Review: We All Looked Up

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

Publication date:  March 24th 2015

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Number of pages: 384

Series: N/A

Genre: YA Contemporary/Post-Apocalyptic

Source: Received in exchange for review. This has not influenced my review. Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster Australia and the Aussie YA Bloggers & Readers.

Goodreads synopsis:

Four high school seniors put their hopes, hearts, and humanity on the line as an asteroid hurtles toward Earth in this contemporary novel.

They always say that high school is the best time of your life.

Peter, the star basketball player at his school, is worried “they” might actually be right. Meanwhile Eliza can’t wait to escape Seattle—and her reputation—and perfect-on-paper Anita wonders if admission to Princeton is worth the price of abandoning her real dreams. Andy, for his part, doesn’t understand all the fuss about college and career—the future can wait.

Or can it? Because it turns out the future is hurtling through space with the potential to wipe out life on Earth. As these four seniors—along with the rest of the planet—wait to see what damage an asteroid will cause, they must abandon all thoughts of the future and decide how they’re going to spend what remains of the present.

Review:

If you’re one of those naturally curious, over-imaginative people, then of course you have wondered what would happen in the case of an impending apocalypse. You know, as you do. Which is why We All Looked Up would practically be eye candy for you.

With one of the best covers and book designs in book history, We All Looked Up explores the catastrophic events that finding out the end of the world was coming could potentially bring. To do this, we follow the story from the points of view of four different teens: Anita, Peter, Eliza and Andy.

Each one of these teens are very, very different from each other. My favourite was easily Anita, however. I felt like I understood her the most. I loved Andy too, though. He was just too cute. Peter and Eliza however, I could take or leave. I think the book could have been just as good, if not better, if they weren’t in it, or at least took a backseat.

Really this book could have been one big quote. I’m so grateful to have been introduced to Tommy Wallach’s writing. It’s impressive. Almost every line is deep and beautiful and therefore, quotable. I also read in the back of my copy that he has created an album based on the book? That’s pretty cool. I would love to listen to it one day.

I did have two problems with the book though. I felt like the pacing was way too slow at times and I actually began to struggle to pull through it towards the end.

And number two was that I felt like the climax never really picked up towards the end and it ended up being a little bit anticlimatic. Don’t even get me started on the ending. And this is where I move on quickly before I spoil it.

I absolutely loved the little meteor tracker in the book. It added just that little bit more quirkiness to the book. I love the cover so much. It’s actually perfect. Believe it or not, it’s exactly what I picture the end of the world to look like.

Perhaps my favourite thing about the book was how thought-provoking it was. It brought up so many points I had never even really thought about to do with the apocalypse. I won’t say them but it really was interesting.

I would absolutely recommend this book. I think most people will probably be able to pull at least one little thing from the many things in this book. For me personally, it was the themes it explored. The writing of course was a bonus and the design of the book is absolutely phenomenal.

Everyone can take something away from the deep and stunning pages of We All Looked Up. A phenomenally beautiful read that will make you question everything – from your existence to your next meal.

4/5 comets
Meteor shower. A great show!

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Goodreads author bio:

Tommy Wallach is a Brooklyn-based writer and musician. His first novel, We All Looked Up, will be published by Simon and Schuster in April 2015. His work has appeared in many nice magazines, such as McSweeney’s, Tin House, and Wired. He has released an EP with Decca Records, and will be independently putting out an LP in Spring 2014. He also makes music videos, including one that was exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum. You should buy him dinner.