EricaO

It's been a few days since I finished listening to this and when I think back, I get the feeling of "That was so sweet!" (Sweet like "Awwwww," not like "Dude! That's wicked/radical/awesome!")

I liked Marcelo. I wish I'd have known a few Marceloes when I was in high school. Maybe I did. I don't remember. Regardless, in my current life, I would like to know more people who could be objectively honest instead of saying words they think will best suit their needs. I would love to be able to count on someone's opinions. I'd like a Marcelo in my life, simply for that reason alone.

I understood my feelings about Marcelo - agreeing with his father that kids can't be sheltered if they're expected to survive life and that you don't know what you can do unless you're pushed to do it, though I didn't agree that ignoring a fact makes it obsolete. At the same time, Marcelo had such a precious gift (I don't say that lightly; I hate that term) and I knew it would be broken in the Real World. I didn't want that, either. Bittersweet. I'm not convinced the outcome was worth the price but I also don't think the opposite would have made me any happier. His situation was hard for my mind to resolve because I wanted both things for him even though there's no way that could happen.

I mostly liked Jasmine. I liked that she knew who she was, knew what she wanted, had plans, was patient, was a fighter when necessary. But sometimes she also irritated me. I kept seeing her as April from "Parks & Rec" - smart, capable, and sort of an angry plank. There's nothing wrong with the angry plank attitude but it's hard to connect with a character when you can't see or feel their emotions. Was that done to help us understand Marcelo's point of view? He can't connect with people's emotions unless they make those emotions very observable so was I feeling his frustration? Only, he understood Apri, um, Jasmine just fine. So that means his rudimentary emotional intelligence is a great deal higher than mine...which actually makes sense.

I loved that Wendell was the typical, all-American, entitled, white male d-bag. Yay! There was no effort to give that kid hidden depth, to make him relatable - he's the typical slimy bully that we all know and hate. Sometimes you just need a non-complicated character so that you can focus more on understanding everyone else.

It was nice to have a bit of a mystery to look forward to. It was also fun to watch Wendell's lame non-seduction of Jasmine because that was just doomed from the start. I sort of hoped he'd succeed with his nefarious plans only to be knifed in the face at the crucial moment (don't worry, that's not a spoiler or even an anti-spoiler) because he needs a face-knifing. I liked how Marcelo came to understand his father as well as his relationship with the man and how neither was what he'd thought; I think we all go through that at some point in our lives. He just handled it with a lot more grace than most of us. He's a good kid.

My biggest stumbling block was that I couldn't differentiate which things Marcelo would understand and which he wouldn't. He seemed to have a solid grasp on who he was, what he was like, and his anticipated reactions. But then sometimes he knew things about himself, about his situation that I wouldn't have expected him to know and, conversely, there were things that threw him that I felt he would have been prepared for or would have known in advance. No, I can't cite anything because I don't remember what had happened the couple of instances that happened. And now it sounds like I think every character has to stay in character. I don't think that, I was just struck at how some of Marcelo's reactions seemed illogical when compared to his previous reactions that may have run along the same lines. If that even makes sense.
It doesn't. I know. I am being very vague because I came to this review unprepared and I am trying to pull the wool over my eyes. I don't even know why I do that.

But I did enjoy this book. I do know that.