Take a photo of a barcode or cover
cala_p 's review for:
The Boy and His Ribbon
by Pepper Winters
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reread: June 25, 2024
After a few years of healing, I’ve finally decided to reread this duet. I love this as much as I did my first read through. I forgot how much I adore the Wilson family and all they did for Ren and Della, but for me, I LOVE after they leave the Wilson farm and it’s Della’s high school years. All the angst, all the jealousy - emotional and amazing! I recommend this duet to every single person who asks for a book to make them cry. And I can’t just pick one favourite quote…
After a few years of healing, I’ve finally decided to reread this duet. I love this as much as I did my first read through. I forgot how much I adore the Wilson family and all they did for Ren and Della, but for me, I LOVE after they leave the Wilson farm and it’s Della’s high school years. All the angst, all the jealousy - emotional and amazing! I recommend this duet to every single person who asks for a book to make them cry. And I can’t just pick one favourite quote…
Favourite Quotes:
I’m living proof that a heart can be broken a thousand times and still function, still keep you alive—desperately hoping that it won’t happen again, all the while knowing it will.
She was evolving, and I couldn’t do a damn thing but watch her morph into something I could never keep.
She’d allowed a stranger to share something so intimate. She’d allowed a stranger to take her innocence, and all that was left between us were past mistakes and future heartbreaks.
Initial Read: March 28, 2018
Thank you to the author and publisher for an ARC of this through Netgalley.
This book was everything I wanted, hoped for, and more! I haven’t ugly-cried for a book like I had for this one in a long time. This to me says good writing--when my stomach was in knots and my emotions were all over the place thanks to the characters and their story-it’s sign of a good novel. It’s so hard to word what I would like to say about this novel, because it literally left me speechless. I suspect I will be unable to begin another book for a day or so; this one’s leaving me with a hangover.
I reflect back on this book and think about where the journey took me. To think that 300 pages ago, they were a child and a baby. The book feels so realistic that it feels as if I grew up with these kids. The childhood time was beautiful and strong and the adult (Ren) and teen (Della) time was heartbreaking and wonderful.
The story is a unique one beginning with a young ten-year-old boy running away for his life. When he makes it a distance away from the farm he was enslaved on, he finds his ex-owner’s new baby daughter in his bag. I questioned this a little bit--even if she crawled into his bag, he left during the night. So either why was she not in bed or if she hid away during daylight, did they really forget their own baby. Throughout the story I question what would have become of Della. Once old enough, would they treat their own child as they did the other children. She was dressed properly, fed, and seemed to be cared for, so as she is their own, would she have been the exception? But then she would be abusing children like Ren? Anyway, he debates what to do with a one-year-old. After an attempt to give her to a family for a good life which failed, he takes her back, and thus she is his to watch, care for, and raise.
The most interesting and yet sad feature of this novel is their age difference of ten years. So while she’s 5 years old and still a child, he’s 15 and growing into a man. When she’s 10, and just before teenagehood, he’s 20 and an adult. So they grow up together, as Ren protecting and providing for them both as he would to a sibling. But when two people grow up together with no one but themselves, the other person is the other’s entire world, so who else will you love in every way? For Ren, he was so much older than her so he kept to the big brother thing while using other women, but none could be what he was looking for. Because what he wanted was ten years younger than him and even that he wouldn’t admit it to himself. When Della is growing and her body is changing, she starts to develop more than just familia feelings toward Ren.
The book is told in mainly Ren’s POV, and I think this sold the book to me further. It was so beautiful and heartbreaking to read the book from his perspectives, to know what he wants and what he is denying himself of. We get snippets written by Della’s POV in a writing university assignment that gave bits of her story. I enjoyed these, especially in the later years when she’s an older teen and is able to essentially know and understand herself. She gave hints to what to expect at the end of the novel, yet that didn’t stop the tears from happening once the ending came. I suspect book 2 will be in her POV mainly. As much as I think that’ll be good, I’m secretly hoping that it’ll be his, or at least both. I suspect throughout all the time, he never went far from her. While she’s writing their story, he’s probably nearby watching and protecting her. So a dual POV would work nicely.
I have not read a plot so unique in a long time. It just sucked me in from page 1 and refused to let go. I’m concluding my semester which means a lot of assignments and I forced myself to put the book down but it was just impossible to. My mind never left the story. I think it was interesting because it was almost a prequel to the main story. No, actually, no, I don’t want to say that. The main story is their story; them growing up together and them connecting and surviving. So I’ll say it like this: this book is a prequel to the romance that I am sure is to come. Since we’re told the book year by year while Della teases us with her writing in the present, I will assume that the second book is all in the present, as their story leading up to the present is now over. But that’s not to say this one isn’t magical. I think the lack of (direct) romance is what made this book. My heart broke for the characters, especially Ren, over and over again.
There is not one part of this book I did not like. Ren was fierce, beautiful and sad. Della was funny, strong, and heartbreaking once past 16. The writing was flawless and just draws you in from the get-go. Like I said, the good writing allowed for ugly tears, so that’s saying something. The plot was unique and such an adventure. I just can’t wait to continue it with them in the summer. The angst in the novel and between the characters just had my stomach in knots. The secondary characters really provided growth to Deall and Ren in the most important times.
This coming of age love story is my new favorite book. Definitely a top 2018 read. I’m sure if I was diagnosed, it would be the reason for anxiety that I’m sure exists.
And oh, that tattoo. My heart cheered and cried at the same time.
C’mon The Girl and her Ren!
Thank you to the author and publisher for an ARC of this through Netgalley.
This book was everything I wanted, hoped for, and more! I haven’t ugly-cried for a book like I had for this one in a long time. This to me says good writing--when my stomach was in knots and my emotions were all over the place thanks to the characters and their story-it’s sign of a good novel. It’s so hard to word what I would like to say about this novel, because it literally left me speechless. I suspect I will be unable to begin another book for a day or so; this one’s leaving me with a hangover.
I reflect back on this book and think about where the journey took me. To think that 300 pages ago, they were a child and a baby. The book feels so realistic that it feels as if I grew up with these kids. The childhood time was beautiful and strong and the adult (Ren) and teen (Della) time was heartbreaking and wonderful.
The story is a unique one beginning with a young ten-year-old boy running away for his life. When he makes it a distance away from the farm he was enslaved on, he finds his ex-owner’s new baby daughter in his bag. I questioned this a little bit--even if she crawled into his bag, he left during the night. So either why was she not in bed or if she hid away during daylight, did they really forget their own baby. Throughout the story I question what would have become of Della. Once old enough, would they treat their own child as they did the other children. She was dressed properly, fed, and seemed to be cared for, so as she is their own, would she have been the exception? But then she would be abusing children like Ren? Anyway, he debates what to do with a one-year-old. After an attempt to give her to a family for a good life which failed, he takes her back, and thus she is his to watch, care for, and raise.
The most interesting and yet sad feature of this novel is their age difference of ten years. So while she’s 5 years old and still a child, he’s 15 and growing into a man. When she’s 10, and just before teenagehood, he’s 20 and an adult. So they grow up together, as Ren protecting and providing for them both as he would to a sibling. But when two people grow up together with no one but themselves, the other person is the other’s entire world, so who else will you love in every way? For Ren, he was so much older than her so he kept to the big brother thing while using other women, but none could be what he was looking for. Because what he wanted was ten years younger than him and even that he wouldn’t admit it to himself. When Della is growing and her body is changing, she starts to develop more than just familia feelings toward Ren.
The book is told in mainly Ren’s POV, and I think this sold the book to me further. It was so beautiful and heartbreaking to read the book from his perspectives, to know what he wants and what he is denying himself of. We get snippets written by Della’s POV in a writing university assignment that gave bits of her story. I enjoyed these, especially in the later years when she’s an older teen and is able to essentially know and understand herself. She gave hints to what to expect at the end of the novel, yet that didn’t stop the tears from happening once the ending came. I suspect book 2 will be in her POV mainly. As much as I think that’ll be good, I’m secretly hoping that it’ll be his, or at least both. I suspect throughout all the time, he never went far from her. While she’s writing their story, he’s probably nearby watching and protecting her. So a dual POV would work nicely.
I have not read a plot so unique in a long time. It just sucked me in from page 1 and refused to let go. I’m concluding my semester which means a lot of assignments and I forced myself to put the book down but it was just impossible to. My mind never left the story. I think it was interesting because it was almost a prequel to the main story. No, actually, no, I don’t want to say that. The main story is their story; them growing up together and them connecting and surviving. So I’ll say it like this: this book is a prequel to the romance that I am sure is to come. Since we’re told the book year by year while Della teases us with her writing in the present, I will assume that the second book is all in the present, as their story leading up to the present is now over. But that’s not to say this one isn’t magical. I think the lack of (direct) romance is what made this book. My heart broke for the characters, especially Ren, over and over again.
There is not one part of this book I did not like. Ren was fierce, beautiful and sad. Della was funny, strong, and heartbreaking once past 16. The writing was flawless and just draws you in from the get-go. Like I said, the good writing allowed for ugly tears, so that’s saying something. The plot was unique and such an adventure. I just can’t wait to continue it with them in the summer. The angst in the novel and between the characters just had my stomach in knots. The secondary characters really provided growth to Deall and Ren in the most important times.
This coming of age love story is my new favorite book. Definitely a top 2018 read. I’m sure if I was diagnosed, it would be the reason for anxiety that I’m sure exists.
And oh, that tattoo. My heart cheered and cried at the same time.
C’mon The Girl and her Ren!