Dust Jacket Description:
"How do you choose between what you believe in and who you love?Jesse cuts her hair with a Swiss Army Knife. She wears massive green fisherman's boots every day. She's the founding (and only) member of NOLAW, the National Organization to Liberate All Weirdos.
Emily is the vice president of student council. She has an internship with a local big business. She loves her boyfriend.
At least she thinks she does. But there's no denying her feelings for Jesse. When they meet up every Tuesday in the bathroom of the local library, the physical connection they share is undeniable.
Jesse doesn't want to keep their relationship a secret; Emily does. But when they find themselves on opposite sides of a heated school issue, both girls are forced to choose between their convictions and their attachments to one another."
I received this book for review.
First of all, I'd like to note that I'm really behind on reviews and I fail as a blogger. HOWEVER, there are going to be some serious changes around here in terms of content and design. Be prepared.
Most importantly, however, I'm going to lead by saying that if you take nothing else from this review, you need to go out and buy this book, share it with your friends, and then start revolutions.
Characters: Jesse is that edgy, outspoken, person that I usually adore as a side character. But personalities like her's usually don't get the main attention in YA books, and that change was subtle, but refreshing. Jesse grew as more than just the token rebel character very quickly. She's still trying to forge her political voice, and she has it really bad for a girl with entirely different morals from her own. While I went through periods of being frustrated with Jesse for compromising her narrative to be with Emily, it's not to understand the place she's in. After all, most teenagers are used to their hormones ruling over logic. In fact, her love for Emily is almost heartbreaking in parts, due to its strong resonance. Jesse's character strikes the perfect balance between being strong and predetermined, while still maintaining enough wiggle room to make her character arc obvious, but engaging to watch evolve.
As for Emily, I think most of us know a girl like her. She's perfectly polished, socially involved, and she honestly thinks that not only does she has to have a good reputation in order for others to feel better, but that high school actually matters. She's more than willing to contort any of her actions into something ultimately noble or important, but she's incapable of seeing herself truthfully. Needless to say, I wasn't really a big fan of the kind of person Emily is, but I could see Jesse's attraction to her, and I really appreciated the chapters in her point of view. It encapsulated her refusal to accept herself in a way Jesse never would be able to articulate.
The thing that really pushes this story to a higher level, though, are the side characters. I fell in love with Jesse's parents, adored Wyatt's sarcasm and love of playing roles - who, by the way, might be the first gay, conservative character I've read in YA. Kudos, George -, cherished the quirky, go-getter, Joan of Arc loving Esther, resented Snediker, and went through countless other emotional processes with other personalities. Actually, one of my favourite scenes was the interaction with Jesse and Emily's boyfriend, Mike.
George sated my all consuming hunger for queer teen characters with problems beyond coming out, and gave me several more subplot characters to love. This is a brilliant cast of characters, and while maybe the stories attached to them aren't particularly original, they're intriguing, and some even provide a groundbreaking teen perspective in YA. 5 flowers.
Writing: George has a knack for internal monologue and description. She doesn't have lush prose, but her analogies communicate the perfect imagery, and it triggers powerful emotions in readers. My only peeve was that towards the end a lot of the characters' dialogue seemed to sound pretty similar. Also, while I loved Esther's points about Joan of Arc and revolutions, I'm not sure they were completely deserving of an entirely new point of view when there were already two very different ones. 4 flowers.
Plot: Maureen Johnson has a blurb on the back of this book, and there's something very MJ about this novel that I can't exactly put my finger on. Now looking back, it might have been the way the plot was dealt with.
I really loved the socially aware aspect of the novel, and how every character - even Emily - was concerned about making a major impact on the world and creating a better place for everyone to reside in. After every chapter in the middle of the book, I would have the unspeakable urge to go out and DO something about all the injustices in the world. It usually takes a lot for a book to make me want to act on issues beyond just interpreting the contents within the book, and that emotion on my part spoke volumes.
I just really loved the highly relevant political topic that's the central focus of the book. The pacing was fantastic, while the plot balanced about a billion different subplots without making me feel overwhelmed. That's a pretty impressive feat all by itself. 5 flowers.
Ending: The ending briefly reminded me of Maureen Johnson's Bermudez Triangle. That's pretty funny, since I did not love the conclusion in MJ's novel, I thought the resolution here worked for the book. I was extremely happy with Jesse's full emotional arc, and ultimately the book showed it's possible to put all your dreams into action. 5 flowers.
Dust Jacket Description: Well written, but a bit misleading, considering the story mainly is Jesse's. I would've liked a brief mention of some of the side characters, too.
Cover: I love the title's graphics, and I agree with the idea of showing how polar opposite Jesse is to Emily and vice versa. However, it feels rather gender normative and misleading. Maybe I'm the only one with that impression. 3 flowers.
Overall: This book is the sort you want to have so you're prepared when life crashes around you. It's the book you read until the wee hours of the morning that comforts you and inspires you to change the world. It has characters you empathize with and they make you feel warm, safe and ready to conquer the universe again. Please pick this up, it's a great contemporary YA book, and you won't regret it. 4 and a half flowers.
Origin: quick-pickup-rules.blogspot.com
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