As a preface to this review, I've been wanting to read this book since before it came out in Australia and New Zealand. I was introduced to Steph Bowe through a NaNoWriMo* forum, something about teens writing and being interested in publishing. I think she started the discussion, introduced herself and her upcoming debut and I was somewhat enchanted. A home schooled, teenage writer with her first book coming out? It sounded like a idealistic depiction of myself in the future (substituting home schooler for unschooler, of course).
For over a year, I've been wanting to read her book, knowing very little about the actual premise. I was eager to support a fellow teen writer and I waited as patiently as I could for the Canadian release. Yet it still hasn't been released in Canada and I actually got my copy from a friend of my mom who bought me a copy in New Zealand and brought it back for me, as arranged as a Christmas gift from my ever lovely sister.
To get to the point, my feelings on this book are kind of jumbled up. I don't know if I really liked it or if I'm being a bit more forgiving based on the context. Unfortunately--or maybe not--I cannot eliminate my personal bias but nonetheless, here is my review.
Girl Saves Boy is a dual point of view novel following Sacha Thomas and Jewel Valentine. It starts when Jewel saves Sacha from drowning and alternates between their two stories as their lives intertwine.
I liked the two main characters. They could be a little whiny at times but their lives kind of sucked and most teenagers are at least a bit whiny so it made sense. They had neat voices and it was incredibly easy to get swept along in their waves of thought and got enveloped in their emotions--mostly. The secondary characters were neat, too. Quirky, as promised by what felt like a bazillion sources, but fresh and flawed and believable. They were people who I wanted to believe existed, who I wished I could be friends with.
Sometimes I was a bit perplexed at the characters reactions. Highlight for spoiler: Who runs away after the girl they really like and wanted to kiss all night leans over and kisses them? a) It was what you wanted!! b) Stop being so self absorbed with your 'I don't deserve her' and think about how much it would suck to be rejected like that.** I do like being able to think about what choices I would have made differently but I almost felt alienated at times due to the characters absurd decisions. It's interesting to see who different characters react to different situations but I would have liked to see those reactions a little more fleshed out.
There were moments where I could have forgotten to breathe and passages that made me want to go back and reread. I didn't shed tears but I got a lump in my throat once and I did feel deeply for the characters on more than one occasion.
Two different points of view can be tricky for a writer to pull off but I thought Steph Bowe did it beautiful. Each of the narrators were distinctive enough that I wasn't confused about who was speaking but they also had a similar cadence that it didn't feel disjointed or jumpy. One problem I found with this was finishing one chapter, wanting to know what happened next and being thrown into the other character's story. It kept me reading but I was, at times, a bit frustrated.
It was a nice, real***, lovely, wonderfully told story. It wasn't the best book I read in January but there was harsh competition. Also, I'm starting to think I have a thing for Australian books. There's something just so off beat and fresh and evocative and beautiful about them. Or at least what I've read which, I'll admit, isn't a lot. Still, Aussie writers = cool.
Now I have been inspired to go back and work on my own novel so I'm going to do that and maybe one day someone will have a minor crush on me and they will be inspired by me as I have been by Steph. First, though, I must finish my novel.
Stay gold.
*This was my first NaNo, 2009.
**Yeah, sure, teenagers can be self absorbed but come now, how idiotically hurtful could you be?
***Not a boring real but an "I wish this was real because it feels like it could be" real.
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