For once in my life I'm going to try to do a real review of a book on this blog, rather than just ranting and raving about books/series I already know I love. I mean, I'm not all that interested in writing a review of a book I didn't like, unless I totally hated it and sincerely want to warn people against wasting their time on it.
Which is not the case with this book. I didn't totally love it in the I'm-giving-this-book-5-stars kind of way, because that only happens with 1. The Hunger Games, 2. John Green and 3. Stephanie Perkins (for now, anyway), but it is a solid 4 out of 5 stars.
Plot Summary (contains spoilers): Lennon aka Lennie Walker has been out of school for a month following her sister's death, which she's still trying to get over. She shuts just about everyone out, except for her sister's boyfriend, Toby, because she feels like he is the only one who understands. The two develop some kind of misguided attraction to each other out of their connection-- that they both love Bailey, Lennie's sister-- and Lennie knows it is wrong. She tries to stop it, but they can't seem to be in the same room without throwing themselves at each other. When Lennie goes back to school, she meets Joe Fontaine, drop-dead gorgeous boy who oozes brightness and smiles the kind of smile that takes over his whole face. He seems vaguely interested in Lennie, and one day he follows her to the tree she eats her lunch in, and they have an instant rapport with each other that neither of them understands. He shows up at her house and befriends her crazy grandmother and uncle, and then starts coming over every day and trying to get Lennie to play music with him (him on guitar, her on clarinet). Eventually she gives in and realizes that the music helps her release all of her feelings about her sister's death, so she keeps playing. They fall in love, but then Joe catches Lennie in one of her weird magnetic interactions with Toby, and this is a problem for him because his last girlfriend cheated on him. Yadda yadda, Lennie tries to get him back, she stops shutting everyone out, she becomes who her sister wanted her to be (which is to say she's no longer a "turtled-up" version of herself, but someone who's finally alive and not living in Bailey's shadow).
Review: I blew through this book in less than 24 hours. At first glance (or first read of the blurb on the back, rather) you might think it is a sappy romance book involving grief and self-discovery. To a certain extent, that's what it is. But it's also funny. I don't like my sappy romance books without a decent amount of humor as well, so I was not disappointed with this one. I loved how it felt like there were inside jokes between us, the readers and the characters ("out of her tree," for example). I loved the cast of crazy supporting characters. I loved the way that Lennie never held back any of her thoughts from Joe, except for the ones she thought would hurt him. She always chastises herself for it after, like when she blurts out "God, you're gorgeous," but I found myself thinking finally, a protagonist who doesn't hide her feelings from the person who's trying to get to know her. The way that Lennie and Joe fall in love is honest and believable. And I have to say, I kind of love it when an author is like "I'm going to make these readers swoon!" but then makes the character we're supposed to be swooning over, well... a complete dork.
That said, I felt that the characters had some discrepancies. Joe, for instance, with this brightness that just emanates from him, suddenly becomes very dark and unforgiving when he feels betrayed. And maybe that's how people are, maybe he has a right to be that way, but I just didn't get it. A weakness in his character should be a little more consistent with his personality. It would have made more sense if he had caught Lennie and Toby and forgiven her too soon-- which would make Lennie want him to be a little more unforgiving, because she's the kind of person to think she doesn't deserve such easy forgiveness. Especially for what she's done.
The inconsistency in Lennie's character, for me, was at the point when she started taking Sarah's advice and making desperate moves to win Joe back. Dressing like a hussy? What in the world made her think that would work? Bringing him the magic flowers, that she never really believed in herself? I don't understand why she didn't just write something to him all along. Even if she was still only writing things for strangers to find, he should have been worth it to her. When she's writing is when she's being the most honest, and she knew that Joe fell in love with her because he thought she was honest, so obviously this is the solution. I saw it coming way before she even attempted playing dress-up and using the powers of the roses. It seemed to me like she was reverting back to companion-pony status, taking Sarah's advice like that.
Overall, though, I thought the book had a good balance between humor and heartbreak, entertainment and depth. And it was also extremely adorable. "And then he smiles, and in all the places around the globe where it's night, day breaks." Cue the AWWWWWWs.
★★★★
★★★★
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