Friday, September 23, 2016

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

I was listening to the audio book version of The Beginning of Everything at the same time I was reading Pink and, I have to say, that I'd sometimes get them a little mixed up.  I think, at heart, they are trying to be the same book.  Find your place and be true to yourself.  I didn't absolutely love The Beginning of Everything, but I enjoyed it a lot more than Pink.

Ezra is a senior in high school and his life was changed when he was the victim in a hit and run car accident.  Prior to that, he'd been the golden boy.  He was talented at tennis, had the looks, had the girlfriend and was popular.  After, thanks to a shattered knee, he would never play sports in any serious way again.  While his friends didn't cut him out, they also didn't go out of their way to be supportive, making him feel adrift on the first day of senior year.  He's rescued by the best friend he left behind in middle school.  He ends up on the debate team where he is able to show his nerdy side and not be embarrassed by those AP classes.  He also meets new to the school Cassidy, with whom he is quickly infatuated.  Things go from there.

Overall, I enjoyed The Beginning of Everything.  I liked the writing style and looked forward to listening to it.  The messages were there without me feeling like I was being hit over the head with them.  I liked the wit of the new friends.  I even liked Ezra, which is sometimes not the case with straight boy leads, even though he was clearly boy.  I was glad he found his footing, so to speak.  I liked that there weren't series of misunderstandings festering.  There were some, but an acceptable amount to make the plot happen.  Usually, though, people just cleared things up as they came up like normal people.

There were things I didn't like, though.  I thought Cassidy's secret was quite transparent and it didn't make sense to me that Ezra didn't figure out what it was.  I thought a lot of the supporting characters were not very substantial.  I found the coyote thing kind of ridiculous.  People are not, generally, in danger from coyotes.  I'd also like it if YA authors would move away from having their characters fill out paper applications for college.  That's just not how it's done these days, people.  I understand doing it that way for those moments where other characters can see what's happening, but it's so not how it's done that it makes me roll my eyes.

Still, I liked The Beginning of Everything overall and thought it was an enjoyable read.  I'd say if finding yourself YA is your thing, it's a good one.  Of course, other people would say that about Pink, so...

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