Holding Up the Universe
Jennifer Niven
Libby used to be the fat girl who had to be lifted out of her house by crane (as per Gilbert Grape), but now she’s just a ‘regular’ fat girl attending the local high school and trying to live down her past. Jack just wants to keep continuing on being the sort of popular guy – but he’s hiding a secret that will continue to affect his whole life.
Libby connected with me really strongly and left a lasting impression for me. She’s a strong female protagonist that nevertheless needs support from her family, friends and a counsellor. No woman is an island, and Libby is no exception.
Ok, so how about Jack? I think Niven gets inside the mind of a teenage boy exceptionally well, and presents a well balanced character who has individual flaws (and a very interesting ‘weakness’). I’d never heard of the ‘weakness’ he has, and it is really quite fascinating to read about. I think YA fiction novels at the moment are doing a great job of removing stigma around various disabilities and it’s fantastic.
The plot. It keeps you reading, it has some fantastic twists that the reader sees coming (most of the time) and that the characters don’t see at all. Although you might think you know what is going to happen next, or what horrible thing another person might do, you really have no idea at all. I was satisfied and couldn’t put the novel down.
I’m going to say that this novel deserves a place in my favourite YA novels of fiction that deals with difficult issues. If you liked FanGirl, Any Other Night or Caramel Hearts, this novel is going to satisfy you. Niven has written another novel, All the Bright Places, that I haven’t gotten my hands on yet – it might actually be a requested novel for me for Christmas now. 5 stars for this one, and I look forward to getting the chance to read another similar.
Penguin | 6 October 2016 | AU $17.99 | Paperback
I feel like I didn’t get a really good grip on Snow’s character. But then you consider that she has been locked up and completely drugged for the last 10+ years and you can’t be surprised. She felt quite cold to me, and never seemed to warm up. I’ll be looking for more character development in the second novel of this.
Martha has lost a lot of important people, and I can see why she does the things she does. But she came across as a selfish, shallow character that I simply couldn’t like very much. And considering that I was supposed to get attached so I would be worried when she was close to dying, well, I wasn’t.
So you might think I have given away the whole novel with my opening paragraph – but in fact, you know all of that information almost from just reading the blurb and reading the first chapter. That alone would have killed the novel for me.
This novel was awful. It was well written and everything, and the dialogue was believable, yet the plot left a lot to be desired. It was repetitive, and didn’t seem to go anywhere. I didn’t feel for any of the characters and the whole lot felt staged.
Who doesn’t love an underdog? Nessa is going to fight for what she has, and pretend she doesn’t care about everything else. Her legs aren’t going to stop her, when her mind is sharp. Her mind ends up being the thing that can save her. Other reviewers have picked on her being a character trope, but I didn’t have an issue with that. I appreciated that Nessa couldn’t see her own faults until it was to late – she couldn’t be too self-sacrificing after all.
This novel reminded me of another that I read a while ago, but never got around to reviewing (very naughty of me). It seemed to be aimed at younger readers, with just enough danger to excite them. Apart from the initial rather traumatic way that Izzy thinks of her brother’s death, it’s not too scary. I can’t think of the ideal audience though, apart from children and early teens who love reading. There are other novels which stand out for me a lot more strongly.
Ok, so another reviewer has pointed out that the novel is filled with predictable character types. I think that’s certainly true – plucky heroine protecting her too kind brother and tolerating the hatred of a foster brother who blames her for his parents’ fates. However, I didn’t find it offputting. It gave me more space to think about the implications of the novel, rather than having to do too much thinking about the characters.