Hello, welcome back to worlds of words! As I said in my last post, this week I will be discussing the rest of "Let it snow". I had originally planned to do three separate posts however, since finishing the book, I found that my thoughts can be condensed into a single post. With all that said, lets resume our discussion...Once again SPOILER ALERT!!!
I have to admit that at times "A cheertastic christmas miracle" baffled my brain because of what I like to call "the cheerleader debate." I understand that in the American school sports system, cheerleading seems to be somewhat of a big deal, what I don't understand is why? Maybe its because I'm a British reader. For those of you who are based in other countries, where cheerleading also seems to be a major deal, allow me to explain. I am aware that cheerleading happens in the UK but that's the extent of my knowledge. Over here, it's only a big deal if you are directly involved in it, which I am not, and even then most schools/colleges don't have cheerleaders at their tournaments/games. To me cheerleading seems to be a thoroughly American thing surrounded by degrading stereotypes, so forgive me if I don't understand why people (in this case, guys) go nuts over cheerleaders. I am with Tobin on this one "Nothing against cheerleaders, but surely there are better things to sacrifice for."
Tobin says "my mother called home for the sixth time in five hours". There's a fine line between being concerned and being as clingy as a sloth, Tobin's mother is that line. I'm totally chill about being called once or twice (in theory, in reality I hate phone conversations) but five times would really test my patience. The fact that she is calling whilst he is having a movie marathon with friends sucks. I am just relieved that she didn't call throughout the rest of the night. Let's face it, we are all relieved that she didn't call during a date, that would be inexcusable unless it was an absolute emergency.
The romance was cliche, even by John Green's standards. I saw it from the very beginning, which disappointed me majourly. He can do better, I know this because of what I consider to be his greatest book to date "Turtles all the way down." Despite this he was able to redeem himself to a certain extent by making the journey to waffle house thoroughly entertaining. He let himself down again with the characters themselves, he seems to have a fixed idea about what a teenager is and how they act, times have changed. I honestly think that he needs to read more YA books and host more book events to get to grips with teenagers in our society. They aren't as shallow as constantly focusing on hash browns, however they aren't as in touch as to realise what is at stake at every moment in time. They are complex beings with multitudinous personality types and thought processes, as many of those different types needs to be represented in YA books as possible.
When I read about the waffle house and cheerleaders scenario, I immediately thought back to "The Jubilee express" because it sounded familiar. I was absolutely right, there is a reason why all of these stories are contained within a single book. They are all interconnected through both waffle house and starbucks. They all meet each other in "The patron saint of pigs" and the set up is a work of genius.
Unlike the other characters in "The patron saint of pigs." I am not going to challenge anything that Addie did simply because she is human and is relatable, especially when she says " Can't anyone see I'm trying?". If you are interested in more of my thoughts, they are very clearly illustrated through the character of Mayzie (later known as Constance May Billingsley). We all need a Mayzie in our lives to remind us that mistakes are okay and that things can change.
Tinfoil man will forever remain a mystery. When we first meet him in "The Jubilee express" I was incredibly curious, by the end of the book that curiosity was replaced with perplexity. This character comes up in every story so he must have a deeper meaning/significance, I just haven't figured out what it is yet.
I am so beyond happy that Jeb and Addie got back together in the end.
So you are probably wondering what my overall thoughts are, although you could be wondering any number of things. I thought that this book started strong, became weak in the middle and ended on a high note. At times, this book left me in a blizzard and at other times this book made me feel warm and fuzzy. Would I recommend reading it? It depends on what time of year it is, this is a book which should only be read in winter, reading it in summer would be like watching a christmas film in July. Out of all of the authors, I would be more inclined to read more of Maureen Johnson's works.
What are your thoughts about cheerleaders? Do you think that a teenage stereotype is appearing in YA books? What do you think about Addie? Does the tinfoil man have a deeper meaning? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments, we can all have a starbucks and discuss.
That's all for now, thank you so much for reading and stay tuned as soon I'll be discussing "The play that goes wrong".
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