Belzhar
Ratings11
Average rating3.3
15
Ratings11
Average rating3.3
Jam Gallahue, fifteen, unable to cope with the loss of her boyfriend Reeve, is sent to a therapeutic boarding school in Vermont, where a journal-writing assignment for an exclusive, mysterious English class transports her to the magical realm of Belzhar, where she and Reeve can be together.
Reviews with the most likes.
I wonder if I've just aged out of empathy for the main character, and if teen me would have liked this more, since I went through such a Sylvia phase. The supporting characters were better than Jam. I suspected she was making Reeve up, and once the truth came, it just made me angrier at her privilege.
Hmm. I loved the concept here, and the writing is gorgeous. The... ending... though? I just... I dunno, man. I guess I wished for more about Jam and maybe less explicit discussion of the book's moral? (which is “Words matter” FYI.) It's a fine moral.
Still I think it is a fine read, especially for teens who want to read about grieving characters, or Sylvia Plath, or how Words Matter.
