Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing for the e-arc!
I want to preface this by saying I'm a fan of complexity in literature; I love complicated magic systems and purple prose. This novel has neither, but I found myself enjoying it nonetheless. The magic system is pretty simplistic. It's not exactly unique; in all honesty, Atypical skills just sound like average superhero abilities. For example, the narrator's father can levitate objects, and her brother can read people's minds. The language is simple and accessible, which is fairly standard for YA, but it's not what I personally look for in a novel. The narrator's tone is a bit juvenile. I often found myself forgetting that Rose is actually a young adult. She is 19, but there are times when she acts a lot younger.

That being said, there were some great things about this novel. It had excellent diversity (main character is a Jewish lesbian, her love interest is a pansexual Latina), the dialogue was heartfelt, and the pop culture references were funny (one of the characters is a Stucky fanfiction writer). I love the different POVs, and the way each central character has their own writing format. Emily's blog posts were so real, as were Aaron's forum discussions. I love that the narrator is a lesbian, but her story does not centre around coming out or discovering her sexuality. When so many queer narratives follow a coming-out narrative, it is refreshing to read a story where the narrator is secure in her identity.

I thought this book was good and love the writing style. The story was action packed but mostly was shown through the character's reaction. It was an entertaining read. I didn't connect with the main characters as much as I thought I would. Overall I enjoyed this book.

I really enjoyed reading this story. I liked that the story is told a little differently from multiple points of view. Some point of views being forum posts and blog entries really helped give the story more depth and helped flesh out the characters and more of their personalities. It made the story feel very modern. This book highlights the every day struggles a person with abilities might face and how they would learn to accept them. It was more of an inward dive into dealing with powers and balancing it with a normal life. I really liked the part when her new girlfriend met her family and how everyone was trying to keep things normal, but struggling. Parts of the story became a little slow but didn’t hurt the storyline. The mystery of how the characters were linked added a nice bit of intrigue and tied things up pretty well at the end. Overall, it was an interesting glimpse into what a family with superpowers would be like and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’d recommend it to others.

Some Faraway Place by Lauren Shippen follows Rose: a nineteen year-old who wishes she had powers like the rest of her family until one day she discovers she has powers of her own. I thought it was interesting how the story was told through a series of logs - digital posts and journal entries/letters - from the different main characters. The plot was easy enough to follow; although, I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I thought I would. Overall there are interesting themes about how what you wish for may not be as great as you thought it’d be, which is interesting and refreshing to see in a YA novel.

I loved this one! I'm a huge fan of Lauren Shippen's entire Atypical universe, and this book did not disappoint. The plot did feel kind of stretched out, and there were parts that seemed superfluous or long, but the ending was fantastic and made up for it.

I received an e-arc from NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review.
The book description is a bit misleading since the story focuses on three other characters besides Rose, each one following a different format. Emily writes blog posts, Aaron: internet forums, Damien: letters and Rose writes in a journal. I felt like most of the action happened outside the pages and what was actually written was the characters reaction to certain events. It’s important to have listened to The Bright Sessions podcast since it adds far more context to the story told here. Although I don’t think it’s necessary to read the prior books since I didn’t, and I understood the story; I felt that if I’ve had read Damien’s novel his story would’ve been clearer in this one.
It was an entertaining read that distracted me from finals, but it felt like it was missing something. I felt annoyed every time Rose’s journal entries began with a summary of the main event and then said “It all started…” as it dragged the reader to the beginning of the story. I don’t think I would’ve noticed if it wasn’t as constant. The main plot is driven by miscommunication by the protagonist and most of the recurring characters. Rose felt like a very plain and passive character, which is discussed at the end of the novel. I did like the story, but ultimately, I felt like it could’ve been way more. Maybe I had very high expectations since The Bright Sessions was one of my favorite podcasts in 2020. Still, I can’t wait for what Lauren Shippen releases next.
Here's a playlist I made on Spotify based on the book: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5zXjJqDwD2EFpadReG2UqW?si=JFLQTj12Tca-1GiJ2K69BQ&utm_source=copy-link