Just a sample of how messed up Nastya's world is:
"I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shape shifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so had against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how am I still able to lift my feet to walk." (p. 36.)
Okey, the reason I find this book amazing is because I relate so much to it. It's spelling my life out. And I think reading is about this. Reading yourself in others.
The story overall is about a teenage girl named Nastya, who just moved to a new town with her aunt and is starting in a new school. She is a strange persona. Always dressing in black revealing cloths and wearing LOTS of make up. But strange starts when you discover she's a self-declared mute. She stopped talking after the accident. We know little about it, but it's something that broke her. Emotionally and fiscally. And it hurts her deeply. She is haunted by her past. And she can't run from it. She tries, but she can't. And thats when Josh comes in. He is all alone, everyone he loves died. And he is as sacred of coming close to anyone and letting them hurt him. But there's this funny character that ties the whole story together. His name is Drew Leighton. He is the popular guy, and he really enjoys tormenting Nastya. He is annoying and disrespectful. So we hate him at the beginning. But then Nastya gets to know him, and so do we. And we realize he is a really deep, really emotional person. And he lost someone and that why he became such an a**hole.
I don't want to spoil the best parts, so I'll keep it short.
Nastya is so lost. She doesn't know who she is anymore. She is just broken, hurt, and sacred. As you can see in this quote, she is aware of that, which is strange. Most of the time we know we are lost, but not to this degree. "He's looking for the truth of me. I wonder if he'll find it, and it he does, maybe he can show me where it is again." (p. 161.)
I always find it interesting when love blossoms between to broken characters. This is one my favorite parts of the romance: "She tilts her chin toward the cutting board in front of me. "I think you chopped those into submission." I glance down to the red peppers I've annihilated while listening to her talk. "Not my fault that you're distractingly pretty.""
They are both cute and uncomfortable with everyone but them. That I love the most.
