The Beginning of Everything

I really enjoyed Robyn's writing! I actually spent a lot of time just being impressed at how well she wrote from a boy's point of view, and also loving her for creating a teenage boy so filled with wisdom and insight, while still being just a typical kid. Not only did she so accurately capture teenage life (to the point of me laughing out loud feeling nostalgic for my corresponding high school memories), she has this magic way of writing a sentence that gives us history into the character's circumstances and showing us how they feel about it having turned out that way, all at once. (Deep breath after the longest sentence ever.) I felt an emotional connection to the very essence of who her characters are, from the start of the book. The literal beginning of everything for me.

The story is filled with cool things, like flash mobs and geocaching and sneaking into university libraries. Ezra loves her in a way that feels true, it feels magic and real and then suddenly, also completely meant to be. I spent two thirds of the book just loving all the characters, and holding my breath hoping I wouldn't have to hate one of them. (It turned out really well for me, it turns out.)

I loved that they all had their own thing. You know the 'supporting characters' by their humor and reactions, and not just their names and hobbies. I love that Cassidy being the mysterious outsider wasn't the biggest part of her place in Ezra's life. She was one of them, and then she wasn't. I loved that the 'nerds' were genuinely doing cooler things than the popular kids. (Um hello, those secret movie nights!) And yes, I always love when a character goes to church, or comes out and it's not a big deal to the story. Because duh.

This is one of the few books since reading Beautiful Creatures and The Wolves of Mercy Falls (Ohhh the feelings of warmth and hot-chocolate love that I have for those books..) where I found myself highlighting parts of a sentences, little phrases.. wisdom and poetry hidden between the narrative. It's such a precious thing, finding a book so wonderfully written, both in the story it's telling and the arrangement of the words it's using. (I collected the prettiness here)

Ps, here's two awesome words I learned from this book (and my trusty Kindle dictionary)
derision (ridicule or mockery)
and unencumbered (free of burden, either literally or emotionally.)