The way Billy and Steve watched each other made me think that maybe it wasn’t even about me. Or at least, not all of it. They were looking at each other with the kind of fixed stares you only get when it’s personal.

This is a book based on the television program. This book coincides with season two of the television series. It tells events from the side of Max. It also shows events in her life before she comes to live in Hawkins. This book is basically a character book for Max that fleshes out her character. Mike is such a hostile and petty bitch, though… ugh, I love my depressed repressed cringefail emo loser son Stranger things (каквато съм аз) - книгата проследява изтощителния мисловен процес в главата на мъжкараната Макс Мейфийлд от пристигането ѝ в Хокинс през събитията, развили се във втори сезон, без обаче да застъпва интересните места. Вместо това ще се убедите що за изрод е Били и защо не заслужава симпатиите на публиката. But I did like the writing in here, middle-grade as it was, and the greater emphasis given to Max's choices in season 2. It made me crave a sequel book about Max across seasons 3 and 4. it’s so interesting seeing Max getting anxious and worried that she might become too much like Billy… babe, you could never<3excuuuuuse me… that random middle-aged lady trying to humiliate Max by stealing her diary wtffff is your problem, woman ??? love that Max just does not question the Dustin x Steve friendship... she's like 'ah yes how totally normal that this seventeen-year-old dude spends his Saturday afternoon hanging out with a couple of kids on a junkyard playing monster hunters' Max going "there are four dumbass boys lurking behind a building staring at me and whispering, thinking I can’t see them"… they are idiots, alright

Max immediately comparing Will to her extremely queercoded best friend from California, I see what you’re doing (besides, WillMax is so underrated, I need more of them *snivels*) Help my eyes got wet just from reading the first sentence cause I love Max so darn much and S4 BROKE ME low-key annoying that the dialogue is often copied one-to-one from the show… would have loved to see more detailed conversations PLATONIC MADWHEELER IS SO REAL THOUGH. Max is literally like: now that Mike and I have had our heart-to-heart in the gym we can finally become besties. And Mike is like: haha no :)awwww Max gushing over Nancy and how fierce and pretty she looks… cute cute (bisexual awakening? maybe? hehe) No, generalnie była w ona totalnie nie potrzebna. Historia w niej przedstawiona jest dosłownie akcją 2 sezonu Stranger Things, tylko opowiedzianą z perspektywy chyba najnudniejszej postaci z tego sezonu - Max. Max naively hoping to become friends with Billy and to get along with him eventually… ugh, now I am sobbing again because of Dear Billy EW. Max witnessing the Milkyway hug and claiming she has never seen anyone look as sure about someone as Mike. lmao S4 "wHo sAiD tHaT i diDn’T? / yOu'rE mY suPerHerO!" Mike is in your walls.

The fog didn't look so much like cigarette smoke in a bus station anymore. It looked like the ocean. Mike yelling "because you're annoying" is still sO hilarious to me because… buddy plsss take a look in the mirror lol. Besides, you guys are literally the epitome of "same person, different fonts" This book is season 2 as told through Max's eyes, which actually doesn't bug me as a concept. I liked delving into Max's home life and her thought process, and there were some really solid scenes. To be fair, the first half was really enjoyable. rounding my 3.5★ rating up to four stars even though it was a fairly average read and a pretty straightforward retelling of the events of S2 for the most part, and there really wasn’t much in there I could possibly use for my thesis, but I don’t care. I love Max and I love S2 and I am emotionaaaaaal😭😭😭Then Steve was in front of me, shoving me out of the way, squaring up with the bat like he'd face down the whole world and take a chunk out of it before he let anything get to us. It's been a while since I saw season 2 of Stranger Things, so I liked returning to it in this book. Runaway Max is both a prequel of Max's life pre-Hawkins as well as her thoughts across the second season. I loved getting a deeper look into her mindset and her life before, especially her relationship with Billy. When Lucas and Dustin tried to help them up, though, Mike shrugged them off and put his arm around Will. Lucas is presented as "nice," but nothing else. We actually get more emotional Mileven stuff in here than Lumax, which I thought was just.... odd. Isn't this about Max? Wouldn't this be a great opportunity to really focus on their relationship? One would think. ADHD!Max is real and valid (she's always been real and valid, but this book makes it veeeery explicit)