Monday 13 October 2014

Review: Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer


Book: Belzhar

Author: Meg Wolitzer

Pages: 264

Read On: Kindle

How Long It Took Me To Read: 3 hours

Plot Summary: 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.

From New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer comes a breathtaking and surprising story about first love, deep sorrow, and the power of acceptance.

General Thoughts: I have heard only amazing things about the writing of Meg Wolitzer, especially about her book The Interestings. I want to read The Interestings soon but Belzhar is a new realease and I wanted to give it a read first. I read this book in pretty much one sitting. I couldn't put it down. 

I remember reading online that this book was a re-telling of The Bell Jar. It is not. The Bell Jar features heavily in the book but a re-telling it is not. Also, you don't need to have read the Bell Jar to read this book. But this book will make you want to pick up the Bell Jar, which you should, it is a wonderful book. Also the Journals of Sylvia Plath are a wonderful, wonderful read. I highly recommend those. 

Things I Liked: 

1. The writing was enjoyable and good. I am definetly going to pick up more from this author. 

2. A boarding school set-up is always a good thing be! A boarding school for emotionally challenged teenagers was a good set-up for a book. 

3. I liked all the characters in this book. From Jam, to Griffin and Casey and Marc and DJ. I felt like I got to know all of these characters really well during the coarse of this book. Especially all the kids in the Special Topics. All of their back stories and trauma were revealed at the right time, meaning the suspense wasn't drawn out. 

4. The pace of this book was good too, I was gripped from the very beginning and I read this book in one go. I was curious to find out where the story went. 

5. The end twist was a good thing. It sorta made a few issues I had with the book disappear. 

6. The friendships in this book felt real and genuine and they developed in a natural way. 

7. The romance between Griffin and Jam was decently written and not rushed and not in the insta-love category. 

8. The magic realism was good too. I didn't know there would be magical elements in the book but it didn't irk me. 

Things I Didn't Like: 

1. Jam...our leading lady, our main protagonist sometimes tended to get a little whiny. Also her whole thing with Reeve was a bit much. She knew him only 41 days. At several points in the book I wanted to tell her to get over it. Just move on! However, the ending made a lot of this better. 

2. The trauma of the various kids in Special Topics was a little unequal. While some had missing brothers, dead boyfriends, others had somewhat run of the mill issues like a broken family. 

3. Jam's mental-illness was a little underplayed in my opinion. By the end of the book I wondered about her mental well-being quite a bit. 

4. Reeve was a bit of a tool. 

Rating: 4/5 

This book has a mixed bag of reviews on Good Reads. Most people seemed surprised by the magical realism aspect and that they didn't know going in that the book would have those elements in it. If you don't like magical realism this book might not be a good idea. I enjoyed it, it got me out of a reading ennui of sorts. 

No comments: