Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Renee at It’s Book Talk. Throwback Thursday is an awesome opportunity to share old favorites as well as older books in our TBR. I love this idea as I’m often distracted by all of the shiny, new books I see every day and don’t make it back to the ones that have been sitting on my shelves.
My pick of the the week is:
Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick
I received a copy of this book at Book Expo 2016. I’m not quite sure why I didn’t reach for it until now. It’s written by the same author as The Silver Linings Playbook. Okay, I never read that book either but I did enjoy the movie!
The Blurb:
Didn’t you ever just simply want to…stop?
Star athlete and straight-A student Nanette O’Hare has played the role of dutiful daughter for as long as she can remember. But one day, a beloved teacher gives her his worn copy of The Bubblegum Reaper—a mysterious, out-of-print cult classic—and the rebel within Nanette awakens.
As the new and outspoken Nanette attempts to insert her true self into the world with wild abandon, she befriends the reclusive author and falls in love with a young, troubled poet. Forced to make some hard choices that bring devastating consequences, Nanette learns the hard way that rebellion can sometimes come at a high price.
My Review:
Every Exquisite Thing started off well enough. I would say that I enjoyed about the first third of the book. Then things began to fizzle and I was unable to recover my interest. I considered DNF’ing it but 1) I’ve already DNF’d two books this month 2) it was a fast enough read that I didn’t feel I was wasting too much time 3) I held a glimmer of hope that the ending would blow me away.
I though the premise of the book was a good one – two teens that don’t fit in with the “in” crowd are drawn together by book, The Bubblegum Reaper. They’re introduced by the book’s author over dinner and make an immediate connection. He is a fight-for-the-underdog poet and she is struggling to find her sense of self. Sadly, the rest of the story was lackluster and ineffective in delivering it’s intended message. I believe I can see what the author was trying to do here; there were elements of romance and humor, teenage angst, and classic tragedy. It just didn’t come together for me.
I felt that some of the events and dialogs were too juvenile to be realistic for eighteen year old high school seniors. I also had problems with the way Nanette’s parent’s marriage turned out. I’m unable to elaborate without adding spoilers. I was unable to develop a connection with any of the characters with the exception of Oliver, their mutual friend. Oh, and I liked Unproductive Ted as well. But he’s a turtle and a character in the fictitious Bubblegum Reaper so I’m not sure if he counts.
Though I’m unable to give this book a glowing review, I will read another by Matthew Quick if the blurb interests me. I enjoyed his writing style.
Thanks to Little, Brown for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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