Book Club--The Secret Year

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It's here! Weeks of waiting and we finally get to discuss that little bitty book. And truly, at 192 pages, this book can easily be read in an afternoon. Though I would pick that afternoon carefully because the subject matter got a little serious in some parts.

As this is a book discussion and not a review, I'm going to get right into it, with plenty of spoilers. If you haven't read it, this isn't the place to get little tidbits to help you decide on whether to get it or not. However, if you want to read the post anyway, enjoy!

There was a lot that I liked about this book. For one, I liked the simple, clear style of writing. Though the author is a woman, I really believed that I was in the head of a teenage boy. That being said, the innocent little girl in me was continuously surprised at how quickly the characters jumped into bed with each other. Maybe I am really naive, or maybe I was lucky to grow up around country gentlemen, but the progression from kissing straight to sex every single time started to seem unrealistic.

Despite all this, I truly believed that Colt was in love with Julia. And that whole relationship was really what kept me reading. Here is this young boy, just coming to terms with how much he loved this girl, finding out how much she loved him, and she's dead. His attempt to move on and failure to do so was really heartbreaking. I was so upset when it didn't work out with Kirby. Part of me secretly wanted him to stay faithful to the dead Julia, while the other part was hoping that the sweet little girl who knew everything and was willing to work through it with him would be enough. Sadly, neither part of me won. Eventually, he did let go of the dead girl, but it was too late--he had already pushed Kirby away.

What about you? Were you rooting for Kirby? Syd? And what about Colt's brother and the whole Thanksgiving revelation?

Discuss!

~Emily White