I really enjoyed the storyline in world building in the novel. I also really liked the characters. I thought this was a solid read, and I will definitely be reading more by this author.

I finished reading Unedited and it was not what I was expecting. Based on the name Unedited and the blurb for the book I should have know it was going to be interesting. There was a lot of rambling and could have been shorter. I still don’t think I could explain this books to someone there was just so much. Honestly I thought it was interesting and weird which are books I like it was just too much of it. I think about half of this book was pretty good and the other half was gibberish.

The blurb for this book calls it a "love story." I don't really even think that this book is a story (much less a love story, which at least implies that there will be characters you can root for).

My video review of this book: https://youtu.be/LIcjM_VxdbE?t=30

It's not a story. It's more like a ramble. A vagabond stumbling through the desert, parched, meandering, hopeless, and boring.

I feel so strongly of "It's not you, it's me." I had a 1star amount of fun. But it feels like it's my (and the publicity team's) fault that I went into this book expecting characters to ship, a speculative fiction plotline, and humor similar to Princess Bride.

Here's who I would recommend this book to: people who love the movie 500 Days of Summer (loser protagonist, pining after a doomed relationship). People who like when the author is a character in the book (not in a John Green way, more like in a Lego Movie way). People who like it when books prioritize Weirdness over Plot. I know those people are out there, and I hope this book finds them.

I have a lot to say about this book¹, but most of it would be an angry rant², so I'll just abstain³.

* MY THOUGHTS ON EDITED VS UNEDITED: *
This book has a partner book, which is Edited. It's a shorter edited version of Unedited.

If Edited is a (sometimes barely coherent) pererration, Unedited is so much more. It truly does read like a rough draft, difficult to follow and full of extraneous details.

However, if that is the kind of book you're looking for: a drift through abysmal characters and an Ode to Writing, Unedited is the superior version.

[ Just as an FYI: ]
Unedited could also be called "Uncensored." Edited could be passed off as an older YoungAdult book, but Unedited has way too much (sex, language, etc) to keep that label. For context (at least in the copies I read), Unedited is 3.2 times longer than Edited. It also has 5.1 times more F-bombs. The density is somewhat increased.

Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

¹ The part of this book that bothered me the most is when Lyga is complaining that no one likes his endings, how he can't write good endings, and how they're problematic for him, and. And I've read other Lyga books; I LOVED THE ENDINGS. It was my favorite thing about the books. So to have our page time wasted with a pity party is lame. But to have it wasted on critique that ISN'T EVEN ACCURATE, even worse.
² This book seriously angered me. I had high hopes for it, and it bombed every one.
³ Of course I couldn't help myself. I had⁴ to include some pretentious and contradictory footnotes to help you understand what reading this book is like.
⁴ Or maybe I didn't write a review at all. Maybe this is all in your head; a complicated and irrelevant dream⁵ sequence.
⁵ You're on Goodreads. The beige colorscheme reminds you of the stucco Walmart building you once kissed a girl in. But wait, you don't have lips, they're all blurry. They say to you, the⁶ password is broccoli. You nod, then panic. Where does that key go! You try it in your bikelock? Finally, a way to escape. You wake up, only to find your blanket has been replaced by a mat of woven bacon.
⁶ Dream sequences don't have quotation marks. You would know that if you'd ever dreamed before.

I have loved Barry Lyga in the past., His work has intrigued me. Here, I was dropped into the middle of a mess that never solidified. We just made a leap of faith that didn’t ever pay off. I was left wanting. In both versions, I fell flat on my face trying to make it something special.

This book is a dumpster fire. I read the companion book and hoped that this version would give clarification about certain missing plot lines. Short answer: it did not. This book was so caught up in stroking the writer’s ego that I had to take extended breaks from the story. The protagonist is an insufferable asshole and the narrative often diverges into meaningless discussions of existential philosophies. “Unorganized” would be a better title for this book. I appreciate the author’s attempt at meta-fictional analysis, but this story is an anxiety-inducing failure.

I have read many Barry Lyga books. Normally I find his works outstanding. This book though, was too inside baseball. Too many asides distracted from the flow of the narrative.

I thought the summary was cool and figured I’d check it out. But the story just talks about a guy super obsessed with a girl. It felt like it just went on and on and I wasn’t really sure where the love story was. The style of writing was interesting but didn’t help develop the story. It was hard to remain invested in the story. I guess it wasn’t for me.


Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

I was not a fan of this book, it's hardly about anything and feels very overblown. I understand using a touch of mystery to help a book look more enticing is good but this really just caused so much confusion.

This book is unique and I would say this was more of an “experience” read for me. I am not sure if I would say I enjoyed this or if I just kept reading because the book was just so different. This book is v chaotic. I also read edited, which was more plot/character driven in my opinion. Both were weird books, neither could be described as love stories in my opinion. I think some people would enjoy both of these if they’re looking for a wild ride and teenage angst.