Bad Luck/Good Book
I sped through Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes in the last few days. I read her book Liars, Inc. a few years ago and enjoyed it, so I had high hopes for this one. Girl Against the Universe wasn't quite what I expected, but it was thoroughly enjoyable, thought-provoking, and had just the right amount of plucking at my heartstrings.
Maguire Kelly is bad luck. When she was eleven, her dad, uncle, and brother all died in a car accident, which she survived without a scratch. When she was twelve, a roller coaster she was riding derailed and everyone except her was severely injured. More and more bad things keep happening to those around her, so surely Maguire is the source of the bad luck? So she ostracizes herself, keeping track of the bad things that happen, and developing intense good luck rituals and five-second checks. Then, before her junior year, another major accident leads to Maguire and her family moving across San Diego, where she can get a new start. Then she meets a put-together boy in the waiting room of her therapist's office, and they bond over challenges being set by their therapist. The boy, it turns out, is a locally famous tennis player, who helps coach Maguire's new school's tennis team. Will the two be able to help each other in more ways than one? Can Maguire learn overcome her fears and rejoin the world after her self-imposed quarantine? Is Maguire really bad luck or is the Universe just out to get her?
As I said, this book wasn't quite what I expected, but I still really enjoyed it. Maguire is an excellently realized main character and narrator. Her experiences with grief and fear have ruled her life for so long, and throughout the course of the story, we get to observe how she begins to emerge from the prison of her past and her own mind. One of my favorite parts of the book wasn't her relationship with Jordy, her waiting-room/tennis love interest. No, I loved how Maguire grew in her relationship with her family, especially her mom and her stepdad. Oftentimes in books like this, when the main character is struggling with their mental health in some way, I see parents that are cold and unfeeling, not even attempting to help their children. In the case of Girl Against the Universe, Stokes did an awesome job with creating parents that are actually doing their best to help, support, and understand their child, even if they do make mistakes sometimes. I appreciated a more empathetic approach to the family unit.
There were a few spots in the book where I was beginning to get bored and it felt like the plot was dragging from too much repetition, but I think that as a whole, this was a very successful book. Girl Against the Universe presented a story of self-growth, self-awareness, empathy, understanding, and a lot of tennis terms that I didn't understand.
Plot: B
Characters: A-
Overall: B+
Maguire Kelly is bad luck. When she was eleven, her dad, uncle, and brother all died in a car accident, which she survived without a scratch. When she was twelve, a roller coaster she was riding derailed and everyone except her was severely injured. More and more bad things keep happening to those around her, so surely Maguire is the source of the bad luck? So she ostracizes herself, keeping track of the bad things that happen, and developing intense good luck rituals and five-second checks. Then, before her junior year, another major accident leads to Maguire and her family moving across San Diego, where she can get a new start. Then she meets a put-together boy in the waiting room of her therapist's office, and they bond over challenges being set by their therapist. The boy, it turns out, is a locally famous tennis player, who helps coach Maguire's new school's tennis team. Will the two be able to help each other in more ways than one? Can Maguire learn overcome her fears and rejoin the world after her self-imposed quarantine? Is Maguire really bad luck or is the Universe just out to get her?
As I said, this book wasn't quite what I expected, but I still really enjoyed it. Maguire is an excellently realized main character and narrator. Her experiences with grief and fear have ruled her life for so long, and throughout the course of the story, we get to observe how she begins to emerge from the prison of her past and her own mind. One of my favorite parts of the book wasn't her relationship with Jordy, her waiting-room/tennis love interest. No, I loved how Maguire grew in her relationship with her family, especially her mom and her stepdad. Oftentimes in books like this, when the main character is struggling with their mental health in some way, I see parents that are cold and unfeeling, not even attempting to help their children. In the case of Girl Against the Universe, Stokes did an awesome job with creating parents that are actually doing their best to help, support, and understand their child, even if they do make mistakes sometimes. I appreciated a more empathetic approach to the family unit.
There were a few spots in the book where I was beginning to get bored and it felt like the plot was dragging from too much repetition, but I think that as a whole, this was a very successful book. Girl Against the Universe presented a story of self-growth, self-awareness, empathy, understanding, and a lot of tennis terms that I didn't understand.
Plot: B
Characters: A-
Overall: B+
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