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Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Jefferson County Public Library.
Dec 11, 2018StephanieVeeBee rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
2 things I hated, very much about this novel, which I read outloud to my 9 year old because he loves wolves and stories told from a girls' point of view. 1: The runaway Tyler was a total ass to the narrator/Lizzie. He doesn't redeem himself until chapter 30 when he saves her life, but then he jumps right back into bullying, guilting her, claiming he is smarter than her, and she just willingly lets him act like this - in fact she ENCOURAGES him to act like this by making excuses for his behaviour instead of calling him out on it and telling him he's treating her like shit, through the WHOLE NOVEL. This is probably the most believable thing that the author's written: a young man acting like a typical, sexist man. It's disturbing and discouraging. 2: Lizzie acts like a passive character - everything happens TO HER, and she just follows along with whatever junk Tyler thinks is cool, interesting or fun. In fact, she gets into trouble CONSTANTLY because she refuses to stand up to Tyler, or speak up for herself. In fact, her whole life is driven by what will happen to her through the eyes of her father, and Tyler. There is no passion or action in Lizzie whatsoever. She is mothering Tyler and her own father in a way that is very typically expected of women of all ages in this world, and it was really sad to see. On top of it, the flowery prose was heavy and way to deep for a, what, 12 year old???, to be contemplating. The voice of Lizzie is that of a reflective 30 year old woman. The theme of the book, "Is it okay to keep a secret?" is so blatant and pummeled over your head, ad nauseam. It's hard to believe the narrator is even 12 because she appears so much older that it's not even relatable anymore. The amount of suspension of disbelief and the excruciatingly LONG details of emotions and thoughts of Lizzie and the slow, slow pace of this book made it a terribly long, boring and tedious read. But biggest regret was reading this very blatantly abused "friendship" between these two children. Almost every time Tyler did something I would put down the book and ask my 9 & 6 year old what they though of this behaviour, and how it would feel like to be treated like that. The worst part is that Lizzie isn't even reflective upon that, she is more dismissive of Tyler's behaviour, like it's acceptable to be treated like crap and to let him have his way because he's a kid living on the streets. If Tyler was a female and treating a male-Lizzie like that, we would all be demonizing female-Tyler. So, no, don't bother reading this. It's not even worth the discussions because it's almost every paragraph of sexist writing.