Name: The Haters
ISBN: 9781419720789

Jesse Andrews

A road trip adventure about a trio of jazz-camp escapees who, against every realistic expectation, become a band.

A Book about Being in a Band

The Haters

A band. A road trip. A gig that maybe doesn't suck. Corey and Wes are convinced nothing cool can come of their lame summer at jazz camp, when along comes Ash - all blonde hair and brash words - who cracks their world wide open. Finally, something they can't seem to hate. Convinced that a great musician is made on the road, the three friends flee camp and begin the epic, hilarious road trip: The Haters Summer of Hate Tour. Amidst sneaking into seedy bars, evading their parents and the police, and spending every minute together in a makeshift tour bus, romance blossoms and bursts and hygiene takes a back seat. Wes begins to realize the limitations of hating everything: it keeps you at a convenient distance from something, or someone, you just might love.

A Band. A Road Trip. A Gig That Maybe Doesn't Suck.

I didn’t really connect with the book but I found myself more interested towards the end.

Marisol Rodriguez

kind of hilarious. there were obvious problems & it’s not perfect. i found some of the wikipedia and listing stuff tedious. wes is a teenage boy so of course this isnt gonna be a feminist manifesto but <spoiler>he gets sexually assaulted at one point in the book and we just roll move on from it? im willing to believe he just doesnt understand that that’s what happened to him because boys/men have been failed by society & dont realize when theyve been assaulted but really? I think it shouldn’t have been written if it was just going to be treated sooo lightly. especially cuz another character was there while it was happening and didnt say a thing.</spoiler> but still. IT WASNT TIL A WHILE AFTER THE JAZZ CAMP ESCAPe That i finally got into this book. i wasnt really feeling it previously, but it just became so unserious and ludicrous in the 2nd half i had to laugh. Like silly fucking teenagers. So dumb. Hilarious. i had a laugh! reading is fun. the book was pretty fun. if you don’t like it in the first half, maybe put it down though. definitely not for everyone. the teenage characters WILL annoy the shit out of you so if you’re not down w that then pass on this.

yvette

1/3/24 - pulled from storygraph

SPOILERS AHEAD:

kind of hilarious. there were obvious problems & it’s not perfect. i found some of the wikipedia and listing stuff tedious. wes is a teenage boy so of course this isnt gonna be a feminist manifesto but <spoiler>he gets sexually assaulted at one point in the book and we just roll move on from it? im willing to believe he just doesnt understand that that’s what happened to him because boys/men have been failed by society & dont realize when theyve been assaulted but really? I think it shouldn’t have been written if it was just going to be treated sooo lightly. especially cuz another character was there while it was happening and didnt say a thing.</spoiler> but still. IT WASNT TIL A WHILE AFTER THE JAZZ CAMP ESCAPe That i finally got into this book. i wasnt really feeling it previously, but it just became so unserious and ludicrous in the 2nd half i had to laugh. Like silly fucking teenagers. So dumb. Hilarious. i had a laugh! reading is fun. the book was pretty fun. if you don’t like it in the first half, maybe put it down though. definitely not for everyone. the teenage characters WILL annoy the shit out of you so if you’re not down w that then pass on this.

Addie 🌻

I really did not like this book, like at all. I knew that about 50% into it, just wished I’d stopped there but instead I suffered through the rest hoping it would get better - clearly it never did.

Lauren Tabor

Ella Zegarra

Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Tenia el temor que Jesse Andrews fuera del tipo de escritor que solo pública una vez en la vida, luego de que su libro debut haya sido un éxito. Grata sorpresa que me lleve cuando me llega notificación de que tendría próximo libro a publicarse este año.

Tengo un enorme cariño por el autor, es de los que están muy presente en redes sociales publicando cosas bastante divertidas. Seh, soy de las que juzga el ingenio de un escritor en redes sociales, sobre todo en Twitter, si no publican algo ingenioso de vez en cuando, siento que me han fallado y mentido en sus libros. Cosas raras mías :D 

Before you know it, the future is the present. Think about that. Future sneaks up on you

No sabia hasta que empecé el libro que sería un road trip, y básicamente con eso se ganó muchísimos puntos para mi.

THE HATERS

Tengo unas ganas de tan solo insertar el audio que grabé como nota de voz con mis comentarios ja ja ja Pero jamas pasará 

El otro libro de Jesse Andrews, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl me gustó aunque al final sentí me faltó algo en la conclusión, en The Haters me pasó al revés, fue la manera en la que la historia real empieza que me dio unas ligerisimas ganas de abandonar el libro. La cosa es esta, Ash, una de las protagonistas, se aprovecha un poco de Wes y Corey, diciéndoles que hagan lo que ella quiere. Ahí fue donde recordé que ya no soy adolescente jajaja La adulta que legalmente soy, estaba escandalizada, en realidad es que no me gusta mucho cuando los personajes son influenciados a hacer algo de lo que no están muy seguros.

"Maybe we can jam soon!" I said, hoping to make him feel guilty

Pero luego esta la otra cosa: así son la mayoría de adolescentes, van a hacer cosas irresponsables y sin pensar en las consecuencias. Entonces, estaba en un horrible debate interno donde apreciaba que el autor retrata bien la personalidad de un adolescente común, pero luego estaba la otra parte que pensaba que si mis hermanos hacen algo como esto, los mato.

Un problema ser adulto. 

Me alegra haber ignorado a mi lado de supuestamente adulto responsable y disfrutar de la locura de estos adolescentes. He disfrutado la lectura, salvo por el detalle del inicio, el libro está lleno de mucha comedia típica de Jesse, si has leído su otro libro, sabrás que es bastante inapropiado y satiriza mucho las cosas. Perfecto para mí. Ahora, ese también fue un poco de problema, porque me recordaba demasiado a Greg, si no supiera que Wes es quien cuenta la historia, The Haters podría pasar como un AU (universo alternativo) de Greg con amigos diferentes. O sea, me ha encantado, no me aburrí nunca y ni siquiera tuve ganas de saltarme párrafos, aunque la narración es distinta, la voz la sentí muy parecida. 

It felt a little bit like I was on the set of the world's worst morning TV show. A show called Morons in the Morning, with Your Exhausted Stressed-out Host, Wes Dolittle

Al final The Haters terminó siendo un libro muy nostálgico, no sé si solo para mi, pero ese final que le dio, un poco abierto, tiene a mi órgano cardíaco doliendo. ¿Sabes lo que es FOMO? Son siglas que significan "Fear Of Missing Out", es esa sensación con la que muchos vivimos en donde sentimos deberíamos estar haciendo otra cosa, que el tiempo no nos va a alcanzar. Creo que es la manera Hipster y cool en la que algunos se refieren a una ligera ansiedad. Al final termine con un FOMO espectacular, pero no por mi, lo cual se me hace curioso, sino por los protagonistas. Ese es el problema cuando personajes muy reales tienen en aventuras nada comunes. 

I was mad at myself for being so happy, because I knew it was just going to hurt that much worse when it was all taken away. So I couldn't really enjoy it, except I was almost shaking from enjoying it so much

Voy a tratar de hablar con coherencia sobre Wes, un personaje que para mí es muy importante, y no me refiero solo a la trama en el libro, sino como representación. Wes es un niño adoptado de Venezuela (si recuerdo bien), ¿que es lo importante de esto? Es que normalmente cuando me ha tocado leer con personajes que no son nacidos en USA, los escritores tienden a usarlo como su señal de que se arriesgaron y el personaje termina siendo más una especie de mascota o bandera, Wes es una voz fresca, su historia no gira en torno a cómo no pertenece y necesita encontrarse a sí mismo o algo asi. Créanlo o no, Jesse Andrews lo trata como un adolescente normal, sin recalcar a cada rato cuan diferente y original es.

Hay otros detalles de los quería hablar, pero siento que ya hice esto demasiado largo. Tendrás que descubrirlo tu mismo :D The Haters es un libro donde adolescentes idiotas hacen cosas idiotas y todo sale horrible e hilarantemente desastroso.

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Shannon Miller

Funny Af. I love Jesse Andrews writing style.

Jessica 

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  As a note, a printed galley of this novel was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.


The thing about The Haters is I wanted to love it--I really and truly wanted to because A.) the plot sounds incredibly fun and promising in theory and I could really use a laugh an a road trip plot. B.) Jesse Andrews is hugely talented and made me fall in love with Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and his writing. And C.) Amulet's promotion of the novel was the cutest I've seen in the last few years and I'm a sucker for cute things. So when I flipped the book to read its summary I was pumped.

But the problem was that it didn't live up to expectations at all and felt equal parts lackluster and try hard. Jesse Andrews could have done so much better in my eyes but the simple matter is that it is likely just not my cup of tea personally. Because while it wasn't awful, awful, awful and had some bright spots, it just wasn't all that great in my view. I wanted so much more from it and it was just not meant to be.

Alas! 

Continued: BOOKEDJ

The Haters A Book about Being in a Band

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