Continue the discussion about True O'Hair here because it's long:
So can we all agree that Sparrow kinda steal the spotlight of that book? I already enjoyed him as a character, but for some reason True O'Hair really made me love him, I don't know, he's got a lot going for him. His relationship with his aunt,the Merry Men holding charity concerts, his friendship with Poppy. The bad boy thing while being a dork. Idk,After seeing him as an antagonistic presence throughout the other books it was nice to see a more lovable side of him
Anyway, the main problem with this book is that it lacks conflict between the parties involved: EAH has always had this very nice dual point of view thing, where Royals/Rebels is an easy way to create conflict and offer two different angles on the same problem. That,or the parent/child conflits (even though I don't like the ending with Hopper, "Kiss and Spell" remains one of my favorites because of the relationship between Ginger and Candy W.)
But the O'HAIRs don't have that. If the two don't have problems with their peers, and they don't have problems with their parents, then their conflict should be with themselves. But the franchise refuses, in fact, it's downright AFRAID of separating the girls. The "switched at birth" thing should have been a point of contention for the girls because it was the first thing they disagreed on. But the two always stay together, so they don't develop.
Yk what?It would have made more sense if Holly was the one in love with Sparrow (Let's be honest: it's much more believable that Holly, who is a airheaded fanfiction lover, has a crush on the bad boy, musician, leader of a punk gang, than the reverse. She would totally go "i can fix him i swear!!!!") but she knows she doesn't have a chance because they have different destinies, and she Deep down envies Poppy who can be with whoever she wants.
So when it turns out that Poppy is actually the eldest, the two clash because Poppy doesn't want to be the new Rapunzel, but Holly is happy with the swap because maybe she can try her luck with Sparrow. And then the two argue over who gets to sign. And it all ends with the realization, especially on Poppy's part, that the "Roybel-the middle ground is the solution" stuff is stupid and the two of them BOTH officially become rebels, because it's wrong to want to get Poppy to sign but at the same time it's cruel to keep Holly from finding love? Something like that
That's so smart! The whole point (Atleast to me) of eah is to say that you can choose your own destiny.
And yes, Sparrow def steals the spotlight. I was a hater before reading this, and now I'm seeing an actual person instead of a one dimensional character. The show did my boy dirty.
The book has zero conflict, and we only see one perspective during the entire thing. And then at the end everything goes back to normal? Plus, we already knew about the switches at birth thing, it's the main conflict of a webisode. Which if I remember correctly, Poppy didn't tell Holly. This book could've been Poppy FINALLY telling her, and then Holly being upset that she kept the truth from her. Which would lead to everything you said..