Title: What My Mother Doesn't KnowThis book is about me.
It tells
the heart-stoppingly riveting story
of my first love.
And also of my second.
And, okay, my third love too.
It's not that I'm boy crazy.
It's just that even though
I'm almost fifteen
it's like
my mind
and my body
and my heart
just don't seem to be able to agree
on anything.
My Thoughts:
:::Warning::: Contains spoilers!
This is the second book I have read by Sonya Sones. The first, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus, was also the first novel written in verse that I ever read. I wasn't sure I liked the idea at first, but I quickly grew to love it. This book is also written in verse, which I think adds to the story. It cuts out all of the "filler" of a book, leaving you only the good parts and what you need to know. There's nothing I hate more than a book that drags on and on and never gets to the point.
What My Mother Doesn't Know is the story of 14 year old Sophie as she navigates her way through her first relationships with boys. Even though Sophie's boyfriend Dylan is ridiculously hot in her eyes, she can't help herself from daydreaming about Murphy, the school's nerd.While it doesn't feel like it, this is quite a heavy read that addresses many issues that teens have to go through. Sex, peer pressure, and the stress of popularity among others. Even though I am 30 years old (31 next month, how is that possible?) I still was able to connect with Sophie. Her parents are constantly fighting and her mother suffers from depression just as my mother does. Just like Sophie, I never knew what to expect. One minute her mother is laughing and perfectly happy, the next she has locked herself in the basement for three days and hasn't spoken a word to her. I know what it is like to live this way and it is very, very hard.
As if that isn't stressful enough, Sophie decides to break up with Dylan when she runs into Murphy outside of school and starts spending more time with him. She realizes there is a lot more to him and they finally start dating. But of course, dating Murphy means jeopardizing her popularity and she struggles to make the decision to stay with him and deal with whatever comes or to break it off before it is too late. This is just another example of the decisions teenagers have to face everyday. When we get older we realize it never really mattered, but it is a huge deal in high school.
Overall, I really liked this book. I read it in just a little over an hour. This writing style lets you easily breeze right through it. It really made me think about how we as people treat those who don't necessarily fit our definition of "normal" or "popular" and how we don't always see them for who they really are. I also have to mention that this is one of the top ten most banned/challenged books. I'm really not sure why. While there are sexual situations, it is not obscene. There may be a small amount of foul language, but I honestly don't remember any.
I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know, which is told from Murphy's perspective.
Thanks for your review :)
ReplyDeleteI also have never read a book in verse before and was skeptical about it. I was never much of a poetry fan. This is a result of poetry interpretations we had to do in school. I just didn't get it and unfairly wrote off all poetry(pardon the pun).
I have since decided to give poetry/verse another chance and have found that I really enjoy some of it. I own several books by Ellen Hopkins(yet to be read) and enjoy Shel Silverstein's work.
I am a very slow reader and, you're right, the verse style allows for speedier reading.
I hadn't heard of this book until last week when I read about it in the blogosphere during Banned Book Week. I am intrigued and it's now on my TBR list.