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Loading... Underneath Everythingby Marcy Beller Paul
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Romance.
Young Adult Fiction.
Young Adult Literature.
HTML: Underneath Everything is a seductive, gorgeously written debut about two girls bound by an obsessive and toxic friendship, perfect for fans of Lauren Oliver and Courtney Summers. Mattie shouldn't be at the bonfire. She should be finding new maps for her collection, hanging out with Kris, and steering clear of almost everyone else, especially Jolene. After all, Mattie and Kris dropped off the social scene the summer after sophomore year for a reason. But now Mattie is a senior, and she's sick of missing things. So here she is. And there's Jolene: Beautiful. Captivating. Just like the stories she wove. Mattie would knowâ??she used to star in them. She and Jolene were best friends. Mattie has the scar on her palm to prove it, and Jolene has everything else, including Hudson. But when Mattie runs into Hudson and gets a glimpse of what could have been, she decides to take it all back: the boyfriend, the friends, the life she was supposed to live. Problem is, Mattie can't figure out where Jolene's life ends and hers begins. Because there's something Mattie hasn't told anyone: She walked away from Jolene over a year ago, but she never really left. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Mattie and Kris have spent the last year in social exile by choice. They walked away from their former lives of sitting at the "cool" table, going to the parties, and playing dangerous games. Now that they're seniors, Mattie wants to do something. It doesn't take long before she's right back where she was Sophomore year. The only difference is Jolene (the leader of their group), is on the outs. But Mattie can't stop thinking about Jolene and the friendship that was so overwhelming. Is Mattie really looking for a way back to Hudson (the boy she loves), or a way back to a friendship she never really gave up?
This book was a big surprise. What I thought I was going to read, and what I read were two different things. I thought this was going to be about some big "event" that made Kris and Mattie exiles. I thought this was going to be about Hudson, the boy who Mattie loves. I didn't know I was going to read about something that was a lot more subtle.
Mattie and Kris walked away from their friends after Sophomore year because of something Jolene did to Kris. Mattie chose Kris, but never stopped thinking about Jolene. Right after this walking away, Jolene steals Mattie's crush (Hudson) and starts dating him, while Mattie can only watch from afar. After a year, Mattie convinces Kris to go to a party basically so that Mattie can see if there is any spark left between her and Hudson. With Hudson newly broken up with Jolene, it seems those old feelings are still there. It seems like Hudson realizes he made the wrong choice. But just as I thought that Mattie got everything she ever wanted, I realized I had no freaking clue what this girl wanted. She started changing her appearance and acting weird, and I started realizing she was doing this to convince herself that she wasn't the girl she was Sophomore year. She was trying silence the voice in the back of her head that knew what she really wanted: Jolene and her toxic brand of friendship.
I kind of love books like this. It was creepy, but not in an "in your face" way. I would be reading and all of a sudden I would be like "these people aren't right" and feel shivers down my back. Mattie wanted something that was so overwhelming, suffocating, and even dangerous... and I was like ?????? She wanted it more than the boy she loved. She completely lost herself in it, and it was the most unhealthy thing I've read about in a while. Not a lot happens in this book, but when you sit back and examine the thought process behind the character's actions, it is completely chilling.
OVERALL: A book about a girl who gets the boy she always wanted, but then realizes what she really wants is something else completely. This book is about friendship, feeling like you belong to someone, feeling like you are the person to complete someone else. But none of it is healthy. Definitely an interesting read, I recommend if you are in the mood for something more subdued.
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