Hello Everyone!
“There's difference between being dead and dying. We're all dying. Some of us die for ninety years, and some of us die for nineteen. But each morning everyone on this planet wakes up one day closer to their death. Everyone. So living and dying are actually different words for the same thing, if you think about it.”
Here is the thing: John Green books are fantastic reading slump books. If I need a good cry, they are always there. Looking for Alaska works every time (even though it has its problems). So when I got into a massive reading slump this summer and went on a Contemporary binge, I think I was looking for something that hit me in all the right places and is sure to get me out of a slump. *Enter Extraordinary Means* This book is one of my favorite books that I have read this year. The ensemble that Robyn created is instantly likeable. Nick, Charlie, Marina and Sadie have the same vibe as my friend group from high school. Their comebacks are always witty and well timed, they are artsy, unique and diverse in personality, nationality and sexuality. Robyn doesn’t accentuate the fact that her cast of characters is diverse. It doesn’t feel like she envision her characters as an all white cast and then changed them to be more diverse in order to appeal to a wider audience. She simply wrote a cast of characters that functioned as a unit and as individuals, all equal in the eyes of TB. If the promise of dimensional and complex characters doesn’t make you want to read this book, the setting will. Where John Green’s characters often seem too out of touch with how teenagers work or too philosophical for their given circumstances, it is not only appropriate that Robyn’s characters would be confronting the reality of their mortality but it is welcomed. None of the characters have the answers. They don’t idolize one person’s philosophy for life over another person’s. They speak their minds, no matter what they are thinking, even sometimes making jokes that are situationally insensitive, because that is what teenagers would do. They aren’t lofty, they are simply realistic. (This leads to a lot of Tumblr level quotable moments). Finally, this book made me cry, but not when and where I expected. The end didn’t tie up in a nice bow. Some of the characters handle the events of the book very poorly. But the sad parts didn’t move the book along. I mean, they do, but these kids are dying anyway. Even kids that aren’t our main characters could die. They are all at risk. Rather than a pivotal character dying midway through the novel in order to provoke deep thoughts and feelings from the other characters, the story is propelled by the dynamics of a group of kids that are on a journey to get as much out of their lives as possible, and have to come to some pretty heavy conclusions along the way.
Even though there were some parts of this book that I didn’t like as much, they aren’t big enough to include here. All I have to say is this book is amazing and I encourage you to pick it up, along with any other books that Robyn writes. Just don’t read them with people around. Seriously. I am currently on a road trip with my family and while they discussed light hearted things in the front seats, I hardcore ugly cried in the backseat.
Overall:
5 out of 5 stars
98% out of 100%
-Jaime