By Vivian Vande Velde
Summary: Raquel, a ninth grader who pretty much goes unoticed in her school, except by her best friend Hailey, gets hit by a car one night, and dies.
Yup, she dies. This is made obvious from the first chapter, and is in fact what the whole book is about. Every chapter takes place from the point of view, from people very close to Raquel (her best friend, her Dad) to people who barely knew her (two boys who had been standing there talking to her when she stepped off the curb, the person driving the car, her classmate). Every person has something to say, a memory to share, an opinion on the subject. As the book goes on, more and more is revealed about Raqual's life, about her death, about her relationships, showing her to be a funny, likeable person, that you wish you knew when she was alive.
The whole book is shadowed by the knowledge that she is, in fact, dead, but it doesn't feel so sad, probably because the writing in the book is well written and amusing.
My opinion: I really liked this book. The thing that makes it interesting is how it's written from everyone's point of view but Raquel's, since the book takes place after she died. But you feel like you know her anyway, proving that the writing is really good. I totally suggest this book. It's small, and it would've probably taken me about 1-2 hours to read, if it hadn't been for the fact that I was reading it on a roadtrip, so I kept stopping, and doing other stuff.
A little bit 'o critique: As good as the book was, I felt like it was missing something, and after I thought about it a bit, I figured out what (I think) would've made it a bit better.
You follow all these different characters all the way up to her funeral, but you don't really see most of them interact with each other. I think it would've been cool if the author had had everyone gather around at the funeral and talk about Raquel, to kind of give the book it's final kapow. However, the book didn't have that, and it's good enough as it is (the book did have a small kapow, but I still think they should've had all the characters talk).
Yup, she dies. This is made obvious from the first chapter, and is in fact what the whole book is about. Every chapter takes place from the point of view, from people very close to Raquel (her best friend, her Dad) to people who barely knew her (two boys who had been standing there talking to her when she stepped off the curb, the person driving the car, her classmate). Every person has something to say, a memory to share, an opinion on the subject. As the book goes on, more and more is revealed about Raqual's life, about her death, about her relationships, showing her to be a funny, likeable person, that you wish you knew when she was alive.
The whole book is shadowed by the knowledge that she is, in fact, dead, but it doesn't feel so sad, probably because the writing in the book is well written and amusing.
My opinion: I really liked this book. The thing that makes it interesting is how it's written from everyone's point of view but Raquel's, since the book takes place after she died. But you feel like you know her anyway, proving that the writing is really good. I totally suggest this book. It's small, and it would've probably taken me about 1-2 hours to read, if it hadn't been for the fact that I was reading it on a roadtrip, so I kept stopping, and doing other stuff.
A little bit 'o critique: As good as the book was, I felt like it was missing something, and after I thought about it a bit, I figured out what (I think) would've made it a bit better.
You follow all these different characters all the way up to her funeral, but you don't really see most of them interact with each other. I think it would've been cool if the author had had everyone gather around at the funeral and talk about Raquel, to kind of give the book it's final kapow. However, the book didn't have that, and it's good enough as it is (the book did have a small kapow, but I still think they should've had all the characters talk).
No comments:
Post a Comment