caesar

by Jennifer Brown

Valerie Leftman was a fairly typical edgy high school junior. She had friends, she had bullies, she had a long term boyfriend. Everything was fine. Until that boyfriend brought a gun to school, and changed Garvin High School for ever. Now everyone thinks Valerie was in on it, and she herself can’t for sure say she wasn’t. But five months later, she’s forced to face reality and attempt her senior year. With a bullet hole in her leg and a never ending sense of loss, she tries to survive in a town where everyone wants her dead.

Rating: 10/10 My first perfect of the year. Jennifer Brown owes me some new tear ducts at this point. I cried the whole time. Valerie was written so well, as a human, as a teenage girl, as someone trying to work their way through the world when it seems everything is against her. The care in this book over all is just beautiful. I don’t even really have the words to say the things I feel. This book deals with violence and trauma, so I would recommend it to someone that needs a good cry and won’t be triggered.

Highlights:

“That’s some sort of kid instinct I think. You could be in the middle of just about anything and if the bus doors opened, you stood up. It was one of the constants of life. You are born, you die, you stand up when the bus doors open.” (p 63)

“”Time’s never up,” she whispered, not looking at me but at my canvas. “Just like there’s always time for pain, there’s always time for healing. Of course there is.” (p 288)

Written By Mitch Albom

When a multi-billionaire’s yacht sinks at sea, only 10 people are left surviving on a life boat. Some members of the crew, people who had to work their whole lives for the bare minimum. The others part of the world’s elite, celebrities and moguls in their own rights. But after three days afloat, a mysterious castaway appears, claiming to be God. When you cry out to God for help in your darkest moments, you don’t really expect him to appear, do you?

Rating: 7/10 It was an easy read, I read it in one sitting. It contains a lot of small references to the Bible, one of my favorites was the castaway/Jesus appeared to go to sleep as a rainstorm appeared, after the other begged for fresh water. This is referencing Matthew 8:23-27. I had a few guesses throughout the book as to what was going to happen next, or about who the stranger really was. In the end it was very well written but not necessarily the type of book I like to read. I would recommend it to Christians and those who are struggling with loss or resentment.

Highlights (Doesn’t Technically Include Spoilers)

“It has always been a mystery to me, Annabelle, how beauty and anguish can share the same moment” (p35)

“…We no longer feel like passengers of anything. We are souls adrift” (p46)

“I realize now this was merely the weight of love that had nowhere to go.” (p140)

“…People always ask ‘Why did God take them?’ A better question would be ‘Why did God give them to us?’ What did we do to deserve their love…?” (p241)

“…I accepted this as a just ending, because I accepted the world as a just place.” (p 251)

You’re not dead, what you’re experiencing right now isn’t the afterlife or hell. You haven’t died, you’re still very much alive, everyone around you is alive, you’re safe and alive on earth right now

You’re not fake, what you’re experiencing right now isn’t a simulation. You’re flesh and blood and so is everyone around you, you’re safe and real and so are they

You aren’t being watched, no one is looking for you and no one can spy on you. You’re safe, no one is spying on you, there aren’t any hidden cameras