I’ve spent the last year or so reading books that make me sort of an unintended Francophile. There is an absurd number of these books to choose from, discussing everything from culture to diet to habits of French women and the “je ne sais quoi” people go on about.
I saw a recommendation for Paris Letters
There’s something dangerous about the boredom of teenage girls.
Here is the publisher’s description:
Addy Hanlon has always been Beth Cassidy’s best friend and trusted lieutenant. Beth calls the shots and Addy carries them out, a long-established order of things that has brought them to the pinnacle of their high-school careers. Now they’re seniors who rule the intensely competitive cheer squad, feared and followed by the other girls — until the young new coach arrives.
Cool and commanding, an emissary from the adult world just beyond their reach, Coach Colette French draws Addy and the other cheerleaders into her life. Only Beth, unsettled by the new regime, remains outside Coach’s golden circle, waging a subtle but vicious campaign to regain her position as “top girl” — both with the team and with Addy herself.
Then a suicide focuses a police investigation on Coach and her squad. After the first wave of shock and grief, Addy tries to uncover the truth behind the death — and learns that the boundary between loyalty and love can be dangerous terrain.
The raw passions of girlhood are brought to life in this taut, unflinching exploration of friendship, ambition, and power. Award-winning novelist Megan Abbott, writing with what Tom Perrotta has hailed as “total authority and an almost desperate intensity,” provides a harrowing glimpse into the dark heart of the all-American girl.
I’m still not entirely sure what to think about Dare Me
On the other hand, I find it hard to connect to a piece of fiction if I can’t relate to at least one character, and I think that contributed to the ambiguity I felt throughout this book. There is not one relatable character in the bunch. Beth is domineering and cruel. Coach is an immature ice queen. Even the narrator, Addy, is an unsentimental, cold bitch. She and the other girls on the squad seem to be suffering, but it’s never clear exactly why or from what. These are not angst-ridden teenagers, these are girls who exhibit the world-weariness of women three times their age. There’s little in the way of exposition, and the tidbit from their past that is eventually revealed made me sympathize with Beth, who is easily the least sympathetic character throughout the entire story.
Overall, I’m still trying to decide how I feel about this book. I think it’s an intriguing, beautifully-written read, and worth picking up. It’s just missing the heart of my usual fare and left me a little cold.
I’ve made it a point this year to stop buying just any book that catches my eye, so when I noticed The Last Letter From Your Lover at Target, I decided to add it to my library holds. I then proceeded to devour it while lazing around during a beach vacation and loved it so much I purchased the eBook for my Kindle and have since read it again.
From GoodReads:
It is 1960. When Jennifer Stirling wakes up in the hospital, she can remember nothing-not the tragic car accident that put her there, not her husband, not even who she is. She feels like a stranger in her own life until she stumbles upon an impassioned letter, signed simply “B”, asking her to leave her husband.
Years later, in 2003, a journalist named Ellie discovers the same enigmatic letter in a forgotten file in her newspaper’s archives. She becomes obsessed by the story and hopeful that it can resurrect her faltering career. Perhaps if these lovers had a happy ending she will find one to her own complicated love life, too. Ellie’s search will rewrite history and help her see the truth about her own modern romance.
I find myself frequently falling in love with love stories, and going back to read my favorite bits and pieces time and time again. I can already tell this will be one of those books. I found myself wishing (for perhaps the thousandth time) that writing letters was still a popular form of communication. My husband and I write each other letters for anniversaries and I treasure them more than any purchased gift. This story proves that letters serve as a time capsule.
Normally I don’t really enjoy stories about love lost early in life and recaptured in old age. They’re so tragic and sad. Lorelai Gilmore put it so aptly when she begged Luke to reconsider ending their relationship, saying that she doesn’t just want an ending with him, she wants a “middle” too. And stories with near misses and close calls normally inspire me to roll my eyes or toss the book across the room in frustration. But this book got me.
Words like this always get me:
Somewhere in this world is a man who loves you, who understands how precious and clever and kind you are. A man who has always loved you and, to his detriment, suspects he always will.
They always, always get me.
If you too are a sucker for sweet love stories and eloquent love letters, I highly recommend this book.
Since I’ve already gushed about Fangirl, I decided to further gush about Rainbow Rowell and her other wonderful book, Eleanor & Park
I have a confession to make: I am a HUGE fan of the Young Adult genre. Many scoff at it, assuming the stories will lack depth, but I usually find the exact opposite is true. There’s something about the teen years that is so nostalgic and universal, and there is something about YA that allows you to hearken back to when you felt serious feelings for the first time yourself. For me, reading YA books is like retracing steps, allowing me to determine where I went wrong and where I went right and what left a mark and why. Let’s be honest, teenagers can be moody and intense and overly dramatic, but it is the period that sets up your character for the rest of your life. Childhood is a time when you are innocent and cannot fully comprehend heavy feelings. But as a teen, your experiences are the memories you will carry, and every single relationship, whether it’s with your parents or friends or nemesis or bully or first crush or first love, will set a precedent for every similar relationship that follows. And as always, I’m a sucker for a love story, particularly first love stories. If you too are a fan of any of the above, I cannot recommend Eleanor & Park highly enough.
Eleanor is the new girl at school who stands out, and not in a good way. She has wild red hair that quickly earns her the nickname “Big Red,” reflecting both her hair and her size. Her home life is a mess, and just when she resigns herself to misery and hopelessness, she meets Park. Park is a half-Korean boy whose interest include good music, comic books and keeping his head down. He is the only person to begrudgingly offer her a permanent seat next to him on the bus and their relationship slowly shifts from strangers to silent comic book readers to friends to more than friends. They are misfits who discover that they fit together perfectly. And the love they share is intense and sweet and almost enough to combat life getting in the way.
I won’t spoil the ending, but I will let you know that this book rendered me a weeping mess before and after it was over. As I said above, fiction has a way of reaching into the recesses of my mind and pulling out memories and feelings that have been long dormant. Reading Eleanor’s perspective was like reading my own thoughts from when I first met my husband, when for the first time in my life, everything was so wonderful that it felt surreal and I was certain it couldn’t last. I’m always somewhat envious of anyone who can experience something good and just enjoy it wholeheartedly, without fear or disbelief or a general sense of gloom. Love doesn’t always seem like a tangible thing. And when you haven’t been exposed to love that is healthy and happy and good, it can be nearly impossible to accept it when it’s yours for the taking.
This book is beautiful and funny and heartbreaking. I want a sequel. I NEED a sequel. And I can’t wait to read it again.
Favorite quotes:
“The first time he’d held her hand, it felt so good that it crowded out all the bad things. It felt better than anything had ever hurt.”
“Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn’t supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”
“His parents never talked about how they met, but when Park was younger, he used to try to imagine it. He loved how much they loved each other It was the thing he thought about when he woke up scared in the middle of the night. Not that they love him-they were his parents, they had to love him. That they loved each other. They didn’t have to do that.”
And this one. This one got me:
“Thank God she couldn’t make her mouth work right now, because if she could, there’d be no end to the melodramatic garbage she’d say to him. She was pretty sure she’d thank him for saving her life. Not just yesterday, but, like, practically every day since they’d met. Which make her feel like the dumbest, weakest girl. If you couldn’t save your own life, was it even worth saving?
There’s no such thing as handsome princes, she told herself.
There’s no such thing as happily ever after.
She looked up at Park. Into his golden green eyes. You saved my life, she tried to tell him. Not forever, not for good. Probably just temporarily. But you saved my life, and now, I’m yours. The me that’s me right now is yours. Always.”
Description from Goodreads:
A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.
Cath is a Simon Snow fan.
Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan…
But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.
Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words… And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?
Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?
And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?
I read Eleanor & Park
I was wrong. I ADORED Fangirl
I seriously, seriously cannot recommend this book enough. Go read it!
Kelley Writes Stuff 