The Beginning of Everything

“There's a word for it," she told me, "in French, for when you have a lingering impression of something having passed by. Sillage. I always think of it when a firework explodes and lights up the smoke from the ones before it."

Well, I'm disappointed. This book tried so hard to be meaningful, but the execution just fell flat. I liked the overall message and the ending, in particular, however I was much too detached from the actual plot and characters throughout almost the entire the book.

Ezra, the lead, was all right at times, quite self-absorbed and kinda boring other times, but the rest of the characters were decidedly shallow and stereotypical; they all fit too neatly into boxes: the “mean-girls” clique made up of dump blond cheerleaders, douchey, stupid jocks that torment pseudo hipster nerds with chic hobbies and Ezra's “lady friend” - the embodiment of the ultimate Manic Pixie Dreamgirl. This was not a happy mix and frankly, their interactions just bored me, in a “been there, done that, bought the T-shirt” kind of way.

Like I said, I didn't mind Ezra too much (yet the author could have done so much more with his character), I liked the writing, the beginning was very promising, but then Cassidy (Manic Pixie Dreamgirl multiplied by a million)came into the picture and ruined the book. I felt no chemistry between her and Ezra. Her demeanor was so irritating and tiresome and so were all her quirks and all those hints about her mysterious, tragic past.

Since we're at the tragic past, I saw that “twist” coming miles away, hence another reason why this book had zero impact on me. Even after my suspicions were confirmed, I couldn't bring myself to care for her. And nothing seemed genuine. It felt like a unnecessary plot device that exists just to amp up the drama. I was happy that at least they didn't get back together.