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A review by literarystrawberry
Stephen McCranie's Space Boy Volume 4 by Stephen McCranie
4.0
Re-reading these a bit out of order; I saw that the library got a bunch of the new copies I haven't read yet, so I ordered some of those and thought I'd just re-read maybe 11 and 12 to remind myself of what was happening recently, and then I realized I'd forgotten more than I thought so I went back a little further, and now I think I'm just going to end up reading them from the beginning.
But yeah, some mixed feelings about some of the tropes in this series. Or just one, I guess-- the extent to which Amy wants to be there for and help Oliver (when, let's be honest, she barely knows him) even when he starts pushing her away makes me want to take her by the shoulders and say "Amy, honey, /you don't have to try to save him/. I don't care how mysteriously damaged he is. It's okay. It's not your job. You don't have to put yourself through this." And maybe it's just because I relate so much to Amy (like when her friend asks her "Doesn't it make you angry how he's treating you?" and she says something like "I don't like being angry, it makes me feel sick inside"-- very me-coded), and it hurts a little to see how deeply she cares and wants to help everyone when I had to learn the lesson that sometimes you actually do have to let go of some people, you can't be the one to fix them, and you don't have to keep hurting yourself for their sake. I know that in this story it's /good/ that she wants to help Oliver, and at least we as the readers get a little more insight into why he's behaving the way he is, we know that he actually does have good reasons for wanting to protect her by pushing her away, but I still feel like in a real life situation, I would 100% be telling her to let him go.
But what I /do/ appreciate about the story is that Amy is never isolated, even though I personally feel like her investment in Oliver's happiness isn't necessarily that healthy. She genuinely does have so many people who care about her, and she /knows/ it. She has loving parents and a lot of friends that she actually spends time with and talks to, and while arguably the plot does revolve around Oliver (the series /is/ called Space Boy, after all), her world does not consist of only him.
And I really do think Amy is such a lovely character. She cares so deeply for everyone, and since she grew up on a mining colony in space she has so much excitement and wonder for ordinary earth things she never got to experience before, like rain, and it's really charming to see her react to those things. So idk, maybe that's why I personally feel like she deserves more than a "You're the only one who can save this damaged boy!" trope. But hey, maybe that's a personal hang-up. In any case, I'm invested and looking forward to catching back up on the re-read so I can get to the new ones.
But yeah, some mixed feelings about some of the tropes in this series. Or just one, I guess-- the extent to which Amy wants to be there for and help Oliver (when, let's be honest, she barely knows him) even when he starts pushing her away makes me want to take her by the shoulders and say "Amy, honey, /you don't have to try to save him/. I don't care how mysteriously damaged he is. It's okay. It's not your job. You don't have to put yourself through this." And maybe it's just because I relate so much to Amy (like when her friend asks her "Doesn't it make you angry how he's treating you?" and she says something like "I don't like being angry, it makes me feel sick inside"-- very me-coded), and it hurts a little to see how deeply she cares and wants to help everyone when I had to learn the lesson that sometimes you actually do have to let go of some people, you can't be the one to fix them, and you don't have to keep hurting yourself for their sake. I know that in this story it's /good/ that she wants to help Oliver, and at least we as the readers get a little more insight into why he's behaving the way he is, we know that he actually does have good reasons for wanting to protect her by pushing her away, but I still feel like in a real life situation, I would 100% be telling her to let him go.
But what I /do/ appreciate about the story is that Amy is never isolated, even though I personally feel like her investment in Oliver's happiness isn't necessarily that healthy. She genuinely does have so many people who care about her, and she /knows/ it. She has loving parents and a lot of friends that she actually spends time with and talks to, and while arguably the plot does revolve around Oliver (the series /is/ called Space Boy, after all), her world does not consist of only him.
And I really do think Amy is such a lovely character. She cares so deeply for everyone, and since she grew up on a mining colony in space she has so much excitement and wonder for ordinary earth things she never got to experience before, like rain, and it's really charming to see her react to those things. So idk, maybe that's why I personally feel like she deserves more than a "You're the only one who can save this damaged boy!" trope. But hey, maybe that's a personal hang-up. In any case, I'm invested and looking forward to catching back up on the re-read so I can get to the new ones.