A Thousand Lives Lived: I Hate Everyone But You by Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin // Trashy.

I Hate Everyone But You, by Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin
Publication: September 5, 2017, by Wednesday Books
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, LGBT
Pages: 344
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating:

So begins a series of texts and emails sent between two best friends, Ava and Gen, as they head off to their first semesters of college on opposite sides of the country. From first loves to weird roommates, heartbreak, self-discovery, coming out and mental health, the two of them document every wild and awkward moment to each other. But as each changes and grows into her new life, will their friendship be able to survive the distance?

My Thoughts:

DNF @ 150(?) pages

I hate to say this, but this book was awful, and probably the worst book I've read this year. I Hate Everyone But You lowered my expectations for contemporary YA stories. Will we keep receiving and reading books that are written in this awkward format, solely because the whole world is under a social media craze? This book was written ONLY in the format of emails and text messages, which I found lacking. Because of this weird, boring format, the story lacked any sort of purpose, and any sort of a plot. In total, the most I can say is that there was no point to this story. I do not see why we had to read about two characters who did not have any depth in them, and who were just trashy. Gen and Ava are the definition of trashy characters. I did not enjoy the whole college partying sorority setting where the authors literally focused on drugs, sex and alcohol. COME ON. There's more to friendships and college than just that.

What was this book's purpose? To highlight the friendship between two damaged characters? I guess so. I'm also aware that the story eventually focuses on some LGBT aspects, but I did not read far enough to sense that. And I can imagine how lacking that would be — it's probably just an extra addition to catch the attention of some readers. Ugh.

I Hate Everyone But You was a complete disappointment. And I don't even feel bad about giving this a one-star rating. It was boring, dumb, and the format just made me yawn. Skip this one for a better contemporary read. There are many.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*