You Against Me

Hi Megan,
 
I think you'll like this selection much better than my last one, haha. There are no middle-aged amputees to be found, no cheating on your husband, no fantasizing over the idea of a "fourth hand," et cetera. Romance is in the air between two teens, separated by money and circumstance, their love forbidden by their families, but undeniable in their hearts...


Oh jeez. Romeo and Juliet, here we come! -_-

Image from Goodreads.com

Just kidding. I mean, yes, it's definitely turned out to be another modern-day take on that over-taught tale (though her inspiration is less surprising after having read that she did theatre for a long while before writing. Those Brits and the Bard, I'm telling you).  But I liked it, I really did.  For one, this feud is newly begun. Wealthy and posh Tom Parker is accused of raping Karyn McKenzie. Once Tom is released on bail, temperatures rise as one brother wants to defend his sister's honor, and a sister tries to reconcile what she may or may not have seen that night with the love she bears for her older brother.  So it's refreshing to know why the two families hate each other, and that this hatred is spurred on by real, relevant hurts rather than some past, vaguely remembered wrong.


Be warned though, Downham doesn't pull any punches in this one. Mikey McKenzie, brother of the alleged rape victim, has a home life that is far from ideal. With no father and a mother who rarely finds her way out of the bottle, it's up to him to hold his broken family together. And while Ellie Parker may  have the "perfect family," Downham shows that a beautiful house is often just a facade for a ugly family.  A family where a father is so caught up in appearances that he will do anything, truly anything, to keep his reputation flawless. 


What I found particularly excellent, however, were the Parker siblings. Karyn isn't the only one who was scarred by the events that night, and Downham does an excellent job of making the reader truly experience Ellie's turmoil as she struggles to comprehend what she may or may not have seen that night. And Tom's character is interesting as well. I won't say much more than that, for fear of giving away too much, but what happens towards the close of the novel when all truths come to light was an important step in humanizing Tom. 

Also, it was nice not to be overwhelmed by all the lovey-dovey stuff :)


Like I said, I think you'll enjoy this far more than The Fourth Hand! Oh, and I should apologize if this post is all over the place-I wrote the first half about a week/week and a half before the later, so I'm sure I forgot somethings I wanted to say!


Keep Calm and Read On,
Becca

The Language of Flowers

Dear Becca,

The first time I heard about THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS, I was reading Sarah Dessen’s blog. In case I haven’t mentioned how amazing Sarah Dessen is, she’s basically my YA hero. Her endorsement (“It’s just so different from anything else I’ve read lately and I can’t put it down”) was enough to convince me that it was worth putting on my to-read list. And let me just say what a great decision that was. It wasn’t until I started reading the book that I found out how widely known and read it is. Turns out, one of my co-workers was also reading it and one of my writing teachers had recently read it as well.  I suppose it’s not too surprising that I’m late to get on the bandwagon when it comes to adult fiction….

More to the point, this book is about a young woman named Victoria who has recently been emancipated. She spent her youth in various foster and youth homes and now that she is on her own, she has to figure out what to do and how to support herself. The novel weaves back and forth between Victoria’s time with her favorite foster mother, Elizabeth, and the present day. Elizabeth teaches Victoria about flowers and flowers become the one thing that Victoria really identifies with and cares for. In the storyline that follows the present day, Victoria finds work as a florist. And there is, of course, a romance.

As the title suggests, the theme in the story is the language of flowers. Different flowers mean different things and this is how Victoria knows how to express herself. There is one point in the story (and I will not note the page because we’re not in college anymore!) where a client asks Victoria to make her a bouquet with flowers that will stimulate sexual desire. Victoria finds it a challenging assignment and wonders if she should lie about the flowers that she uses. After all, the client won’t really know the difference. But she decides that she can’t. For me, this was one of the most powerful moments in the book. Deciding whether or not to stick by what you believe. It would be easier not to, but Victoria does it anyway. And since Victoria usually runs away from challenges, this was a particularly beautiful moment.

It’s hard for me to pinpoint my favorite part of this novel. It takes place in San Francisco and I wish I could say that I was able to relate to it better because of that. But truthfully, I’m actually not all that familiar with the different little parks and places she frequents. I really want to visit the flower market after this!  Ultimately, it’s the cast of characters that kept me reading. They’re all a little damaged and arguably, dislikable, but it’s the way they all complement each other and lift each other up the best that they can. A lot goes unspoken (which you would think would make it hard to write about) but Diffenbaugh does a great job of showing the emotion between characters without telling. I could really take a lesson from her on subtly.

I loved this book! And yet…I can’t wait to get back to reading YA.

Til we read again!

Megan