Barely Missing Everything

by Matt Mendez

Amazon Prices:

Hardcover: $17.99

Paperback: $9.99

Kindle: $10.99 (Not available on Kindle Unlimited)

Audible: $11.90 (Not available on Kindle Unlimited)

Before Reading Facts:

Barely Missing Everything by Matt Mendez was published in 2019 by Atheneum.

Page Count: 320 pages (paperback) 320 (hardcover) 320 (Kindle)

Audiobook length: 07 hrs 42 mins

Chapters: 23

Languages: English 

Summary of Book:

“Juan has big plans. He’s going to be the El Paso boy made good, land that basketball scholarship, and make something of himself — something better than his mom’s, Fabi, string of cruddy boyfriends. He just needs to make it happen.

Juan’s best friend, JD, has plans too. He’s going to be a filmmaker one day, like Tarantino or Del Toro (not Spielberg). He’s got a camera and he’s got passion. What more could he need?

Fabi doesn’t have a plan anymore. When you get pregnant at sixteen, you relaize plans don’t always pan out and that there are some things you just can’t plan for . . . .

Like a run-in with the police. Like the implosion of your family. Like your past coming back to haunt you. Like the fear that you, your son, and everyone you love are missing something . . . missing everything.” – Atheneum

Author Biography:

” Like his characters, Matt Mendez grew up in central El Paso. He received an MFA from the University of Arizona and is also the author of the short story collection Twitching Heart. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Tucson, Arizona. Barely Missing Everything is his debut young-adult novel. You can visit him at mattmendez.com.” -Atheneum

Book Review:

Overall Book Rating: ★★★★★ / ★★★★★

My initial reaction: Not entirely sure how I feel. I think I would have to re-read it again and see if I can really take it in. 

When I picked up this book, I was not quite sure what I was going to expect. I thought it was going to be similar to The Hate U Give, hitting on racial tensions, racism, and discrimination. The plot of the novel was really up in the the air, so I was prepare for whatever was to come. I will say that the novel was not what i was expecting. To me, it seemed as though there was not one major topic that was the focus. There were a lot of complications in the life of the characters, but I actually quite enjoyed that. 

I found it quite interesting that the novel did not narrow in on one major issues as The Hate U Give did for me. Barely Missing Everything rather focuses on the struggles of the characters, all of those struggles, and how those problems affect their lives. It was more realistic in the sense that the major plot and conflicts did not seem overdone or overdone as is the case in many books. I very much enjoyed the idea of portraying the problems the characters have in a realistic way and having the reader walk with the characters through those issues. 

I will add that I do wish the ending could have been different. I was not a huge fan of the ending. In my mind, I was imagining the story going in a completely different direction then the novel actually took. However, the ending was not a deal breaker for me. I still quite enjoyed the story altogether.

Audible Review:

Narration Rating: ★★★★★ / ★★★★★

Narration by Ramon de Ocampo, Cynthia Farrell, and Timothy Andres Pabon

The Audible narration for Barely Missing Everything was very enjoyable. The only really issue I had with the reading is the pronunciation of Tomasito in the story. It drove me nuts, but that was the only real issue I had with the narration. After a while, the pronunciation of this character got on my nerves. Their narration at 1.0 speed was too slow for me and seems like its in slow motion. Their narration 1.25 speed was at what I would consider normal, conversation speed. The favorite listening speed for me was at 1.75 speed. For those of us who like to multitask and listen on the go, I recommend listening at a 1.5 speed, so one does not miss anything. For those who are listening while reading the book and want to listen at a faster pace, I found 2.0 speed to be the best speeds. 2.5 speed was good too, but I liked 2.0 speed better and easier to follow. 3.0 was too fast for me, and I was missing a lot of what the narrator was saying and had to eventually slow down the narrator’s reading speed. However, it is manageable. If you’re used to speed listening, 3.0 speed should be manageable. 3.5 speed was definitely too fast for me.

Other works by this Author:

Novels

• Barely Missing Everything

Short Story Collection

• Twitching Heart