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bigfriendlygeek 's review for:
Love Lessons in Starcross Valley
by Lucy Knott
If there are two things I know when picking up one of Lucy's books, it's 1) I know I'm going to smile and 2) I'm going to feel all the feelings - joy, laughter, giddiness, hope, sadness, nervousness, and geekiness. What do you mean geekiness isn't a feeling? I beg to differ.
I always worry about coming off as biased when reviewing Lucy's books, knowing her as I do, but I like to think it gives me a deeper insight into what she writes and how she writes. She puts so much of herself into her books, and each one is a piece of her and I know she puts her heart and soul into them. It may not mean everyone will understand every part of the story she writes, or why, but everything she puts in there is for a reason - even down to meticulous detail like the feel of carpet underneath a character's toes or the flavour, texture and aroma of a doughnut.
Of all of Lucy's books, I think this one has more of her in it than any of her previous books and I think I say that with each book but it's true. It's clear to me that she's put a lot of herself into not just Marnie, but Nova too. Two different parts that have come together to make a perfect whole.
There's very much two stories going on in "Love Lessons..." - that of Marnie and Nova - and I love that Lucy has put herself out there and chosen to produce not only QueerLit - which I know she adores. But I also love that she has used her experience as a Teaching Assistant to highlight how those that are neurologically diverse - especially children - are expected to conform and fit society's standards when it should be the other way around. Lucy is one of the most caring - if not *the* most caring and compassionate human beings I have ever met, and I know she's put a lot of care, effort and feeling into creating the relationship between Marnie and Paislee.
I honestly think that "Love Lessons..." tugged at my heartstrings more than any of other Lucy's books - and they did that a lot, trust me - because I can see how much of Lucy's experiences and herself is in this book, and it made my heart swell and break for her in equal measure. Lucy doesn't write the words in her books because she feels that's what people want to read or because it's what might sell - but it's because it's what she believes, what she feels and what she's experienced in some way, shape or form. She crafts characters and worlds and goes into wonderfully expressive detail to draw you into her world, figuratively in the sense of the stories she crafts and literally in the sense that this isn't just Lucy the writer, but Lucy the person. A human being of kindness, light, empathy and energy even when the world hasn't always been kind - one that inspires me and gives me hope in the world, and that I will always support and whose books I will always look forward to because I know I will always end up finishing the book with a smile - and "Love Lessons" did especially as it reminded me that even though life doesn't always go as we plan, it can still take us where we exactly need to be at the right time.
I always worry about coming off as biased when reviewing Lucy's books, knowing her as I do, but I like to think it gives me a deeper insight into what she writes and how she writes. She puts so much of herself into her books, and each one is a piece of her and I know she puts her heart and soul into them. It may not mean everyone will understand every part of the story she writes, or why, but everything she puts in there is for a reason - even down to meticulous detail like the feel of carpet underneath a character's toes or the flavour, texture and aroma of a doughnut.
Of all of Lucy's books, I think this one has more of her in it than any of her previous books and I think I say that with each book but it's true. It's clear to me that she's put a lot of herself into not just Marnie, but Nova too. Two different parts that have come together to make a perfect whole.
There's very much two stories going on in "Love Lessons..." - that of Marnie and Nova - and I love that Lucy has put herself out there and chosen to produce not only QueerLit - which I know she adores. But I also love that she has used her experience as a Teaching Assistant to highlight how those that are neurologically diverse - especially children - are expected to conform and fit society's standards when it should be the other way around. Lucy is one of the most caring - if not *the* most caring and compassionate human beings I have ever met, and I know she's put a lot of care, effort and feeling into creating the relationship between Marnie and Paislee.
I honestly think that "Love Lessons..." tugged at my heartstrings more than any of other Lucy's books - and they did that a lot, trust me - because I can see how much of Lucy's experiences and herself is in this book, and it made my heart swell and break for her in equal measure. Lucy doesn't write the words in her books because she feels that's what people want to read or because it's what might sell - but it's because it's what she believes, what she feels and what she's experienced in some way, shape or form. She crafts characters and worlds and goes into wonderfully expressive detail to draw you into her world, figuratively in the sense of the stories she crafts and literally in the sense that this isn't just Lucy the writer, but Lucy the person. A human being of kindness, light, empathy and energy even when the world hasn't always been kind - one that inspires me and gives me hope in the world, and that I will always support and whose books I will always look forward to because I know I will always end up finishing the book with a smile - and "Love Lessons" did especially as it reminded me that even though life doesn't always go as we plan, it can still take us where we exactly need to be at the right time.