we all looked up
Author: Tommy Wallach
Published: 2015
On Goodreads
My Rating: 
The best thing we can give people is a moment of true connection before the end.
Before Ardor, the world kept spinning. People kept on living their lives as if there’d be a tomorrow. Now there are only two months to live…maybe. A 66.6% chance of Ardor, an asteroid, hitting earth. Rules are broken. Laws become irrelevant. There is no longer enough time to do everything that you had a lifetime to do. The only thing that matters is what you do with the time that’s left-the time that could be left.
Follow four teenagers as their lives crisscross each other and they leave their mark on one another and the world in eight weeks. They’ll fall in love. Face tragedy. Most importantly, they’ll leave behind what everybody else labeled them and find their most true selves. There’s no time for labels at the end of the world.
There aren’t enough words, and I’m sure I can never find the right words to truly describe how amazing book was. I cried more than once. From beginning to end I was anchored in. There was no putting this down. Thanks for the Trouble made me smile and laugh and seek out the good things no matter how big or small. Now, end of the world books normally don’t attract me because they all end virtually the same way, with the end of the world. YET! This book was so much more than that. It split me wide open with the way it showed just how much other people can sway you knowingly and unknowingly. And in this short time to do everything you ever wanted in it, they got a chance to turn it all around, get rid of it, and have what they wanted. I was so overwhelmed and in a good way! This book truly made me feel not so alone.
Peter, Eliza, Anita, and Andy all have these depths that truly reach to depth of people at heart. The part of us we wish would come to the surface, but just can’t because of internal fear. This is the end of the world Breakfast Club. They’re the jock, the slut, the overachiever, and the stoner, but together they’re just four friends looking for the right way to spend their time before Ardor comes down on them. They’ve all got these parts of them that struck my vulnerable spots. Other people dictated these kids’ lives because these people had gotten into their minds and hearts, the most powerful and vulnerable places within us. These four characters were deep and were the more immense and non-whiney side of teenagers. Their problems are relatable and powerful. I was a complete mess. I can’t say I relate to any of them, but I know people who do. I was just sucked in to their stories. Each have their own story and each story intertwines with each other.
- Eliza is just trying to show the world the end of the world because hopefully she won’t feel as alone as she does.
- Peter just wants to do something good and finally admit his feelings for Eliza. Feelings that he’s been hiding for a very long time.
- Andy just wants to find himself and he’s afraid that it means being a coward.
- Anita wants to be herself, not what her parents want her to be. She’s done hiding and living a life that’s not her own.
The minor characters like Misery, Bobo, Chad, and others were also very interesting.
The way this book broke down into sections based on a countdown until Ardor could hit earth, which made me increasingly anxious. In each section was a chapter by each character from their POV. And GRRRR on that! Each chapter left me wanting so much more. They were incredibly written. I was superglued to them. Eliza was my favorite, which brings me to tell you, I lied a tid-bit. I relate to her, but not in the sense of what she does or how people label her. I relate to her in how she feels and thinks about the world. She expressed everything she felt through her photography and through writing. Also, she love Mazzy Star and SO DO I! Her tastes are equivalent to mine as are her worries and emotions.
Anyway…back on track because I ramble more than Bugs Bunny. Each character was surprisingly personal with each chapter. Granted two guys chasing one girl–not good. But both for different reasons. All four characters were chasing something. The somethings just tend to be out there. Thank goodness the end of the world makes those kind of things seem not so out there.
The twists and turns were gut-wrenching, not because they took me by surprise. My heart was just taking so many emotions! This is not a Nicholas Sparks kind of feel This is its own special kind of feeling. I told you, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to be able to find the perfect words. I’m struggling hardcore. When something stuns you, surprises you, makes you feel unlike anything you’ve ever felt then it happens. And it did happen with this book. It’s going up on my special bookshelf with all of my major favorite books.
If you’re wondering whether or not I recommend this book, I do. TOTALLY. It does more than pull heartstrings. It reaches out to your weak spots and pushes you. Makes you think about the right now. So, I hope I convinced you to go pick it up and read it because I’m so glad I did. Wallach is so amazing! ALSO, there is a soundtrack that goes with this book! That’s freaking exciting. It’s not every day that a book gets a soundtrack. It’s also been optioned for a movie. I can’t wait to see how it goes.
We All Looked Up, the album – iTunes
Quotables:
“The best books, they don’t talk about things you never thought about before. They talk about things you’d always thought about, but that you didn’t think anyone else had thought about. You read them, and suddenly you’re a little bit less alone in the world.” (Mr. McArthur to Peter, p. 11)
“The prospect of rescuing someone from death itself—what was more compelling than that?” (Peter, p. 92)
“Sometimes I forget that death existed before Ardor.” (Anita to Doug, p. 264)
“Do you ever wish you didn’t look the way you did?” (Anita, p. 333)
“Your mind could tell you who to hate or respect or envy, but only your body—your nostrils and your mouth and the wide, blank canvas of your skin—could tell you who to love.” (Anita, p. 358)
more to come soon…
-K.
P.S. Song today? Cry Cry by Mazzy Star.
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The Scarlet Reader 
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