kass

The Sunshine Court being a trilogy just means Nora is treating this story with care and wants the final product to be as fleshed out as possible. It means Jeremy’s backstory is somehow more complex than we thought. It means Jean and Jeremy’s relationship is a slowburn but maybe they kiss in in the second book and figure stuff out in the third (i.e., Jeremy’s family, Jeremy’s captaincy, Jean’s past trauma and his healing.) It means we get another two books of Jean learning to live because he wants to. It means another two books of You’re place is here with me, with us. I’m you’re captain. You’re my partner. We’re supposed to be doing this together, aren’t we? Stop leaving me behind. Look at me.

Imagine the version of all for the game where Jean committed suicide while on the phone with Kevin. Now, imagine afterward, those moments where Kevin doesn’t know if he should end the call so he just sits there and listens to nothing because Jean isn’t there anymore. Imagine the grief afterward and Kevin thinking he deserved it — he deserved to sit there and listen as the life slowly bleed away from Jean’s body and finally, finally those aching muscles were laid to rest. Imagine Kevin thinking he deserved the torment of hearing for the rest of his life the moment Jean stopped breathing. That guilt, that weight, settles down like an anchor in Kevin and he can’t move, he can’t think, he can’t do anything but stare as he did those moments afterward and think: I did this to him. I didn’t turn around so I did this to him.

“Life changing therapist” is what really intrigues me about Jeremy’s past because it suggests he wasn’t always the happy-go-lucky type. What was he like before? When did the change occur? When did Cat met Jeremy for her to know that?

Truly love the aspect that Neil is jealous of Kevin (wether that be because of his talent, his safety, or his family) but it’s not the type of jealousy that makes you resent the person — it’s the type that makes you gravitate towards them with the goal of attracting it. For Neil’s entire life he had to fake it till he made it and even during his time at Palmetto State, he yearned for what Kevin had but that never made Neil hate him. Instead, it made him work harder and want to learn. It was a jealousy that makes you admire a person and not only want what they have, but be inspired to make it yourself.

Neil Josten would look at the Olympian Village cardboard beds and just say “bet.”

Jeremy has noticed the silver cross necklace Jean wears as a gift from Renee but I need Jeremy to ask him if he’s religious and Jean takes a moment to answer because he’s actually never given it much thought. He knows Renee is, and although she’s a saint in his heart, he doesn’t know whether a higher being exists. Then he thinks of Elodie and her smile that never ceased to disappear despite their parent’s angry words. He thinks of Kevin and his curiosity for his history; Neil and his vehement need to survive and live a truthful life. Jean thinks of Andrew as he ran across the court to save Neil and all the catalysts that lead to him standing in the room with Jeremy, an incarnation of the sun, in a house with two other girls who made him want to keep living, and he thinks: oh. that’s God. that vigor, that life, that love that he finds despite the cruelty that clings to it. that’s worth believing in. that’s worth worshipping.

Jean “Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve by Taylor Swift” Moreau and Jeremy “Summer Child by Conan Gray” Knox.