I’m honestly kind of surprised this book has such rave reviews. I found it mostly dull, and the affair between the main character and a man twice her I’m honestly kind of surprised this book has such rave reviews. I found it mostly dull, and the affair between the main character and a man twice her age wasn’t very compelling. It started so easily, without much build up or tension, and I never felt like they got to know each other in a meaningful way—but I think I was supposed to believe that they were in love and therefore the ending was tragic. I didn’t believe in either, though the way everything fell apart in the end was (finally) the most interesting part of the book. On the way there, though, although the stakes were implied or told directly, I never much felt them emotionally.
I felt distant from the characters the whole time. There were so many instances where conflicting viewpoints were being battled out in front of the main character, and I simply didn’t know what she felt or how she was reacting. Also, I found the lack of quotation marks especially irritating, as it stripped and diluted any emotion in the dialogue for me. I had to reread a lot, and since I wasn’t finding the reading particularly interesting, that grated.
The blurb on the back of the book oversold it, too, imo, suggesting that the affair set everything else in motion when it didn’t.
The most compelling part of the book was Cushla’s relationship with her student, Davy, and his family. The ways she tried to help but accidentally made things more difficult was very sad, and I connected with that a lot as a teacher myself....more
I was really enjoying the first half of this book, but then the plot got convoluted and then all the other issues with the book were more clear and haI was really enjoying the first half of this book, but then the plot got convoluted and then all the other issues with the book were more clear and harder to ignore.
So now, with the review, I'm going to lay out those issues from the beginning. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The novel opens with Jo at her father's wedding to "Three," as in "Third Wife." Jo has immediately marked Elizabeth out as an enemy, though the two hardly know each other. This, at least, feels a little fair—why on earth would you MARRY somebody without getting to know their kid first?
I became uncomfortable in the first ten pages when Jo's best friend Dana was flirting with a thirty-year-old wedding guest. Jo and Dana are about to start their senior year. In high school. Dana hooks up with the "cougar," as they call her. And the book only treats this as a problem because Elizabeth's conservative religious mother sees the two getting frisky outside of the cougar's hotel room right before they hook up. Even though Dana is clearly into this, it's never even acknowledged that this is statutory rape, that this woman is wildly inappropriate in her attraction to a 17-year-old. (Jo and Dana's ages are never said explicitly, I'm just assuming that they haven't turned 18 BEFORE their senior year begins. And I'm still bothered even if Dana IS technically over the 18-year-old threshold because she's still in high school, or STILL NOT AN ADULT). Jo basically shrugs and moves on.
Jo and her father move from Atlanta, Georgia to Rome, Georgia, where Elizabeth lives. Because Elizabeth doesn't want to leave Rome. The novel wants to paint Jo's dad as this wonderful father and that they have a wonderful relationship, but I don't buy it from this very first premise. His daughter has one year left in high school, and he decides to move her away from her entire social network of people because his new wife can't dig Atlanta for one year? He would seriously uproot his gay daughter to move to a small, conservative town... and THEN ask her to keep her sexuality a secret in this new town? So that his life, and his new wife's life... would be easier?
Jo keeps insisting that radio preacher father is totally cool and supportive with her being gay and that it was never a problem, so Jo agrees to go back into the closet in Rome if 1) she gets to go on a big trip with Dana after graduation, and 2) she gets to host her own religious youth programming from his ministry, because she wants to "change hearts and minds" of the religious community about LGBTQ+ issues. Great... except I wonder why her father, who hosts this very popular show, has never once discussed these issues with his audience already, especially when it hits close to home? I'd hardly call my father supportive of my sexuality if he's never taken the opportunity to preach that same support openly.
Instead, Jo and Dana come up with the idea that if Jo is going to blend in as straight in Rome, she may as well do as the Romans do, i.e., get a whole new wardrobe, cut her hair more feminine, etc. etc. Jo treats it as a big joke until she actually finds that she gets treated better when she's more visibly passing as straight, and this better treatment is somewhat a relief to her.
At school, she befriends BTB, a boy with disabilities. What disabilities? I dunno; he just acts ultra young and only talks about elephants and wears elephant shirts and collects elephant art and stuff animals and books. At first I assumed he was on the autism spectrum and elephants were his special interest, but then later it's revealed that in the womb his twin Mary Carlson's cord got wrapped around his neck and caused his intellectual disability. I have to admit that I didn't pick up on just how ableist the writing of BTB was until I read some other reviews.
Jo is immediately interested in Mary Carlson, not realizing she is BTB's sister. But she knows Mary Carlson is straight, and she knows she's supposed to keep her head down. But Mary Carlson and her friends treat Jo pretty poorly for no reason until Jo figures it out.
“You’re totally coming with us to the game this Friday.” She looks to Mary Carlson. “Right? I mean, we’ve thought she was in Mr. Ned’s class since school started and completely missed out on getting to know her.” Then to me. “We all love your stepmom, and Foundation Baptist kids stick together. We’re a family.” I want to ask how my being in Mr. Ned’s class would have stopped them from getting to know me, because say I actually was, I would still be a part of this so-called Foundation Baptist family. Jessica seems oblivious to her slight.
Every single person that ends up being part of Jo's tightknit community of friends assumes that Jo is disabled because BTB is disabled. That BTB can't have any friends that aren't also disabled. They also assume that when BTB tells them that Jo is a new friend, that actually Jo is his girlfriend and that he doesn't know what he's talking about when he says Marnie from the grocery story is his girlfriend. Yikes.
The above quote is the only time that Jo even considers calling them out for their ableism. She never does. And when she becomes absorbed in Mary Carlson's group of friends with Betsy, Gemma, and Jessica, Jo basically stops hanging out with BTB. Oh, sure, he's around—because he's related to Mary Carlson. But mostly BTB's function seems to be a way for Jo to show Mary Carlson that she's a good person and to win Mary Carlson back. I'll touch on this again later.
The part of the book that I liked was the beginning of Jo and Mary Carlson's romance, when Jo and the reader doubt Mary Carlson's sexuality. Mary Carlson is dating boys and talking about boys and... admits that she doesn't like how boys get to handsy, and that she assumes she'll feel differently when it's the "right" boy. Mary Carlson seems extremely conflicted about who or what she wants. Jo and Mary Carlson's friendship is cute and they have good chemistry and like to joke and laugh together. Mary Carlson is sweet and kind and there's a scene where Mary Carlson teaches Jo how to golf and couldn't be less interested in the very cute golf instructor.
But the book goes downhill the moment that Mary Carlson comes out to Jo and tells her that she has a crush on her, which takes all of a couple weeks. Although Mary Carlson seemed deeply conflicted about who she was or what she wanted before, the moment that Jo reciprocates the feelings, Mary Carlson becomes very bold and very interested in coming out publicly to the rest of the world.
There's two problems that I have with Jo and MC's relationship once they realize they're into each other: 1) Jo lies to MC and pretends to be new to coming out herself, instead of just explaining the deal she has with her father. WHY? She's already told George, her beard, and this creates unnecessary drama because MC HATES liars and also makes it so MC can never truly get to know Jo or her past, effectively stunting their relationship growth, 2) I think the author didn't want Jo to constantly and consistently lie to MC, so instead of showing their relationship developing through further conversation and getting to know each other, the only thing they do once they're together is make out. The cute flirting and chemistry is gone, and Mary Carlson in particular only seems interested in the physical aspects of their relationship until she is also interested in...
Coming out. Quickly. As in Jo has to plead with MC to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to take their relationship public. So in the time span of less than months, Mary Carlson goes from a girl trying to make a relationship with Chaz work to a girl that wants to shout her love from the rooftops. It doesn't feel true to Mary Carlson's personality that has been developed so far. And the love that's developing between the two girls feels too rushed and underdeveloped. Their feelings are so strong about each other, but they don't truly know each other!
I wish we had seen some dates of Jo and MC, some conversations, some relationship building that made me believe how intensely they felt about each other. But we don't. They make out at a garden. They make out on the couch and get frisky before getting interrupted and nearly caught. They sneak out of classes and make out by the vending machines.
Of course, Jo doesn't want to risk losing the radio show or the trip, but she finally decides that she will risk it to be with MC... just the day after Thanksgiving. But, turns out that her new stepmom is pregnant and inexplicably nearly loses the baby on Thanksgiving, and has to be on bedrest, and can't handle any stress or she may just lose the baby. So, instead of Jo even using this as a plausible excuse to delay the timeframe with Mary Carlson and to come clean on her own terms, she just... breaks up with her. She doesn't want to come clean and have Mary Carlson break up with her, and also potentially out her to other people and therefore cause the family stress anyway... so she tells her nothing, and just dumps her. And Mary Carlson gets PISSED and calls Jo a coward. And based on what MC actually knows, this seems like a strong reaction, particularly for the time frame, and makes me like Mary Carlson a bit less.
While I liked the relationship between Jo and her group of friends, another problem with the writing was that all the characters had one defining characteristic and that's it. Gemma was smart, Betsy was sexual, and Jessica was judgmental (actually, Jessica was forgettable—as in, I literally forgot she existed at all, until she became judgmental). Barnum liked elephants. Jo was... religious and gay? What WERE Jo's interests before she hid them all away to pass as straight in Rome? She accompanied Dana to all these raves and parties, but never seemed that into the party scene herself. No wonder we never see deeper conversations between the two girls: besides her secret, Jo has nothing to say about herself.
Mary Carlson comes out to her parents and her friends. Jessica is a total bitch about it and carries on about the wages of sin and is deeply homophobic. She ditches the friend group, but not before being a total hypocrite and getting real handsy with Chaz. Jo, however, still buys Jessica a Christmas gift "in case she comes around." Excuse me? This is the girl that went on and on about how lesbians are gross and how now that they knew Jo wasn't intellectually disabled, they could hang out. What exactly is compelling about Jessica's friendship???? Why is Jo even considering accepting Jessica back as a friend? Why?
MC moves on almost immediately, as in there's another girl telling the school that they're dating before Christmas even happens. But the new girl is also terrible and finds Jo's old secret social media past, and reveals to MC that Jo has been out in Atlanta for forever! Jo's parents finally relent and say she can come out (of their own accord!) and Jo tells her pals, who concoct a scheme for Jo to get Mary Carlson back and to get Deidre out of Mary Carlson's life because she's toxic.
And then Jo uses BTB to get back into MC's good graces. The secret plan is weird and doesn't seem like it will work. Jo is hesitant, but that seems strange since she pretended to date her beard in order to make Gemma interested in him (???) so they could get together. She's not beyond secret plans.
There are two parts where Jo uses BTB to get back in MC's good graces. She buys MC a Christmas gift of a charm bracelet with an elephant charm. or BTB, she has her dad sponsor the elephant sanctuary for a year in BTB's name. She invites BTB (and others) onto her radio programming show, knowing MC will be listening, and then uses the Christmas episode to come out.
Ultimately, the build up of the relationship between Jo and Mary Carlson is cute, but I don't buy their intense feelings for each other especially because Jo never gets to share her true self with MC. The execution of their relationship is terrible, and all the character's are one-dimensional. 2 stars.
“Talk to me. Please. I love you for who you are. Always have, always will,” she says. “What are we working with here? Are you genderqueer? Bisexual? I“Talk to me. Please. I love you for who you are. Always have, always will,” she says. “What are we working with here? Are you genderqueer? Bisexual? Is this situational sexual behavior? Are you feeling”—she flips to a giant yellow sticky and the book flops open—“ ‘the pressures and constraints from heteronormative gender roles’?”
Beast follows Dylan, a 15-year-old, six-foot-four-and-growing hairy boy who hates his body. He's being raised by a single mom, money is tight, and he keeps asking his dead dad for "signs" but receives none while his mom seems to receive magical, helpful signs all the time. He's best friends with a rich and privileged bully who somewhat protects him from the judgment and hatred of the rest of the school, who ostracize him for his size and abundance of body hair. Things aren't great, and his optimistic mom keeps promising him this will be his year and that he's just like his dad in every way. This does not have the effect on Dylan that his mom is going for: Dylan's anxious that, like his dad, he'll also drop dead at 26 from cancer and he's struggling with anger at his dad for not communicating back with him, and for not being there as he goes through the difficult transitions of puberty. This is on top of the resentment that his dead dad gave him the genes to look like this.
“How are you so small and I’m so big?” I ask. “Genetics are funny.” She squeezes my hand and I squeeze back. “You take after Dad. He was a big guy. You’re just like him, in every way,” she says. Then I have only eleven years left until I die too.
Basically, Dylan's constantly squashing down all of his feelings, not talking about them, not dealing with them in a healthy way. And then the Catholic school he goes to bans long hair and hats for boys, so Dylan has nothing to hide behind. So, he accidentally-ish falls of the roof. If he sprains his ankle, he'll be the guy with crutches, not the "Beast."
When Dylan asks his surgeon if he can recommend him a doctor that can change him, the doctor recognizes the pain Dylan's experiencing (that Dylan's still squashing down) and recommends a psychiatrist. Group therapy for people that hurt themselves. Since Dylan's hurting, he spends the better part of his meeting being rude to the various girls that are there and zoning out, not listening to their stories. So he misses when the very-cute Jamie casually alludes to being transgender.
As Dylan and Jamie begin hanging out, flirting, and liking each other, a major miscommunication means that Jamie thinks that Dylan is aware and completely comfortable with her being trans. In fact, Dylan keeps going so far as to reassure her every time she has doubts. As readers, we can easily see both interpretations of their conversations.
When Dylan realizes the truth, he struggles. A lot. He's so concerned about other people's opinions, including his father's, that he gets really mixed up. And since he's already in so much pain, he causes a lot of pain. There are many points when Dylan does not treat Jamie well.
I really liked this book. I liked the writing, I liked the multiple conflicts of the main character, and I read it in one sitting. As a narrator, Dylan was engaging, multifaceted, and so, so flawed. And I think he become a better person by the end.
I do not know how well this book does or does not fall into tropes about trans people, particularly trans girls. In some ways, this books works to normalize trans identities and relationships between straight cisgender guys and trans women, but it does so through a narrator that is a product of a transphobic culture. There's transphobia, doubt, and conflict in our main character as he realizes he's fallen for a girl that has a different body than he expected. And I'm conflicted whether as readers we should be rooting for a boy to learn this lesson that might be interpreted as at the expense of Jamie's well-being. Dylan so badly wants to be a knight in shining armor and be the romantic lead in the movie, and he messes up pretty badly. He's rude, hostile, aggressive, and shuts Jamie out when things get tough. A lot of this has less to do with Jamie and her body and more to do with all the other bullshit Dylan is wading through. But that's no excuse.
I think Dylan is realistic in the sense that he's a straight, white boy that has little to no familiarity with the LGBTQ+ community when he starts liking Jamie. I also think there's a lot of realism in the shitty ways teens treat each other in their first relationships, particularly when one of them is used to squashing down every negative and confusing emotion he's ever experienced. Dylan and Jamie both grow and learn to better communicate and be honest with each other and treat each other better (mostly Dylan learns this; Jamie's already more mature than him when we meet her), and I like that. But if I were Jamie's friend, I probably would've told her to ditch this guy and stop giving him chances.
I like that this book shows a straight boy falling hard for a trans girl, fantasizing about how beautiful and desirable she is, and how he reiterates that he is straight and she is a girl. I think that we need to see that more. I think there was good chemistry between them and their jokes and conversations. I think there's realism in this book, but I think there are readers that might be rightfully exasperated by seeing the world through Dylan's eyes as he unlearns some toxic ideas. Luckily, Jamie is confident and blunt and tells Dylan off when he needs a telling off....more
I loved When Dimple Meet Rishi so when I spied From Twinkle, with Love at the library, I immediately checked it out and went home and started reading.I loved When Dimple Meet Rishi so when I spied From Twinkle, with Love at the library, I immediately checked it out and went home and started reading.
Like Dimple, Twinkle has a charming name, is the only child of immigrant parents, has a feminist streak, and has one really intense passion (in this case, it's directing films). Unlike Dimple, Twinkle's name is the only charming thing about her. Her narrative voice is really young and immature, and her main drive in the novel is to become popular so that her former best friend will stop being a coward and letting her new popular friend group treat Twinkle like dirt. There are several times where Maddie fails to stick up for Twinkle, ignores the way her new friends treats Twinkle, and fails to hold up her end of the friendship even on a one-on-one level. I stopped rooting for this friendship.
I empathized with Twinkle and how she felt her best friend slipping away from her. But her desire to become popular for the sake of her friendship with Maddie is not compelling in the face of the other plot.
Maddie convinces Twinkle to make a film for the end-of-the-year bash, and Twinkle is offered help by Sahil, the identical twin brother of Twinkle's crush, Neil. Twinkle barely interacts with Neil face-to-face in the whole novel (he's not even at school!) and she likes him because he's cute and popular, and dating him will land her in the same friend group as Maddie.
Sahil, who looks exactly the same as Neil, happens to share the same intense of love of film as Twinkle. And he happens to have had a crush on Twinkle for forever. And they happen to have wonderful chemistry, which Twinkle keeps ignoring because she's still starstruck for the absent Neil.
Sahil is the best part of the book, and the narrative is interrupted with text exchanges between him and his buddies. All these did for me is make me wish that Sahil was the narrator of this book, not Twinkle.
The other thing that irritated me about this book was the writing style. It's told in present-tense diary form, so Twinkle is supposedly writing at all sorts of weird times. While Sahil puts gas in the car. While a friend slips out to use the restroom. While she's in class. The entries are LONG and could not realistically be written in such a short time frame of some of the excuses she uses to describe events that just happened. The style just did not work.
As the plot progresses, Twinkle starts to learn to speak up for herself, but she sort of goes wild and berates and calls out people in ways that makes everyone uncomfortable, because she's no longer sticking up for herself, she's just being a dick. There's a point where she even contemplates doing something quite terrible, even against the advice of Sahil and Maddie, who point out that it is terrible. Twinkle is stubborn, though, and presses on against their advice until the last minute.
Twinkle's growth in this book is good at the end, but that doesn't change the fact that she's sort of unbearable for the other 95% of the book.
I really liked this book, and I think a major part of that was the narrator, Eileen Stevens, for the audiobook version. She did SO GOOD with all the TI really liked this book, and I think a major part of that was the narrator, Eileen Stevens, for the audiobook version. She did SO GOOD with all the Texas accents and everyone had a very distinct voice and it brought the characters alive.
What I really liked about this book was how true-to-life and complicated it felt. I worked at a pizza shop for 5 years; Willowdean works at a fast food burger joint, and this comprises a lot of the setting. It felt real and made Willowdean feel really relatable to me.
I also related to Willowdean because she is fat. I wasn't fat in high school, but I gained a lot of weight after high school, and like Willowdean I'm conflicted about it and waver in my confidence and ego. I want to be content with the way I look, okay with looking different. Sometimes I feel like all the various things that threaten my happiness are related to my weight. I worry about being up in front of a classroom in front of a bunch of teenagers and being taken less seriously because I'm fat. I'm worried what my friends think about me but don't say. Changing rooms can be nightmares and before I had a long-term boyfriend, the thought of being intimate with a new person had a whole extra layer of anxiety. Like Will, I know what the best version of myself should be: someone that doesn't comment on another person's body, someone that feels bold and powerful despite what other people think, someone that knows her weight doesn't define her. But we both falter. And I loved her for that, even when she made some decisions that were really not commendable (I was also able to extend Will a lot more empathy and sympathy than some other reviewers because she is deep in the trenches of grief after losing her beloved aunt, in the middle of feeling new feelings about her body because now there's the possibility of sharing it with another human).
Mainly this has 4 stars because I wanted the ending to be more concrete. After a major plot was all about how (view spoiler)[Will couldn't commit to her relationship with Bo because she was worried about the stares and the questions about how a fat girl could land such a conventionally attractive and fit boyfriend, it ended with them kissing but not with a conversation where she finally admitted she was ready. I know the kissing implied that, but Bo and Will kiss or want to kiss throughout most of the book. I needed the closure of words here, not actions that didn't feel fundamentally different than the secret they were keeping for months (hide spoiler)].
Several people hated the fact that Will (view spoiler)[led on a boy named Mitch. (hide spoiler)] I'm not for it, but I understand why it happened, why even someone that is mostly good can be capable of doing shitty things to other people, and why we are even more likely to do it when we are feeling bad about ourselves. Will is feeling bad for most of the book. She's lost her aunt, she feels herself losing her best friend, she's got jealousy and insecurity all wrapped into one, her relationship with her mother is COMPLICATED. By the end of the book, I feel like Will (view spoiler)[knows that she was shitty to Mitch and is smart enough to avoid doing it again. But I also feel like the lack of communication between her and both boys--Bo and Mitch--feels real for teenagers, and totally had a hand in how Will handled her relationship with Mitch. In a time when she was alone and vulnerable, Mitch was her friend, and his attention felt nice. It doesn't excuse what she did, but I understand how she somewhat-accidentally took advantage of his kindness, of his interest. I understand how it was hard to name what she was and wasn't feeling for Mitch, because she was so conflicted herself (hide spoiler)].
Charlotte Brontë is an AMAZING writer. I listened to this on audiobook and was often just stunned by the beauty of the prose. It was an added bonus thCharlotte Brontë is an AMAZING writer. I listened to this on audiobook and was often just stunned by the beauty of the prose. It was an added bonus that I was listening to this as I was teaching my students about tone and mood, and I got extra into the story in those long-winded weather and sunrise and nature passages because of it.
The only reason that this is 4 stars and not 5 is because of the ending. After being able to ignore it for most of the book, the ending really just pushed how much the theme of this was that religious piety would be rewarded and anything else would be severely punished. I do have to say, though, Brontë writes a good villain (even if I'm not sure he intended him to be quite a villain). I don't think I've hated a character as much as I've hated St. John in a while.
Eligible is fun and easy to get absorbed in. I finished it in 3 days, alternating between listening to the audiobook on my drive to school and stayingEligible is fun and easy to get absorbed in. I finished it in 3 days, alternating between listening to the audiobook on my drive to school and staying up too late to read it before bed. (It was also fun that I was reading it while grading students' Indi-Reads essays on P&P)
Sittenfeld has done a good job modernizing the story, but in doing so, does change some major plot elements.
Lizzie and Jane are inching towards 40, so they're past the modern prime age for marrying. Jane is a yoga instructor, Lizzie a journalist for a feminist-leaning magazine that is akin to, say, Teen Vogue (it covers feminist issues and has columns such as Women Who Dare, but also covers celebrity break-ups and make-up tips). Lizzie and Jane have left their hometown of Cincinnati and are living in NYC. Lizzie is the only Bennet child independent enough to pay her own bills and rent. Even wonderful Jane relies on her parents to foot the rent bill because she's in a low-paying job in a high-rent city.
Jane hasn't been married because her most significant relationship ended when her boyfriend realized he was gay. Lizzie's not married because she's dating (view spoiler)[the still-married Jasper Wick (George Wickham), who has strung Liz along for over a decade. They were best friends when Liz fell in love and Jasper complimented her with such epithets as, "I love having you in my life," and "I can't talk to anybody else like I can talk to you." He talks to her about his troubled relationships, but marries a woman who he quickly falls out of love with and then starts up a relationship with Liz with the consent of his wife. Though they are together for years, Liz and Jasper's relationship is both discreet and has never included the words "I love you." (hide spoiler)].
Mary is 30, Kitty and Lydia in their early 20s. They all live at home in the aging and enormous Tudor in Cincinnati. After Mr. Bennet has a heart attack, Liz and Jane head home to help care for the family since Mrs. Bennet and her 3 youngest children are too self-absorbed to take care of their respective husband/father. In this modernized version, Mary is reclusive and is on her third online degree. Kitty and Lydia are crossfit enthusiasts who are crass and mildly homophobic, constantly teasing Mary and insisting that she must be gay.
Liz quickly realizes that her parents are in over their heads. (view spoiler)[Uninsured, Mr. Bennet has now racked up considerable debt. He and Mrs. Bennet have also never had their own jobs and have lived off an inheritance that has been dwindling. They're still supporting 4 adult daughters with basic living expenses, bills, and rent. Mrs. Bennet has a shopping addiction, receiving multiple packages a day and storing unopened ones, months old, up in the attic. The house is falling apart, they've taken out 2 mortgages, and things are bad(hide spoiler)].
Darcy and "Chip" Bingley are doctors in Ohio. Chip is also, strangely, one of the more recent contestants on a Bachelor-style reality dating show, managed by his sister Caroline. Darcy is disparaging about Cincinnati women and is "not surprised" that Liz is single. Of course, Liz overhears this at the 4th of July BBQ, and thus begins the story we know.
The wrench in Chip and Jane's relationship? (view spoiler)[Jane has just gotten pregnant via artificial insemination. (hide spoiler)]
Major changes are: (view spoiler)[ -Kathy de Bourgh isn't related to Darcy; instead, she's a famous, aging feminist similar to Gloria Steinem -Caroline and Darcy are exes. Instead of Lady Catherine's nasty speech to Lizzie demanding that they can't be together, Caroline is the substitute that insists that she and Darcy are the real deal and Lizzie is too shameful a suitor to even be a contender -Jasper/George has no relationship with either Lydia or Georgiana. His major scandal is getting expelled from Stanford for a racist prank against a teacher; Darcy was on the board that expelled him. He has lied about his Stanford degree for years, and embarrassingly, wears a Stanford ring always. -Georgiana is even more absent here, and for some reason, given an eating disorder. -Lydia, instead of her relationship with Wickham, elopes with her crossfit trainer/gym owner, Hamilton Ryan. He's trans. And Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are WIGGED OUT. -Darcy's major act that Liz reads as "he's still in love with me" are that he convinces Mr. and Mrs. Bennet to accept Hamilton as a son-in-law and that he gets Chip and Jane back together -Liz and Darcy fall in love through hate sex. (hide spoiler)]
This book is fun and I liked it, but the biggest detractor is that here I don't buy Darcy and Liz's love story as much. By the time that (view spoiler)[Liz proposes, I feel like they barely know each other and should instead just be at a position where they decide to like, date for real. (hide spoiler)] ...more
I think this is the best dystopian YA series I have ever read?
Reasons: -Alternating POVs between the two main characters that keeps things fast-paced aI think this is the best dystopian YA series I have ever read?
Reasons: -Alternating POVs between the two main characters that keeps things fast-paced and interesting (also hard to put down) -Not everyone is white!!! Most seem to be biracial. Day is Mongolian, Anden is Spanish. Pascao has dark skin, Tess has tan skin, and the Wiki apparently says that June's dominant heritage is Native American (I don't remember any suggestion of this, but I flew through these books really fast) -Not everyone is straight! I have complicated feelings about the main LGBTQ relationship, but I like that it appears that in this society, LGBTQ relationships are not ostracized as they are in today's society -Instead of the boring girl-with-two-guys-love-triangle-trope, this is less tropey, more nuanced, and both June and Day experience attraction to or have complicated feelings about other people in their life -June and Day are both feminine in some ways and masculine in others. They are both compassionate, family-oriented, and tender. They are also both excellent fighters. June is pragmatic; Day is emotional. -The series critiques classism, capitalism, fascism, and blind patriotism -June and Day have some seriously real struggles in their relationship. -For instance, how can you bridge the divide between two people that grew up in radically different worlds, mostly related to their class status? June has to recognize her privilege and realize that she was mostly unbothered and unconcerned with the treatment of poor people in her society. She struggles with her ignorance about the way the world really works, and Day calls her out when she treats money as if it's not as important as it is. June often (accidentally) hurts Day's feelings and recognizes this and tries to rectify it. (One example: Day makes her a paper clip ring and tells her that things like that are a symbol of love in the poor sectors; June asks, "Paper clip rings?" She realizes her tone doesn't match the seriousness of what he's presented with her. He answers, "No, something handmade.") -Other big struggles: June has to accept that she is personally responsible for some of the things which have caused Day the most sadness and heartache in his life. Day has to battle through whether love can conquer that. -Jealousy exists but doesn't make June or Day manipulative, shitty people. I think they actually model quite healthy practices in a relationship? -Tess, Day's best friend, is wary of June, and for good reasons. She goes through a background yet profound character arc in her maturity in book 3 and her and June become good friends. Some people think Tess is really bratty and whiny in book 2, I think that although there are complicated motivations in what Tess does and says, ultimately she 1) is honest about her feelings, 2) sticks up for herself, and 3) is a good enough friend to voice her very serious concerns to her best friend even when she knows it will probably upset him. In book 3, Tess does some serious reflecting about her behavior and feelings, and the end result is kind of awesome? -The book actually features a sex scene, which feels shocking for a YA dystopian novel (from what I remember, sex is discussed but not consummated in the Divergent series, and I feel like it's not even acknowledged in THG). It also feels really natural? Here are two people who are treated as adults in that society. They maintain their own homes, have prominent roles/functions in the government, and have had near-death experiences. The sex scene isn't gratuitous or graphic, but instead just an example of their deep feelings and devotion to each other. -While the world-building and character building fall a little flat in the first installment, it's made up for with the action-packed pace. The world-building and character arcs are much more refined in books 2 and 3. -The ending is heartbreaking and poetic and hopeful all at once!!!
The ending of this book wrecked me. I'm still too emotional to do a proper review. The ending of this book wrecked me. I'm still too emotional to do a proper review. ...more
This is the very first manga I've ever picked up. Mostly I hadn't really considered the genre much, although I do have a few friends that have recommeThis is the very first manga I've ever picked up. Mostly I hadn't really considered the genre much, although I do have a few friends that have recommended it, but I felt it was a little bit of an intimidating thing to get into, especially when a manga series is divided up into several books. The Heart of Thomas, however, is all part of one giant 500 page tome, which I was into.
I picked this book up off the shelf at the library because I liked the spine. And then I read the back about how Moto Hagio was essentially the founding mother of shôjo manga, and then I was like, well I have to read it, considering I'm on a kick of reading books by women and I'm trying to make sure that doesn't mean a kick of reading 100 white, American women. It was an introduction to something I knew nothing about with a woman who was pioneering something else I knew nothing about. I was sold.
This is the story of Juli, Oskar, and Erich mostly, three boys who attend a prep school in Germany. Juli is haunted by the death (or suicide? or murder?) of a young boy named Thomas, who sent Juli love letters and whose rejection by Juli may have sent him over the edge. Juli, who has been shut off emotionally to his friends and peers for a little over a year, tries to remain the same: impassive, indifferent, a perfect prefect. This starts to unravel with Erich, a lookalike of Thomas, shows up to the prep school.
Erich is shipped there by his new stepfather and he resenting every second of it. For the first time in his life he is separated from his mother, whom he calls Marie, and whom he loves very, very much. (He wears an engagement ring from her and wants to spend forever with her). Erich, unlike Juli, is extremely emotional. His feelings flip flop at the slightest provocation and he never dares to hide it. He is intrigued by Juli's hatred of him, and he hates Juli and loves Juli and hates Juli over and over again.
Oskar is mischievous and rebellious but has the headmaster in his pocket. He is also Juli's closest friend and keeps Juli's painful secrets about what happened to Juli the year before (unbeknownst to Juli). Oskar guides Erich through his new troubles at school.
Mostly everyone loves and has crushes on everyone else, especially Juli, and this drives the tension and drama as secret backstories are revealed. Juli (view spoiler)[did love Thomas! (hide spoiler)]. Erich is (view spoiler)[the cousin of Thomas by the father he never knew! His mother dies and his stepfather wants to adopt him! (hide spoiler)]. Oskar is the (view spoiler)[ secret son of the headmaster. Both Oskar and the headmaster know but don't say anything about it! (hide spoiler)].
Towards the latter maybe quarter of the series, religion starts playing a major theme. Juli refers to "losing his wings," or his innocence, or his faith. This is perhaps where I find myself giving a 4 star rating instead of a 5 star rating. This part just didn't really do anything for me, and I was disappointed with Juli's ending (view spoiler)[ deciding to go off to be a priest (hide spoiler)]. However, I read in someone else's review that this is a common manga trope? Or perhaps shôjo manga trope? But I don't know much because this is only my first introduction to it.
Overally, I just really liked the story. It was intriguing, sometimes strange, sometimes heartwrenching. I went out and picked up Moto Hagio's other work immediately afterwards.
Being totally upfront: I have no idea why I'm giving Juventud four stars. There was a quality to this book where I couldn't put it down (I flew througBeing totally upfront: I have no idea why I'm giving Juventud four stars. There was a quality to this book where I couldn't put it down (I flew through this book in about 3 days). But there was another part of me that thought this was going to go in a totally different direction, and in a way, I'm disappointed it didn't go in the direction that I thought it was going to, or at least I'm disappointed that the protagonist didn't come to the same conclusions that I did.
Mercedes is an innocent 15 year old girl that lives on her father Diego's hacienda. She has a personal chauffeur, Fidel, and a host of jefes and guards live on her property. This is her normal. Her mother, Paula, abandoned her before she ever formed a memory of her. Mercedes knows virtually nothing about her mother except that she lives in the US. In Cali, where Mercedes lives, there is heightened violence and political tension between the ELN (a guerrilla group), the FARC (another guerilla group), and the paramilitary. Mercedes is mostly oblivious to all of this; she is rich, her friends are rich, and she lives a cushioned life where she knows virtually nothing about the desplazados that are being forcefully removed from their pueblos and are now homeless.
This changes quickly. Within the first 20 pages, Mercedes meets Manuel, a 21-year-old devout Catholic that participates in peace rallies. From the readers' perspective, the relationship between Mercedes and Manuel is a little clunky, to the point that I believed that Manuel was just duping Mercedes to get information on her father and had no real feelings for her at all. This is heightened by the fact that much of the bonding time between Manuel and Mercedes is wordless; there is not enough dialogue to make their love story believable. Manuel basically divulges to Mercedes her own father's criminal past and asks Mercedes to eavesdrop and pay attention to see if he is still involved in any way, with either the guerrillas or the paramilitary, or if he is paying either of the groups off to stay safe, or keep his secret past secret, or something... unfortunately it's all a little vague. But Manuel keeps manipulating Mercedes, saying things like, imagine how powerful an image it would be if you, the daughter of Diego Martinez, were seen next to me at a peace rally!... even after Mercedes has expressed discomfort with the idea.
Here's an example:
"Promise me that you'll get away for this [peace rally]. I'll never ask you again, I swear." "Helping you out here is one thing," I said slowly. "Those crowds--even with a thousand snipers and helicopters overhead, I don't feel safe." His arms fell to his sides. "You think this place is any safer?" He lowered his voice and stepped closer; his lips grazed my ear. "You can be sure the ELN and the FARC, and I've no doubt whoever else is watching this block, are well aware that the motos and cars parked in the alley don't belong to customers shopping for their next bedroom set." I set down the flyers, now cool. "Okay," Isaid. "That still doesn't mean the rally is any less dangerous." "It's not," he said, and sighed. "But you're part of this too. Aren't you?" He held up the flyer, eyebrows raised, and dropped it onto the stack. Then sank into the chair and rubbed his face, his eyes puffy and hair mussed. He badly needed a cut. "It's just that you're my girlfriend, and it's that much more important to me. Not having you there feels like--almost like you don't exist." (133) Then he promises her that he will delay a very dangerous journey until Mercedes is back from Costa Rica visiting her aunt, but doesn't at all, which like on hand one, there was some pretty high stakes, but on the other hand, why not just be honest with her and tell her you can't wait???
TLDR; I think Manuel is manipulative, I don't buy their love story, and I thought the flash forward to the future would have Mercedes reflecting on the fact that this relationship was a little ridiculous and more a combination of puppy love and lust, and that it got all the more out of hand because they decided to run off and elope (seems a little bizarre to me especially as Manuel, the devout and hypocritical Catholic didn't even bother to introduce Mercedes to his parents even once?)
The tensions and dislike between Diego and Manuel heighten. Meanwhile, Diego has been pushing to get Mercedes to go to boarding school in the US and she has been very resistant during the first pangs of love. He hires her an English tutor, Sister Rosemary. Mercedes goes around lying to everyone and paying off her chauffeur to go and have sex with Manuel in his personal side apartment that he shares with his brothers where his parents never ever go. It's all weird. All of it.
And then the night before Manuel and Mercedes and set to get hitched and run away from home and never talk to Diego again, (view spoiler)[Manuel gets murdered in cold blood and dies in Mercedes' arms. Mercedes overhears her father say something about an employee being paid off, Mercedes reports it to Manuel's brother Emilio, and Emilio presents compelling evidence that Diego is responsible for hiring the assassin that killed her boyfriend. Mercedes, with the help of her tutor, finds a school in the US to accept her despite her shitty test scores, makes contact with her American maternal grandparents, and ditches her dad and refuses to speak to him for the next 15 years... all without ever telling him that she even suspects him of anything. (hide spoiler)]
Once Mercedes ends up in the US, however, it is not much like she thought it would be. She meets her mother, who has become a citizen of Israel, but her mom is cold, distant, and doesn't want to be called "Mom." She's not ready. They have no substantial conversations about anything besides school and work. They are awkward strangers. Mercedes grandparents are nicer, more involved, and caring. She lives with them and her mother goes back to Israel. Nine years later, her mom finally says it's alright for her to call her "Mom." I'm shocked at this gap because if it took my mom that abandoned me 9 years after having a relationship with me to allow me that concession, I would never. Paula is basically a shitty mom whom Mercedes forgives because she puts herself in her shoes: If I had abandoned my daughter because I didn't want to be in that country and felt too alone and isolated and my husband was involved in crime, but I knew he would be a good father (???) it would be hard for me to accept this sudden emergence of my teenaged daughter and I, too, would be aloof.
It's all very weird, I'm telling you.
Mercedes goes to college, and Mercedes goes on a Jewish Heritage trip to Israel, and Mercedes takes her first lover since Manuel on that Jewish heritage trip, and he is the first and only person she confesses everything that happened in Colombia. He totally avoids her after that, like a total dick, but it's all awkward because Mercedes kind of imagined being married to him after like, one hook-up. He tells her he can't be with someone with her father's kind of criminal past because he's in the Israeli army. Mercedes shuts herself off emotionally forever. Mercedes goes to grad school, Mercedes goes for her PhD, Mercedes falls in love with a nice Southern boy, and everything is great and wonderful except that her nice Southern boy has really strong ties to family and wants a big wedding and that PANICS Mercedes. She never tells him what happened in Colombia. He dumps her because of it, and she's devastated, and she waits too long to do anything about it. Her career advances... and advances... and advances, until it takes her back to Colombia where she discovers that (view spoiler)[Emilio's contact at the police made up that Diego was responsible for the murder of Manuel, mostly because the police contact, like, thought that was what Emilio wanted but wasn't quite sure? But this doesn't happen until after Mercedes accuses her father of murdering him and destroys him all over again, after having already abandoned him for the majority of her young life. (hide spoiler)]
So essentially the entire novel boils around to: Mercedes fucks up most aspects of her life, including with the person who raised her and loved her, the person who wanted to marry her and loved her, and her entire perception of reality by basing all of her decisions around her 15-year-old love interest who sort of emotionally manipulated and didn't respect her? Bummer deal.
But hey, I liked it, and that cover is gorgeous.
And here's two quotes I liked:
"You know, I didn't realize there could be so much disagreement right away, even if you're in love with someone. That one person could need another to do things, you know?" Her gaze shot up, and I shook my head. "Not what you're thinking. I mean how you fit another person into your life, what they expect. Not that I'm fighting with Manuel or anything." "Ah, yes," Inez said, and clicked her teeth. "You disagree, good. You don't want to be the kind of woman who just goes along with things. That's just as bad as fighting all the time." "It is? How?" I'd been rocking and stopped. "That's how you lose yourself. And the other person. No is like a magic staff. If you don't use it, well--..." (133)
From the beginning I had been drawn to his intellect and lack of pretense, and later on I wondered how I had overlooked the even-keeled warmth between us as a sin of something more--that the cornerstone of a great relationship might not lie in a flush of desire, but in a trusted friend. Someone who shared similar passions and perspectives, and laughed with you at the end of a hard day. (278)
First of all, isn't it kind of weird we get a pretty girl on the cover when throughout the whole book Lena is covered in dirt and blood?
Anyway. This bFirst of all, isn't it kind of weird we get a pretty girl on the cover when throughout the whole book Lena is covered in dirt and blood?
Anyway. This book earned three stars because Lauren Oliver writes some of the best prose of YA dystopian novelists. But holy shit, did I hate that ending.
And actually, some things in the middle too.
I was already pissed off going into it after Alex's little tantrum over Lena moving on and falling in love again after she thought him to be dead (which was a pretty fair assumption, considering). Alex continues to be a jerk through this book, basically refusing to acknowledge Lena exists until they accidentally end up alone together in the middle of the night in the woods before a bear comes to scare them. In this scene, Alex (view spoiler)[decides to make the whole fandom hate him as he insults Lena and tells her that he doesn't love her, and he never did. (hide spoiler)] He is jealous, petty, and goes out of his way to hurt Lena because Lena has hurt him, which, I don't know about everyone else--but is usually a pretty poor definition for love, and therefore Alex was rooted out of my idea of a potential match for Lena. Therefore, the longing Lena expresses for Alex throughout the whole book just bums me out. Like, come on, girl, if you had any friends you actually talked to about your feelings, they would tell you he doesn't deserve you and make you a mix CD with Hillary Duff's "So Yesterday" on it on repeat.
Speaking of this, why DOESN'T anyone in the Wilds ever just sit and talk about their feelings? Their entire society is repressed of feelings and they are fighting for choice and love and freedom and not being total zombies about anything and everything. You'd think they'd relish the chance to open up and discuss some of those things with each other.
Instead, no conversation is recapped unless it's about 1) where they're going, 2) what the plan is, 3) or some other thing relating to the Revolution. Seriously. Lena clings to Julian when it's convenient, she lets him comfort her and take care of her when she feels wounded by Alex, but she recaps like, zero conversations between them throughout the entire book. Most of their interactions are wordless. They run to each other and hug and sleep all curled up next to each other, and Julian goes out of his way--and into danger--over and over again to prove himself to the cause, and to Lena, to prove that he's staying and in it for the long haul, yet a huge distance widens between Lena and Julian FOR THE READER. Not for Lena or Julian. But by the time the end of the book rolls around, you're like, "Wait, Lena, you're still trying to convince me you love this guy? Because I think he's said about 50 words in all 400 pages." I just didn't care about Julian anymore, except that I was a little sad that his character was treated so poorly after Pandemonium, where you really come to care for him.
We also spend a great deal of time with Lena's irrational jealous thoughts towards a beautiful girl named Coral. Thankfully, at the very least, Lena recognizes that Coral has some good qualities... way later than is necessary. Coral never actually does anything wrong. She's quiet and in mourning after HER ENTIRE FAMILY UNIT GETS MURDERED IN FRONT OF HER. She develops a bond with Alex, though, so Lena asks Raven to abandon her in the woods right after they find her and a woman who basically raised her--who, by the way, dies. Yes. That is the character we are supposed to support in this novel: someone who just went through 6 months of mourning someone they loved dying to fall in love with someone else, get jealous over that person who didn't actually die showing any sort of kindness or romantic feelings for someone that is LITERALLY GOING THROUGH THE SAME THING SHE WAS, only multiplied, because many people died. And not only jealousy--Lena wants to abandon her in the woods, alone, when there are Regulators going around setting people on fire. I think there's also a weird scene where Lena fantasizes killing her. Meanwhile, Lena never actually stops with the physical affection with Julian in front of Alex. But she just about falls apart when she sees Alex and Coral touch at all (but we see nothing beyond them, like, leaning against each other sometimes)
Lena and Julian never once have a conversation about Alex. Julian just somehow wordlessly understands that Lena loves him better, but is staying with him, and comforts her and her broken heart through this whole thing.
Eventually, though, Julian and Alex get into a brawl so "Julian can learn how to fight" only this makes Lena upset and Alex backs out until Julian whacks him in the face. Then Alex breaks his nose, disappears into the night, and leaves Lena a cryptic note to let her know that he really loves her better. He loves her enough to LEAVE her, to keep her safe, or happy, or something. But of course doesn't find this out until later.
The only good love stories in this book: Lena's love story with her mother, and with her cousin Grace.
The other half of the novel is told by Hana, Lena's best friend from Portland, who has been cured, although she doubts it works as well as it's meant to. She just pretends though, through navigating her wedding preparations to a sadistic man named Fred who begins abusing her and who I imagine looking like Paul Ryan, and maybe having the same politics that Paul Ryan would have if Paul Ryan lived in this dystopian world. (I mean, his solution to dealing with sympathizers to the Invalids is to cut them off from electricity and let them overheat/freeze/starve)
Unfortunately, Fred is going to become the mayor, so apparently even though Hana unearths his dark past of MURDERING CATS and getting his ex-wife locked up in prison on fake charges, Hana has no way of getting out of his marriage. Even though he pinches her, chokes her, and treats her as if she is a dog. Hana doesn't even try. She doesn't even attempt to tell her mother, or a regulator, or anyone. I am confused by this. Fred is the mayor, but certainly he is not in charging of pairing people up, and certainly there is some sort of system in place to cover intimate partner violence in this world? Like Fred is basically just symptomatic of the entire fucked up system: he desires control so much he must control his fiancee.
There's this really fucked up scene where Hana is in his office and realizes he has a giant fucking painting of Bluebeard and all the corpses of his murdered wives. God, it's so gross.
Of course, on Hana's wedding day, Lena and all the Invalids break into Portland and storm the city and tear down the wall. Only I don't really get what we're supposed to believe happens after this: the people in charge just lay down their arms and change the whole system because one city was taken over?
Hana and Lena have an interesting interaction, which is mostly interesting because we have seen Hana's perspective through the whole book showing that she does still have feelings, even though they are more muffled and harder to experience. But Hana is basically a zombie with a few quirks to Lena, and it felt like Hana's behavior in the scene didn't match up with Hana's whole characterization that we get from her perspective.
A really cool scene though is where (view spoiler)[Lena warns Hana that there is a bomb planted in hers and Fred's house and Hana convinces Fred to stay in the house to keep safe, and she escapes to safety and murders her abusive husband. (hide spoiler)] I liked that scene. Fred deserved so much worse.
At the end, Lena reunites with Alex, and suddenly after all this time of avoiding each other and talking about what they really feel, they confess in the middle of the revolution that they still love each other. They totally don't address that Lena is still technically with Julian, and they totally don't address what happens after this. The book just ends.
In my dream vision, everyone gets a grip and Lena enters into a polyamorous relationship with both Alex and Julian, because this a whole new goddamned world and there's no rules anywhere that says you can only love one person and be with one person. Or in my alternate version, Lena ends up with neither of them because she still has a lot to learn about love (like that jealousy doesn't have to consume you to love someone).
Honestly, I'm rethinking the 3 stars I gave this. Better drop it down to 2, because frankly Lena wasn't all that likable and neither was Hana. There's one scene where Hana romanticizes poverty. Like, what? She reflects on being best friends with Lena, saying, in response to recognizing that Lena was embarrassed to have Hana over, "I always liked going to her house. I'm not sure why. I think at the time it was the mess that appealed to me--the beds crammed closely together in the upstairs room, the appliances that never worked correctly, fuses that were always powering down, a washing machine that sat rusting, used only as a place for storing winter clothes." That's what you liked about your best friend's house? That the electricity was unstable and there was no room or privacy and things were broken? Jesus, get over yourself. Lena at least calls Hana out on her bullshit after (view spoiler)[Hana admits that she told the regulators about Lena and Alex escaping, basically ruining the next year of Lena's life because Hana was "jealous" (jesus, nobody knows anything about love) (hide spoiler)] saying "You had everything ... Perfect life. Perfect grades. Everything. I had nothing. He was one thing. My only-- why couldn't you let me have it? Why did you have to take it? Why did you always take everything?"
There's actually a lot of class struggles going on in this book. "The richer get richer and richer, while the poor get squeezed into narrow alleys and cramped apartments, and told they are being protected, and promised they will be rewarded in heaven for obedience."
Oh, another reason Hana sucks: she literally goes from saying "What happens to [Lena's family]--whether they starve or freeze--is none of my business." She mostly says this because she will get abused by Fred if he finds out she is helping them, and that she helped them at all is a giveaway that her cure didn't work fully (because she still cares about the wellbeing of others). But this is Hana resigning to the system. She resigns to Fred, and their marriage, and that he is her pair and therefore her perfect match. But then right after she says she won't worry about whether they STARVE TO DEATH, she says, "We are all punished for the lives we have chosen, in one way or another. I will be paying my penance--to Lena, for failing her; to her family, for helping her--every day of my life." Um, carrying around guilt =/= living in extreme poverty and experiencing class warfare with electricity blackouts as punishment. Your penance does not equate with the struggle and burden you have left on other people. You almost got your best friend killed. You made it so she thought the love of her life was killed. And her whole family was pushed into further poverty for her crime--which you only snarked on because of JEALOUSY. UGH.
Why did everyone suck in the third installment? WHY?
Very simple prose, relatively familiar story about teen parenthood, but there was something about it that really just worked.
Bobby narrates between pVery simple prose, relatively familiar story about teen parenthood, but there was something about it that really just worked.
Bobby narrates between past and present the story of his girlfriend telling him she's pregnant on his 16th birthday. Their indecision about what to do about this forces them into the decision of adoption or keeping it. Clearly just kids, most of the past reflections include tender moments between them and snippets of conversations about how they don't know what the right thing to do is. The novel never really gets into gritty details, or tough parts, but I think that's because it's a reflection and he already has his baby girl, who he is determined to be a good father for. As the novel goes on, you quickly notice that the mother is not present in the current day. They are not alternating taking care of their child, and he is not seeing her, talking to her, or talking about her. As the past catches up to the birth and present moments, you finally learn what happened to her. I was pleased that they didn't kill her off (which I felt would have been cliche). Her fate still grips the heart, even if only a few chapters are dedicated to it.
The only thing I think that would have benefited this story is to go into deeper detail about his struggles with school (we get one scene of him falling asleep and mentions of having to meet up with his guidance counselor, but that has got to be a seriously difficult thing to juggle) and discussions of money. He's able to eat out often, travel around the city on the subway, and in the end **spoiler** move away to Ohio and get an apartment, but he doesn't have a job and his mother and father are relatively clear that he'll be responsible, he'll be the father. They're just the grandparents. So I don't know where his money comes from to support himself and buy all that formula and everything else and it was a big factor in the story not feeling wholly realistic....more
Eleanor and Park is about the two eponymous characters falling in love for the first time in 10th grade in high school. Eleanor is the new girl in schEleanor and Park is about the two eponymous characters falling in love for the first time in 10th grade in high school. Eleanor is the new girl in school, having been away from her home for the past year. She's supposedly weird: she's fat with wild red hair that she pulls up in a ponytail with a men's tie. Her clothing is strange and makes her stand out even more. When she steps onto the bus, everybody refuses to let her sit down. Park finally, finally, begrudgingly yells at her to sit next to him and curses.
Park, a half-Korean boy who likes alternative music and comic books, walks the line between popular and unpopular. He scrapes by without getting too much flack, but he doesn't have a lot of credibility to burn by allowing her to sit next to him.
The plot moves forward shifting between their alternate perspectives. Eleanor hasn't been home for a year because her abusive stepfather kicked her out, and her mom just quietly accepted this reality, unable to do much else. When Eleanor comes back, the family (two parents and five children) is cramped into a 2-bedroom house. Eleanor has the top bunk and not much else. Her young brothers share the floor. Their mom makes the kids eat at 4:30 so they won't eat dinner and disturb Richie. She cooks them bean soup and makes steak for Richie, worrying when he comes home late because he'll get mad if the meat dries out in the oven, but he'll also get mad if gets cold. The family tries to tip toe around his rage and his fists. When Eleanor's little brother wets himself in the middle of the night, Eleanor has to sponge bathe herself in the doorless bathroom off the kitchen without alerting Richie that this has happened. Her life is a mess.
The darkness of this plot makes this book. It is hard to read and devastating, but Rowell writes it well. It adds depth and difference to the usual YA first-love love story.
As the year progresses, Eleanor is bullied by Tina during gym class. Nasty notes about cum and being a slut start appearing on her textbooks. She stares into space often and reads over Park's shoulder on the bus. He starts waiting to read the comic books so that she can read them with him. He starts making her mixed tapes, but how can she tell him that she doesn't have a tape deck? When he loans her his tape deck, how can she tell him she can't afford 2 batteries? Park compensates by asking for only batteries for his birthday.
Slowly, Eleanor and Park start holding hands, spilling their feelings on the bus. But their relationship is contained to that brown seat. Eleanor can't call him. She doesn't have a telephone. She can't do anything. She's not allowed. But eventually they begin spending time at his house, Eleanor lying to her mother, making up friends she doesn't have. The bullying gets worse. Eleanor suspects Tina is behind the nasty notes, but Park has a hard time wrapping his head around any of it; his life isn't glorious, but he's never experienced the things Eleanor's experienced. He can't imagine Tina doing that. They used to be friends. He kissed her in 6th grade. This only makes Eleanor more convinced.
When everything comes to a crashing burn, we are not surprised even though we didn't see it coming: (view spoiler)[Richie, Eleanor's stepfather, has been writing the nasty notes. Richie has been leering at Eleanor's body. Richie is going to hurt her in a whole new way. Eleanor has to get out of there, so Park drives her a state away to her uncle's house. The other four kids are taken in, as well, and no trace of Eleanor is left in Omaha. Park writes her letters, waits for phone calls. It doesn't happen. It's too painful.
The ending is bittersweet, because Eleanor needed this, but I give it four stars because the very ending confused me. I was uncertain why Eleanor didn't respond or read Park's letters for month, but randomly sends him a postcard with three words on it. Is this closure, or is she reaching out her hand? I needed a bit more of a concrete ending, personally, but this was a really wonderful book overall. (hide spoiler)] ...more
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