The Story of Us

The Story of Us by Deb Caletti
3/5 stars
Simon Pulse, 2012
389 pages
YA Contemporary

Source: Library

After enjoying the powerful Stay, I eagerly picked up this latest release from Caletti, anticipating another great story (and hearing Taylor Swift in my head; I love this song!) Would this "look (sic) a lot like a tragedy now"?

Well, sad to say this was most definitely not to my taste for many reasons. The premise I expected was a character narrating the romance and break-up with a guy. That's part of it with main character Cricket tracing her relationship with Janssen up to and past the awful thing she did to him (this is not revealed until toward the end so I will not share it here). The story as a whole ended up being more expansive, including her family's history and their moving on to create a new family as her mother prepares to marry a really good guy. The story takes place over a few days at the beach house where people gather. I didn't have a problem with that. I had a problem with other parts.

First I had the hardest time with the characters. There were a lot of them introduced as people gathered for a wedding and while I could keep track of their relationships, sometimes their specific personality quirks eluded me and I confused two people.  Furthermore there are a lot of references to the past to trace how the characters reached the present. This was usually clearly marked and I've often liked the mingling of past and present in a story but I did not like that method for this one. I think I found it more distancing because of Cricket's voice.

Then there was my uncertainty about what Cricket did that was so awful to her boyfriend. I figured she had cheated...or come very close. Nope, nothing that bad, in my opinion. I think it was perfectly understandable for their situation in life. Furthermore while Cricket thought about this, she became upset that he was friendly with another girl. Meanwhile Cricket was cozying up to another guy! Hypocrite and another reason I was unable to bond with this girl.

I also really didn't like that we saw the letters Cricket sent to her boyfriend, who was presumably responding but whose responses are not shown. This felt very one-sided to me. I think I might have been more interested in this book if it had been alternating Cricket/Janssen chapters to tell the story of them from the beginning to the end.

Lastly there is a lot of talk about dogs. Now I am a cat-person (remind me to show you pictures of my cat some time) but I still like dogs. Or at least I thought I did. I was a little tired of how they were used in this story to prove some kind of point, I think. I didn't really get it. I mean, I understand the relationship between human and pet and I value mine but it was too much.

Overall: I feel like this is definitely not up to the standard set by Caletti with the masterful Stay; it was abstruse and emotionally distancing. While I wish I could recommend this contemporary, it did not work for me.

Cover: Is appropriate as the setting is near a beach and I love the pinks on the side and the book itself.

Stay

Stay by Deb Caletti
Simon Pulse, 2011
313 pages
YA; Contemporary
4/5 stars

Source: Received a free egalley from GalleyGrab in exchange for an honest review.

Looking at the cover I wasn't sure that I'd read any Deb Caletti before until I glanced through goodreads to discover that I had in fact read two previous books and enjoyed them but it looks like the general cover design of her books has changed (if that makes no sense, look at her books on goodreads and notice the similarities between the covers of four of the books.)

I began the story somewhat confused as it is told in alternating chapters between past Clara and her relationship with Christian and present Clara and her attempts to get away from his emotional abuse and to heal herself.  Once I understood the format, though, it was smooth sailing.  I really appreciate a good contemporary with strong emphasis on the characters.  Clara, her writer-father, and Christian all had strong personalities that jumped off the page and drew me into their story.

See Clara and Christian saw each other across the room at a basketball game and it was like fate.  Soon they were an established couple but as the story unfolds, hints of Christian's jealousy and paranoia begin to flare up.  Watching their relationship build to this point and Clara's dawning realization that their relationship is inappropriate was engaging and made me grasp my book (or rather nook) all the more tighter.  Why do people stay in an abusive relationship? Well, Clara explains the many good times and the history she shared with Christian and it takes her a very long time to get away from his machinations.  Although I found him frightening, I was hooked.

However.  I found the other part less interesting.  Clara and her father have left their home for a beach town, telling everyone they're in Europe in order to escape Christian who had become increasingly intrusive and frightening to Clara. She and her widowed father embark on new romances and attempt to mourn the loss of Clara's mother, a character who overhangs the story despite her death.  I wasn't invested in the new romance for either character and I mostly read through those parts to see the inevitable return of Christian and the conclusion of their story.

There are also footnotes throughout the story that act as, usually humorous, asides from Clara to the reader.  I love that in a book (see my love of Terry Pratchett) and that helped lighten the overall mood of the book, which as you can tell is rather bleak at times. The story as a whole is also beautifully written and perfect for a long and lazy afternoon on the couch.

Warning: Language (the f-word) and using the Lord's name in vain; some sexual content but very discreet.

Recommended for fans of Caletti and Sarah Dessen and of darker contemporary YA. A gripping read.