning of the word - The Odyssey, The Illiad, The Divine Comedy, Don Juan.

It's interesting to see a return to verse for telling stories although the modern novels don't follow the same rigid standards of rhythm and metre that were applied to original verse forms.

I haven't read a book in verse before. I wasn't impressed at first, but once we got past the opening scene, I really got sucked in. I felt that the verse did an excellent job of portraying her depression.

When I first picked up I Heart You, You Haunt Me from the library, I didn't realize it was in verse. If I had, then I probably wouldn't have read it, as I would rather read a novel than a bunch of poems. However, I decided to read it anyway and was very impressed. I loved that the style of the verse was sometimes more poetic and sometimes more like prose. It was a nice change. I liked that you could see a lot more of Ava's emotions from the verse, opposed to if it was written in prose. I would definately give verse another shot after reading this book.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has put down a book because it's written in verse. Even though I've liked a couple novels in verse, it's definitely not my preferred style of writing. I always felt slightly guilty about it.

I usually put down books written in verse, but then this year I've read a couple and have been impressed with, as some of you put it, the economy of words to tell the story. At first I thought, "Oh the authors just wrote a short story and then divided up the lines to look like verse," but now realize that it takes a lot of work and control of the language to create a story that evokes so much emotion and says so much in a few words.

I agree with Betsy, that while I admire the authors who write in verse, like graphic novels, these novels are not my preference, although I'm more willing to try more.

This was my first book written in verse. It took me a bit to get into it, but I enjoyed it. I think it kept the story fairly simple and really had only one storyline. Its simplicity was a nice break from other books I have been reading.

This was my fourth YA book in verse, and I liked it. Out of the Dust is another awesome book in verse, as is Make Lemonade.

In this case it made for a fast read, but helped you feel Ava's emotions. It's the way I would imagine Ava's journal would be, filled with these poems and her deepest thoughts. Kind of like a love letter to Jackson...

I was surprised about how easy it was to get used to. Somehow it conveyed her emotions more without going into a lot of detail. It moved along fast. I was really surprised when I opened the book. It only took me a couple of hours to read, but I could feel everything she was feeling, the parents, friends, etc. Impressive.

I was thinking I hadn't read much verse, but I've read most of the ones mentioned already with the exception of Crank. I've read tons of classics because I majored in English. I think Morte D'Arthur is written in verse as well, which is one of my favorite stories ever. My favorite modern book written in verse is Sold by Patricia McCormick. I HATE books about children being mistreated, so verse was the only way I could have gotten through this story.

As for the verse in this story, I was not impressed. I didn't think about Ava being depressed as Rita said. If that is the case, I can swallow it a little better. What else can I say, I prefer rhythm and rhyme.

This was my first verse book...I was nervous I would not like it at first but I defiantly liked it and will try another book out in verse.