Scan barcode
A review by gnomely
Just in Case by Meg Rosoff
this book was so important to my teen self. justin is wracked with existential anxiety which really spoke to me as a fourteen year old. i loved the blurry lines between the reality and imagination, and the way 'fate' as a character leans on the fourth wall.
reading it again as an adult, i feel a lot more distanced from justin's self-absorbed teen angst than i was at fourteen, plus the over-dramatic purple prose that makes everything from drinking milk to running cross country deep and important and dramatic, while accurate to the way i felt at that age, is just tiresome to me now.
and that's what i think makes great YA. this book really dug in deep to my teen psyche, said: "hey, here's someone who's as lost as you are." no judgement, just understanding.
now that i've moved on from that frame of mind, re-reading this book was frustrating. it's meandering, unconventional, and doesn't seem to go anywhere at all.
but i appreciate this book for how much it resonated with me when i was younger. don't know how to feel about it now.
reading it again as an adult, i feel a lot more distanced from justin's self-absorbed teen angst than i was at fourteen, plus the over-dramatic purple prose that makes everything from drinking milk to running cross country deep and important and dramatic, while accurate to the way i felt at that age, is just tiresome to me now.
and that's what i think makes great YA. this book really dug in deep to my teen psyche, said: "hey, here's someone who's as lost as you are." no judgement, just understanding.
now that i've moved on from that frame of mind, re-reading this book was frustrating. it's meandering, unconventional, and doesn't seem to go anywhere at all.
but i appreciate this book for how much it resonated with me when i was younger. don't know how to feel about it now.