You in Five Acts - Una LaMarche

You in Five Acts by Una LaMarche
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Blurb (on back of book): It’s always been you—you know that, right?
Five friends at a prestigious New York City performing arts school connect over one dream: stardom. For Joy, Diego, Liv, Ethan and Dave, that dream falters under the pressure of second semester, senior year. Ambitions shift and change, new emotions rush to the surface, and a sense of urgency pulses among them: Their time together is running out. 
Diego hopes to get out of the friend zone. Liv wants to escape, losing herself in fantasies of the new guy. Ethan conspires to turn his muse into his girlfriend. Dave pines for the drama queen. And if Joy doesn’t open her eyes, she could lose the love that’s been in front of her all along.

MY OPINION: *****
Bonus Summer Reading Challenge #9: A book that made you cry

This book made me so depressed and yet I loved it. I feel like if a book manages to make me cry (though, honestly, it really isn't that hard), it makes it infinitesimally better.

By the first chapter, I was about to dump this book. I didn't like the whole idea of using the word "you" to describe another character. However, I kept going because the overall plotline sounded interesting, and I'm so glad I finished it.

The author constantly uses "you" to describe the most important person to the character whose perspective we're reading from (hence the title). For a while, I didn't like it because it felt like second person almost, except that the "you" isn't the reader but is instead the person that they're in love with. The book constantly switches perspectives between our five main characters and each and every one of them had their own voice, which is something that I greatly appreciated. To me at least, I didn't feel as if they were all built from the same mold and all had their own thoughts and weaknesses and strengths and worries and insecurities and that is something that I love in books with multiple perspectives.

Many people complain about the "you" being confusing, at least in the beginning. I think that this is true for the first couple of chapters or so. It really threw me off when reading from Diego's perspective first and then Joy and both of them referring to the other as "you". After a while, though, I got used to it and would love to read another book like this, though I'm fairly sure it's a very unique style of writing, at least in my experience.

Our five main characters were all very different, and I found many of them unlikable. This is true of real life (let's be honest, nobody likes everybody, not truly), and this didn't take away from the book. However, killing the one person that I truly loved was so depressing

Joy was my second favorite. A large portion of the book seemed like it was from her perspective, and she definitely felt the most fleshed out. She is an aspiring ballerina and she keeps going for what she wants, despite the fact that her own parents don't believe in her dreams. She's dark-skinned (I can't remember what race/ethnicity she is, if the author ever specified), and her dance instructor is constantly putting her down. However, she stays strong, despite having a broken ankle and being put down, and I truly admired that about her. Her obliviousness was quite angering, but it truly made the ending that much more powerful because of how much she missed out on.

Diego was my favorite character out of the five. He was so sweet and passionate and strong and I felt so bad for him throughout the entire book. He's been in love with Joy for forever but he's stuck in the friend zone. I also can't remember what race he specifies in (Puerto Rican?) but he's a straight male who is passionate in ballet. I loved that and the dance that he does with Joy brought out so much emotion that I almost cried right then.

Ethan was my least favorite. He was just so ANNOYING and vengeful and if he hadn't done anything, nobody would have... well, read the book.

Liv. She had so many problems and although I mentally shook my head at her the entire time, I felt really bad for her. She just kept spiraling down this black hole and kept fueling it because she was so lost. WARNING: Substance abuse

Dave. Ugh. He was just annoying and I don't even know why. At least he got his happy ending.

Long story short, I cried so you should read it because it's that good.

Main Character: Joy, Diego, Liv, Dave, Ethan
Sidekick(s): Each other, etc
Villain(s): Drugs, Dante, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book is very real to life.