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Emotionally crippled after the death of her boyfriend Reeve, Jam Gallahue is sent to recover at The Wooden Barn, a boarding school for teens suffering from trauma. Upon arrival, Jam is surprised to find herself registered for Special Topics in English, a mysterious and highly sought after class taught by a professor who hand-picks students using unknown criteria. Jam and her Special Topics classmates are encouraged to write in professor-provided journals as a part of their coursework, and to Jam’s surprise, the journal transports her to a realm where Reeve is alive. Through their studies of the work of Sylvia Plath and their magical excursions into their journals, the Special Topics students learn to overcome the pain of their individual tragedies, and in some cases, discover hidden truths that had been long buried.
I’m going to be fairly vague here, but if you’re trying to remain totally spoiler-free, stop reading the review at this point. You with me? Good. So, toward the end of Bezhar, there’s a big reveal. Your reaction to this reveal will severely impact your overall feelings for this novel. A few friends who also received advance copies loved the reveal. Personally, it left me feeling a little cheated Reveal aside, I felt that this was a really well-worked novel. Wolitzer’s style was descriptively plain, but it felt authentic for Jam’s first-person narrative. I also loved the thought that this book might encourage readers to pick up some of Plath’s work. I would recommend this one to all teens who enjoy tragedies or stories with emotional depth.
I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group and to NetGalley for the advance copy!
I’m going to be fairly vague here, but if you’re trying to remain totally spoiler-free, stop reading the review at this point. You with me? Good. So, toward the end of Bezhar, there’s a big reveal. Your reaction to this reveal will severely impact your overall feelings for this novel. A few friends who also received advance copies loved the reveal. Personally, it left me feeling a little cheated Reveal aside, I felt that this was a really well-worked novel. Wolitzer’s style was descriptively plain, but it felt authentic for Jam’s first-person narrative. I also loved the thought that this book might encourage readers to pick up some of Plath’s work. I would recommend this one to all teens who enjoy tragedies or stories with emotional depth.
I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group and to NetGalley for the advance copy!