Read by Candace Thaxton
I'm just going to say it: Austin is brilliant. This is her third book (strangely, I ended up reading them in order, not that they're connected in any way save for the brilliance), and there's something about her writing that I connect with so deeply. This novel focuses on Sigrid and Margit (sisters) who are dealing with their lives in different ways. The rambling, stream-of-consciousness way that Austin writes is powerful and quirky and humorous and nostalgic and...and...and. I could go on with adjectives to describe it but at the same time, she's crafting a story that keeps you wanting more. These characters are fully fleshed and handling real topics - serious topics - with such awkward finesse that you can't help but love them. I am really looking forward to Austin's next book. There are so many quotes from this book that I loved; I'll only post a few.
5/5
Quotes:
I'm just going to say it: Austin is brilliant. This is her third book (strangely, I ended up reading them in order, not that they're connected in any way save for the brilliance), and there's something about her writing that I connect with so deeply. This novel focuses on Sigrid and Margit (sisters) who are dealing with their lives in different ways. The rambling, stream-of-consciousness way that Austin writes is powerful and quirky and humorous and nostalgic and...and...and. I could go on with adjectives to describe it but at the same time, she's crafting a story that keeps you wanting more. These characters are fully fleshed and handling real topics - serious topics - with such awkward finesse that you can't help but love them. I am really looking forward to Austin's next book. There are so many quotes from this book that I loved; I'll only post a few.
5/5
Quotes:
- "Dad's not much of a texter. I've witnessed him attempt to type on his phone and it's like watching a hooved animal try to play a string instrument."
- "[...] and the intense allegiance I felt to other children. I remember seeing adults as the other. As a group I wasn't a part of. I thought I had waited as long as I could to jump ship from the kids' boat to the grownups'. I thought of the kids who jumped early as turncoats. I thought they were traitors who abandoned their Barbies for makeup and jeans. I knew we all had to jump ship at one point but I wanted to wait until the last possible moment."
- "I would prefer to be told to never lie rather than to be told I should lie sometimes."
- "I always had a big imagination but you can't have a big imagination when you grow up unless you're using it to design video games or write fantasy novels or something."
- "There is this magnetism between queer kids. It's a weird phenomenon. We find each other even before we realize we're queer."
- "I decided that, deep down, we're all who we were when we were kids. I think being a teenager is about hiding all of your quirks and contorting yourself to fit in and impress people. And being an adult is about refinding who you were when you were eight years old."
- "I wanted to the streets to be built to accommodate unicorns."
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