Belzhar
by Meg Wolitzer
If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be at home in New Jersey with her sweet British boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She’d be watching old comedy sketches with him. She’d be kissing him in the library stacks.She certainly wouldn’t be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, living with a weird roommate, and signed up for an exclusive, mysterious class called Special Topics in English.
But life isn’t fair, and Reeve Maxfield is dead.Until a journal-writing assignment leads Jam to Belzhar, where the untainted past is restored, and Jam can feel Reeve’s arms around her once again. But there are hidden truths on Jam’s path to reclaim her loss.
But life isn’t fair, and Reeve Maxfield is dead.Until a journal-writing assignment leads Jam to Belzhar, where the untainted past is restored, and Jam can feel Reeve’s arms around her once again. But there are hidden truths on Jam’s path to reclaim her loss.
From New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer comes a breathtaking and surprising story about first love, deep sorrow, and the power of acceptance.
My review...........4 stars
I can't believe it.......I really liked this book!! I'd heard so many good reviews about this one, and was reluctant to try it for two reasons. It deals with time travel, which ranks right up there with my hatred of aliens, zombies, spirits and ghosts. And it's written by an author whose previous book (The Interestings) I did not like. I decided since it was a rather short book, and it was in the young adult category, that it would be a quick read, even if not my cup of tea. No one was more surprised than me that I couldn't put it down! The characters were so well written, and the plot was so compelling, I had to see what was going to happen!
The title is in reference to the book that the Special Topics in English class is studying, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I had read this book way back either in high school, or shortly thereafter, and considered whether I should re-read it before starting this. It's really not necessary, there are a few references to the book, but nothing that would require you to even have read that book previous to reading this one.
If it weren't for the fact that there was the issue with time travel (which had to be included or there would have been no story!), this would have been a 5 star for me! Pick this one up if you want a book that you will fly through in one or two sittings!
This sounds perfect for the holidays when time is at a premium, Donna! I like to slide in a good YA read every now and then! Thanks for sharing this one. Happy weekend! Kristy
I've been shying away from this one for the same reasons you were skeptical...but, everyone seems to love it anyway! Plus, I did love The Interestings.
I might give it a shot over the holidays...we'll see.
The good thing is that it's fairly short, and YA reads pretty fast, so even if you don't love it, you're not stuck with 500 pages worth 🙂
I love time travel but was putting of reading this one as I thought I should read The Bell Jar first. Thanks for pointing out I don't really need to. Sounds great to me.
I read it so long ago, but I didn't feel it hampered my enjoyment or understanding of this one at all.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Even though I'm a big Wolizter fan, I was a little reluctant because it's YA and has that magical realism to it, too, but was so pleasantly surprised.
I'm so glad that I picked it up even though I didn't like the previous novel I read from the author, and I don't like magical realism. Just goes to show you, if it's written well, those things can be overcome 🙂
I'm glad you enjoyed this. I don't mind magical realism if it is done well.
It's very well written, and not too long.......a pretty fast read.
I took a leap of faith by reading this one, too, as I am not a fan of time travel, or even YA...although I am slowly gravitating toward some books in this genre. And I did enjoy this book...quite a lot more than I would have imagined.
Thanks for visiting my blog today...enjoy your week!
This was one book I really wanted to read in 2014. I have it ready to go for next year though!