rameau's ramblings

I had great expectations of this book. They were partly realised. An Australian young adult novel is all that was needed to ensure my interest. It seems to be the necessary stamp of quality in the genre these days. It seems to guarantee realistic and effective writing. And it did, for a majority of the book, namely Amelia's point of view. Where it failed, was the other half, the other point of view from Chris. When done well, shifting between several first person point of views can enhance the story like in Cath Crowley's Graffiti Moon, but when it fails it drags the shining bits down to the muddy ground and buries them deep. All that Cris' voice made me think was wonder why the author didn't bite the bullet and rewrite her book in third limited instead. This artificial divide between his and hers was just that, artificial. That is a word that shouldn't be associated with a good story such as theirs. The age difference between a fifteen year old and a twenty-one year old is what keeps them apart, but it's also what brings them together. Chris and Amelia are able to see through the masks and shells that surround people and share their love for literature, discuss ideologies and anything that crosses their mind without pretentiousness. They can be themselves and recognise just how rare that is. The rest? Well, you'll have to read the ending to find that out. I for one, liked it and would have given it five stars hadn't it been dampened the unfortunate choice of method that the story was delivered in.