The Beautiful Between by Alyssa B. Sheinmel is a wonderfully written story examining the lives of those touched by leukemia. Connelly Sternin, the moderately cool, self-proclaimed Rapunzel of the story, suddenly finds herself seated next to Prince Charming. She has no idea why Jeremy Cole would want to sit next to her, much less talk to her and ask her for help studying the SAT vocab section.
Jeremy, it turns out, wants to talk to Connelly because her father died of leukemia -- which is what Jeremy's twelve-year-old sister, Kate, is sick with. Only, Connelly doesn't know how her father died. No one will tell her, not even her
mother.
mother.The story is told in first person by Connelly, and her lovely fairy-tale comparisons add description while staying true to the hierarchy of modern day high school. As much as I enjoyed Connelly's perspective, I would have liked a couple of the chapters to have been told from Jeremy's point of view. I think a fresh perspective would have added a lot to the story.
Still, the plot was realistic and moving, with dialogue that flowed naturally between characters. Kate, in my opinion, was the best speaker, and I would've liked more scenes to include her.At the end of the book, there were still things I wish had been resolved, such as why Marcy MacDonald dumped Jeremy.
All in all, though, The Beautiful Between was an amazing book. I definitely recommend this to everyone!
That's important, to notice what you like about what the author did, what you think worked, what didn't; how the book left you feeling, whether you think that's how the author intended for you to feel. Did she intend to leave you a bit uncomfortable, with some unanswered questions, do you think? Do you think she intended to draw a parallel between the journey she took her readers through, and the journey of her characters? Interesting treatment of a difficult subject.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was intentional to leave some loose ends. That's something an author generally tries to avoid, unless there's a sequel.
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