We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Received: Borrowed
Publication Date: March 24th 2015
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Point of View: 3rd Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 13+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
BLURB:
Before the asteroid we let ourselves be defined by labels:
The athlete, the outcast, the slacker, the overachiever.
But then we all looked up and everything changed.
They said it would be here in two months. That gave us two months to leave our labels behind. Two months to become something bigger than what we’d been, something that would last even after the end.
Two months to really live.
REVIEW:
2.5 stars, maybe? Another case of ‘‘great concept, poor execution.’’ And was it really necessary to have two guys chasing after the same girl? I didn’t see what was so special about Eliza. Yes, she was super pretty and super talented… but rather self-centered by moment. I love caring and considerate characters, two qualities she scantily showed.
Excuse me while I shudder with horror at how widespread love-triangles are in the book world.
Moving on.
Two months before an asteroid decimates your world. What do you do? Do you …
1) Sit and pray that the 33.33 of chance it doesn’t wins on the 66.66 that it does
2) Keep on with your life; an asteroid won’t thwart you from getting your high school diploma!
3) LIVE: do whatever you wanted to but never had the courage to, say whatever is in your heart that you were afraid to, follow your dreams, make dreams, LIVE
Eliza, Anita, Andy and Peter all chose the 3rd option. Eliza creates a blog, Anita runs away from her home, Andy starts his chase of a dream (or, shall I say, ‘‘girl’’) and Peter decides to stop lying to himself and to, instead, pursuit his own happiness.
Labels indeed, a lot of them. And, by reading the synopsis, I truly thought that the whole asteroid-is-going-to-crush-our-country thing was to change all of that. False. Maybe the labels become less defined but they’re still there, especially regarding Eliza’s character. Countless times had characters called and thought of her as a ‘‘slut.’’ Maybe she stopped her night activities but people still remembered her as a marie-couche-toi-là, meaning extremely easy. But that was, of course, false too.
I’m being very negative right now… it wasn’t an execrable story, hence my not giving it a one-star rating. The characterization won’t get any praising from me, but I must admit that the story itself did make me ask myself a couple of spiritual and fundamental questions. This alone, for some people, would be enough to give this book a five-star rating.
Because not any book can provoke our minds.
Hit or Miss Books 
I’m so so sorry you didn’t like this one 😦
I’ve heard the writing is incredible and I’m still very curious to read it!
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I’ve already read reviews of disappointed readers, you’re not the only one in that case !
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Interesting cover for this, it looks more like a photograph than an actual cover.
Sorry this was poorly executed. It sounds like it had potential.
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Great review, Lola. I get so bummed out when a book has so much potential but it just falls flat for me. I hope your next book is a winner! And I agree on how the love-triangle is being used so often. I just want a book with one sweet love interest now please and thanks.
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I’m already annoyed. And I haven’t, nor have any plans, of reading this book! The “heroine” sounds so shallow!
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Ah difficult thing… too bad it wasn’t more than that lady… I hope your next read is better. I think I’ll pass this one.
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Ack I hate that situation, there are so many books I’ve read with AMAZING concepts which are then muddied by poor characterization and world building, love triangles and an irritating protagonist, I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy this one Lola – and trust me, we can all rant about love triangles in the book world!
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I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this one 😦 it’s one of my favourites this year so far, although when I read it I was expecting it to be terrible lol Andy and his chasing of Eliza was one of the things that annoyed me (it felt so pointless). I can totally understand why people don’t like it though. It’s one of those divisive ones.
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I too love this premise, and was glad of the thinking it had me doing
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Yeah, I’m not feeling this one. The labels would bother me as well, and the characters sound frustrating. Plus you weren’t the only one who had these issues so I think I will be skipping this one. Nice review!
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I didn’t know that there was a love triangle in here! Ugh. I feel like I’ll have the same review like yours, Lola! Great review and thanks for the heads-up.
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I hated all the unecessary drama! The gang fights, drug things, stabbings, etc. I was like… “anything else?” For me it was too much. I loved Eliza but not as a love interest. As a person. As a love interest she was self-obsessed and a snob, lol. Great review Lola! While thought provoking and wonderfully written it doesn’t excuse the rest!
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I felt exactly the same way as you about this book. It had so much potential! Great review.
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