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A review by novelbloglover
The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I by Carolyn Mackler
5.0
Book Review
Title: The Universe is expanding and so am I
Author: Carolyn Mackler
Genre: YA/Family/Contemporary
Rating: *****
Review: The opening to The Universe is expanding and so am I takes place five months after the end of The Earth, my butt and other big round things. We re-join Virginia and Froggy who have been together in a relationship for five months, something the old Virginia thought she’d never have. After dating for a little while Virginia seems to have left the honeymoon period behind and discovers that she doesn’t really feel anything for Froggy but doesn’t want to break up with him because he is the first and only boyfriend she’s ever had, but she doesn’t want to lead him on when their relationship won’t go any further than it already has. Despite this her life is good, her sister is returning home from the Peace Corps and she and Shannon are doing a summer internship together, but she also has to pass her driving test and is hating every second of it. One thing that still struck me was her relationship with Byron still isn’t what it used to be, and I doubt it ever will be.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Virginia is contemplating her relationship and her summer plans when she runs into a nice foreigner and immediately feels a connection with him, but she is back to being awkward and shy, but she hopes that she will meet him again. However, her summer is turned upside down when Shannon drops out of their internship at the last moment, making Virginia feel alone. Life for Virginia isn’t as bad as it was in the previous book until Byron gets arrested presumably for the date rape incident the previous year and Virginia’s anxiety goes through the roof and having Brie in her kickboxing class isn’t helping her get away from her issues.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, it looks like Byron is going to be faces charges for what he did, which he deserves to because being drunk is not defence for raping someone, but it takes Virginia back to square one, all the progress she made erased. When Byron makes bail, Virginia gets to see the people her parents really are and when she tries to confront them with the truth of the situation, she is treated like the bad guy. Honestly, I agree with her that Byron should be punished for what he did because it was wrong, and they shouldn’t be trying to make light of the situation.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Anais is the only person Virginia can talk to, the only person who understand but she is currently in London and can’t do much to help. It isn’t made any better when Virginia finds out the boy she meets is Sebastian and is Annie Mill’s brother, which only makes her more confused about the situation and whose “side” she is on. I feel that Virginia has been on Annie’s side since the beginning and that isn’t going to change anytime soon. The upside is that she and Sebastian continue talking using the code names Leela and Fry which was super cute, and she can’t feel guilty anymore since she and Froggy broke up, but the family re trying to hide for the media attention and Virginia just can’t find it in herself to sympathise towards her brother.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, Byron’s situation also takes away a lot from the rest of the family including her mother’s book deal and Virginia’s internship but she does get another job and she also plans to meet up with Sebastian again away from their local areas so there is no chance of them being caught together. Virginia and Sebastian continue their relationship even though they shouldn’t, but they seem to truly understand how the other is feeling but they still have a few awkward moments when discussing their family situations and by this time I was wondering what is going to happen between them when people find out which they eventually will.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Anais returns home with her girlfriend solidifying that the Shreves daughters are very different from their parents but Anais fits in while Virginia doesn’t. The only person she has right now is Sebastian, but she can easily lose him if someone finds out about them. As the situation with Byron draws on Virginia and Sebastian begin moving past that and realise that their life together is no one else’s business. However, if the case goes to trail I am not sure whether they will survive it even if they do truly love one another.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, not everything works out, but Virginia finally gets her parents to understand who she is and what she wants although she goes about it in a very interesting way. While we had to wait over a decade for a sequel I am hoping there is more to come from Virginia soon. Highly recommend both books in this series.
Title: The Universe is expanding and so am I
Author: Carolyn Mackler
Genre: YA/Family/Contemporary
Rating: *****
Review: The opening to The Universe is expanding and so am I takes place five months after the end of The Earth, my butt and other big round things. We re-join Virginia and Froggy who have been together in a relationship for five months, something the old Virginia thought she’d never have. After dating for a little while Virginia seems to have left the honeymoon period behind and discovers that she doesn’t really feel anything for Froggy but doesn’t want to break up with him because he is the first and only boyfriend she’s ever had, but she doesn’t want to lead him on when their relationship won’t go any further than it already has. Despite this her life is good, her sister is returning home from the Peace Corps and she and Shannon are doing a summer internship together, but she also has to pass her driving test and is hating every second of it. One thing that still struck me was her relationship with Byron still isn’t what it used to be, and I doubt it ever will be.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Virginia is contemplating her relationship and her summer plans when she runs into a nice foreigner and immediately feels a connection with him, but she is back to being awkward and shy, but she hopes that she will meet him again. However, her summer is turned upside down when Shannon drops out of their internship at the last moment, making Virginia feel alone. Life for Virginia isn’t as bad as it was in the previous book until Byron gets arrested presumably for the date rape incident the previous year and Virginia’s anxiety goes through the roof and having Brie in her kickboxing class isn’t helping her get away from her issues.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, it looks like Byron is going to be faces charges for what he did, which he deserves to because being drunk is not defence for raping someone, but it takes Virginia back to square one, all the progress she made erased. When Byron makes bail, Virginia gets to see the people her parents really are and when she tries to confront them with the truth of the situation, she is treated like the bad guy. Honestly, I agree with her that Byron should be punished for what he did because it was wrong, and they shouldn’t be trying to make light of the situation.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Anais is the only person Virginia can talk to, the only person who understand but she is currently in London and can’t do much to help. It isn’t made any better when Virginia finds out the boy she meets is Sebastian and is Annie Mill’s brother, which only makes her more confused about the situation and whose “side” she is on. I feel that Virginia has been on Annie’s side since the beginning and that isn’t going to change anytime soon. The upside is that she and Sebastian continue talking using the code names Leela and Fry which was super cute, and she can’t feel guilty anymore since she and Froggy broke up, but the family re trying to hide for the media attention and Virginia just can’t find it in herself to sympathise towards her brother.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, Byron’s situation also takes away a lot from the rest of the family including her mother’s book deal and Virginia’s internship but she does get another job and she also plans to meet up with Sebastian again away from their local areas so there is no chance of them being caught together. Virginia and Sebastian continue their relationship even though they shouldn’t, but they seem to truly understand how the other is feeling but they still have a few awkward moments when discussing their family situations and by this time I was wondering what is going to happen between them when people find out which they eventually will.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Anais returns home with her girlfriend solidifying that the Shreves daughters are very different from their parents but Anais fits in while Virginia doesn’t. The only person she has right now is Sebastian, but she can easily lose him if someone finds out about them. As the situation with Byron draws on Virginia and Sebastian begin moving past that and realise that their life together is no one else’s business. However, if the case goes to trail I am not sure whether they will survive it even if they do truly love one another.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, not everything works out, but Virginia finally gets her parents to understand who she is and what she wants although she goes about it in a very interesting way. While we had to wait over a decade for a sequel I am hoping there is more to come from Virginia soon. Highly recommend both books in this series.