book review // “the outsiders” by s.e. hinton

title: the outsiders
author: s.e. hinton
genre: modern classic
type: paperback
pages: 160
start: 05.08.2017
finish: 05.08.2017
rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me.”

what it’s about:
ponyboy curtis is a greaser. he doesn’t own much, he doesn’t have much money. but he has his brothers and the other greasers – a group of friends, who are there for each other and always get into fights with the socs. the socs are the rich kids, that always pick on the greasers. this is ponyboys story about his life and the night that changed everything.

what i think:
i didn’t know what to expect from “the outsiders”. of course i heard a lot about it and a lot of people have read it in school. i wasn’t one of these people. i have never read this modern classic. so i was happy, that it became my random read for august. i was excited and i read it in one sitting, because, let’s be honest, it was amazing.

this book is addictive. i couldn’t put it down. ponyboys story grabbed me right from the start and it was told so good, that i got all the chills and all the feelings while reading it.

at the beginning i had some problems, because the writing is very descriptive. you get every detail on everybody and it slowly builds up to the night, that changed everything. it was a wonderful build up, because deep down i knew something bad is going to happen and through the writing, i got to know these characters very good and i got attached to them. then there are these hints, where i needed to mentally prepare myself for the big bang.

and a big bang it was. right from the point of “the night” it just doesn’t stop to be suspenseful. there are things happening, that i never thought would happen. and this was the beauty of it. i had no idea and i was sitting there speechless and in my little bubble, because this book wouldn’t let me go.

in the end i was a mess. i was shocked, i was angry, i was sad – so many emotions. but i loved the ending too. i love, when an author is going in this direction and i always get goosebumps when that happens. i think the best thing for me about this book is, how naturally ponyboy told his story. these are hard and unbelievable conditions he is living in, but his telling was as if this was everyday’s life. it scared the s*** out of me. i couldn’t believe what i was reading. but in the end, this was exactly what kept me turning the pages.

what you should know:
“the outsiders” is no fluffy coming of age story. it’s a book about teenagers who don’t have a good life. they do not have money, they do not have the best family conditions but what they have is each other. and they need each other because the incidents that happen in this book are tough. you will be shocked. your emotions will go up and down. you will feel with these characters but you will also be very mad about how naturally violence is taken in this book. and there is a lot of violence, so be prepared for that!

have you read “the outsiders”? did you like it? have you seen the movie and can recommend it?

“the outsiders” on goodreads
s.e. hinton on goodreads