Day 4: Paper Towns |
When I first started this book, I was expecting an Epic Trail of clues and the Hunt to End All Hunts as Q searched for Margo. What I got instead was a book that made me think about the way I see others, and wonder about how much of that viewpoint is made up of what they truly are- and how much is just me looking in a mirror. | "Like each of us starts out as a watertight vessel. And these things happen... And the vessel starts to crack open in places.... And it's only in that time that we can see each other, because we see out of ourselves through our cracks and into others through theirs. When did we see each other face-to-face? Not until you saw into my cracks and I saw into yours. Before that we were just looking at ideas of each other, like looking at your window shade but never looking inside. But once the vessel cracks, the light can get in. The light can get out.” |
This one was personal because of that gradual discovery by Q: that too many times, the impressions we hold about others rarely equates to who they really are. I've had this problem before, and others have had it with me: including one incident right around the time I first read the book. More than any clue hunt, more than the awesomeness of sassy best friend Ben, more than solving the mystery of exactly what happened to Margo: that theme makes this book special to me. |
Day 5: Cinder & Ella |
Unless, of course, she can prove that she has a support system in place.
I am honestly, truly, sincerely in love with this book. The characters are by turns witty, hilarious, heartbreaking- and always so very, very real. Kelly Oram brought this tale to life in such entrancing detail that I forgot that this was supposed to be a Cinderella re-telling: it just became a very, VERY good book from a talented author. But, like any great book, it's not all fun and games. It addresses issues such as bullying, body image, the value of real friendships, and the strength we ourselves are unaware we have. |