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A review by lumos_libros
The Beautiful Between by Alyssa Sheinmel
3.0
I'm having a hard time remembering why exactly I decided to read this book. It wasn't the cover, title, or premise. I actually didn't know what the book was exactly about to be honest. This hasn't happened to me in a long time. Anyways no matter, just have to come to terms with my senile self. Onto the real review...
Connelly keeps to herself mostly. She isn't anti-social just not very social. She also isn't a dork but she isn't popular. No, Connelly prefers to sit in the middle of the cafeteria and observe the high school royalty in all their glory. If there was going to be a prince for this school, it would be Jeremy Cole. Girls practically hang on his every word and guys idolize him, but then he does something that makes no sense. He sits next to Connelly. That one decision changes both their lives, but not in the way you would assume. Through helping one another with schoolwork they find out some hard facts about growing up, and learning how to deal with the truth.
The book is set in New York, and Connelly goes to a private school where the socialites of the city go to. Can't say I'm a fan of this kind of setting but it did fit the characters. The author managed to tell the story well. Connelly is an odd narrator, not bad just odd. She makes a lot of good correlations between fairy tales and her everyday life. The problem I had is that I felt she was a little too detached for me. That is probably the effect the author wanted though. This girl is carrying around a huge emotional weight. She doesn't know how her father died, and her mother and she have come to a silent agreement that they won't talk about it. Jeremy also has a secret his hiding, and all is not so easy in the prince's world. Throughout the book you are privy to the information, and see the relationship between Connelly and Jeremy grow. Their relationship is weird, not in a bad way, but definitely not conventional. The weirdest thing though is that it felt realistic, which surprised me.
I can't compare this book with anything else I have ever read. This is good but I'm having a hard time finding out how I feel about it. The book isn't funny, modern, or cliché. It has a serious undertone to it because it deals a lot with loss. It's getting a 3.5 from me because I'm confused about how exactly feel about it, but that may be a good sign? I'd like to see what other people think about it.
Here's what I took: Having at least one good friend is important, and knowing the truth may change things but it's better than living in fear of it.
Connelly keeps to herself mostly. She isn't anti-social just not very social. She also isn't a dork but she isn't popular. No, Connelly prefers to sit in the middle of the cafeteria and observe the high school royalty in all their glory. If there was going to be a prince for this school, it would be Jeremy Cole. Girls practically hang on his every word and guys idolize him, but then he does something that makes no sense. He sits next to Connelly. That one decision changes both their lives, but not in the way you would assume. Through helping one another with schoolwork they find out some hard facts about growing up, and learning how to deal with the truth.
The book is set in New York, and Connelly goes to a private school where the socialites of the city go to. Can't say I'm a fan of this kind of setting but it did fit the characters. The author managed to tell the story well. Connelly is an odd narrator, not bad just odd. She makes a lot of good correlations between fairy tales and her everyday life. The problem I had is that I felt she was a little too detached for me. That is probably the effect the author wanted though. This girl is carrying around a huge emotional weight. She doesn't know how her father died, and her mother and she have come to a silent agreement that they won't talk about it. Jeremy also has a secret his hiding, and all is not so easy in the prince's world. Throughout the book you are privy to the information, and see the relationship between Connelly and Jeremy grow. Their relationship is weird, not in a bad way, but definitely not conventional. The weirdest thing though is that it felt realistic, which surprised me.
I can't compare this book with anything else I have ever read. This is good but I'm having a hard time finding out how I feel about it. The book isn't funny, modern, or cliché. It has a serious undertone to it because it deals a lot with loss. It's getting a 3.5 from me because I'm confused about how exactly feel about it, but that may be a good sign? I'd like to see what other people think about it.
Here's what I took: Having at least one good friend is important, and knowing the truth may change things but it's better than living in fear of it.