We All Looked Up is an excellent coming-of-age novel that evokes John Hughes and is quite simply one of the most compelling contemporary novels I've read in years. Tommy Wallach writes some of the most realistic, flawed characters out there and he isn't afraid to show what actual teenagers are like. This novel is a beautiful portrait of humanity and it doesn't stray from showing the highs and lows of life. We All Looked Up is an impressive feat of literature that will give readers a glimmer of hope and inspire them to live life to the fullest. 
 We All Looked Up follows four high school seniors as they try to live with the impending collision of an asteroid called Ardor. No one knows for sure if it will strike the Earth, but what they do know is that life can't go on anymore. Anita is tired of being the perfect child with straight A's, who vies for her father's acceptance. Eliza doesn't want to be the "slut" everyone thinks she is, she doesn't want to be herself. Peter has had the time of his life being a teenager and fears that he'll never experience anything more. Andy doesn't want to be an adult, he just wants to live his life without any sort of responsibility. 
 This book is extremely character-driven and rides on the emotions and tension that surrounds our cast. WALU reads extremely fast and I couldn't stop reading as Ardor drew closer and closer. Readers will need to find out what happens to each of the four main characters and will love watching them develop and grow all in the matter of a few pages. There's such a sharp difference between who Andy, Eliza, Peter and Anita are at the beginning of this novel and who they are at the end. This novel is an exemplary coming-of-age novel and has pitch-perfect characterization. 
 WALU follows a group of teens in Seattle and this book features a wide variety of characters with different ethnicities and sexualities. Most of the main characters are Caucasian, but I was pretty happy to see Hispanic, trans* and African American characters in this book. This is a step in the right direction and it was refreshing to see a book where America is shown as the melting pot it truly is. People should see themselves in literature and I think WALU will resonate with countless readers. 
 I'm usually not a fan of ambiguous endings because I'm a very concrete person who needs to know everything and anything. Tommy Wallach leaves WALU on such a note that is both hopeful and satisfying, I absolutely loved how it ended. This isn't the kind of ending everyone will love, but it's the right ending for this novel; nothing else would've worked so effectively. Wallach lets readers decide for themselves what happens next without giving any hints as to what happens next. It's a ballsy ending for sure and it was a perfect way to wrap up all loose ends in this one. 
 We All Looked Up is an excellent stand-alone from a promising writer who will enthrall readers from start to finish. Wallach writes excellent prose that hooks readers in like catchy song lyrics so it was no surprise to me that Wallach is also a musician. This novel truly shines and has the most lifelike and flawed characters I've ever read about; We All Looked Up is bound to be a hit with massive cross-over appeal.This review was originally posted on Bookish Antics