Title- And We StayAuthor- Jenny Hubbard
Published- January 28th 2014
Publisher- Delacorte Press
Buy- Amazon
Goodreads Summary
Sent to an Amherst, Massachusetts, boarding school after her ex-boyfriend shoots himself, seventeen-year-old Emily expresses herself through poetry as she relives their relationship, copes with her guilt, and begins to heal.
I was lucky enough to receive this book from Netgalley to review. I mean look at that cover and the blurb for this book! I expected so many great things. So why exactly was I so disappointed?
After Emily’s boyfriend shoots himself in the school’s library after a bad breakup and finding out that a girl he was in love with was getting rid of their unplanned baby. After the abortion, Emily is sent to a boarding school for girls where she wants to find herself and deal with both losses. The book seemed very excitingly mysterious with Emily’s life being a tragedy with her only escape being poetry. The blurb for this book looks amazing. Tragedy, loss, poetry and mystery; what else would a girl want in a book?
I could not connect with Emily at all. Nor with any other character in this book. The book is set in 1995 in third person; which bored the life out of me. Usually I don’t really mind a book being written in third person but how was I meant to connect with the character and her feelings when I didn’t know what was going on in her head?!
The poems were obviously meant to be the way for me to connect and understand Emily more, but I hated every single poem by Emily. I started to skip them after about reading ten of them. I usually love poems and trying to figure out what they mean and what they can all mean to me. However I’m not one of Emily Dickinson’s fans so all the facts about her life, and some poems from her really did nothing for me; seeing as Emily Dickinson was a big part of the book, really did no favours for me.
I continued reading this book because it’s an ARC and it just felt wrong to stop reading the book. However I wish I never bothered with even requesting the book. The blurb, the cover and the title mislead me. I actually thought that this book might be about ghosts (her boyfriend did kill himself after all).
No connection with any of the characters is always hard! I agree that sometimes a third person perspective just doesn't work for a story. It's a shame that this disappointed you so much :(
ReplyDeleteMel@thedailyprophecy
I really wanted to enjoy this book. I mean look at the cover! But I just couldn't :(
ReplyDeleteI don't always mind third person, but I usually prefer first person narratives when it comes to contemporary books. Especially as most are generally character-driven. It's a shame you couldn't connect with this one! I don't think it's for me, but thanks for the helpful review. I hope you enjoy your next read much more! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! It's a good book for those that like third person POV and like poetry, ect. But that's not me :D
ReplyDelete