Summary from
Goodreads:
Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of
fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar
reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to
investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides
that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.
Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good
student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the
ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.
In his long-awaited return, John Green,
the acclaimed, award-winning author of Looking
for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars,
shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel
of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.
Review:
I love John Green. He’s a brilliant writer and such a good
person too. I’m not as a big a fan as others out there. I used to watch his and
Hank’s videos religiously. While, I don’t do that any more, I know a lot of
people still watch them and that he helps a lot of people. I’ve had the
pleasure of meeting him a couple times over the years of conferences and I
always felt like he was just so genuinely kind and willing to talk to and
listen to everyone who came to get a book signed.
I know he has critics and that the most common piece of
criticism is that he creates YA characters who are too adult, too intelligent,
and too wise for their years. I’m not going to lie; I love that about his
characters. I loved reading those characters when I was a young adult, and I
love reading those characters, now as a genuine adult. He doesn’t sugar coat
things. He doesn’t make the mistake of dumbing down the words or actions of
characters like other YA authors really seem to do. And I always have this
strange sense of familiarity with his writing. Like, I’d be able to pull him
out of a book lineup.
This book, like all his past books, focuses more on
character and character development then it does on plot. He is not an author
for readers who need more plot-driven stories in their lives. His plot is
always the journey his characters take inward –how people grow up and learn
with their experiences. I was a little surprised to learn that the plot of this
book would revolve around a disappearance and the mystery behind it. That
doesn’t sound very John Green. Thankfully, that almost suspense story took the
back seat to Aza.
This book is a story of mental illness. It’s about Aza
learning to see beyond her mental illness and work in tandem with it. I loved
this. I loved that her anxiety was always there, sometimes at the worst
possible moments. Sometimes I got so frustrated with Aza. I wanted to
physically shake her. I realize that’s how many people probably feel about
their loved ones with mental illness. It also showed me how attached I was to
Aza. I loved her and wanted all the right things for her. And that’s what John
Green excels at the most: getting readers to care about his characters.
I loved the romantic side of the story, but I also loved
that that part of the story was really in the background. The main focus was on
Aza overcoming things and on Aza’s friendship with Daisy. I’m not sure I’ve had
the pleasure of reading about girl friendship with John Green’s past novels.
This was pure gold. I loved the balance between Aza and Daisy. I also loved
that things weren’t perfect. And that Aza was willing to own up to what wasn’t
working.
This was a book that made me laugh out loud, bite my nails
at the tension, and cry with sadness at the heart-wrenching scenes. I had to
take note a couple of quotes:
“Your mom gives a shit, you know? Most adults are just
hollowed out. You watch them try to fill themselves up with booze or money or
God or fame or whatever they worship, and it all rots them from the inside
until nothing is left but the money or booze or God they thought would save
them. That’s what my dad is like –he really disappeared a long time ago, which
is maybe why it didn’t bother me much. I wish he were here, but I’ve wished
that for a long time. Adults think they’re wielding power, but really power is
wielding them” (145).
“You remember your first love because they show you, prove
to you, that you can love and be loved, that nothing in this world is deserved
except for love, that love is both how you become a person, and why” (285).
I give this a 10/10. I think this book deserves all the hype
it is most likely getting right about now. I hope lots and lots of people read
it.
