Night_frog's Book Journey

I completely skipped that and got into the story. In the first part she repeats who people are and what they do pretty often. Later it does less, but then you've already been introduced the cast and learnt who they are.

I feel like this too. It must've been terrifying to be born in such a time.

I hate how she took it out on Lila when her parents decided not to send her to middle school. I don't know if she actually believed that plebs discourse she gave Elena, or if she was trying to feel at peace after the frustration of not being able to move forward a smart student, but it was really not the way to go.

I think the value of this book is in the whole context that is built around the simple theme of envy. It gives a really good look on how people lived back then, it treats more difficult topics like gendered violence, classism, the right/privilege of seeking higher education and many more, which in my opinion, aren't put too much to the side in favour of the envy theme. They have all of their moments to shine and say something deeper about society then and today.

There's such an emphasis on how Elena feels towards Lila because that feels to her like the most important thing. We are seeing Elena's life from her point of view. She was used to that violence. It was ordinary. What was out of the ordinary was finding another girl, right next to her, so much more intelligent than her that she was finding it hard to define herself and her own intelligence and value without the other. A lot of the times it's this envy that brings out many important plot points or shows better the context they are in.

Also, if you say 'literary looking' referring to the writing style, I think that the writing style being beautiful and pointed is actually really important for any book. The way something is written conveys a lot and can grab you in many different ways. Might be up to debate, but I'd say that the narration flows in both a natural, but attention grabbing way, and that the way it's posed is very intentional. Prose can elevate a book a lot. Ideas are cheap. Stories are cheap. That's why we have so many recurring plots and tropes in books. It's the way they are executed that gives them a personal and original meaning.

Though this is one of my favourite books, and I might be biased.

The really interesting thing is that this book is set around the fifties and, to be honest, teen logic hasn't changed that much since then

I was genuinely distraught upon reading that. She tries to make it sound like it hurts her because it is too effort-inducing and intelligent, but we all know she just misses allowing herself to do the same things.

I don't think that she doesn't realise how Lila is painted by those limitations. I think deep down she knows, but that her view is too clouded by envy for her friend being brighter no matter how much effort she puts into catching up to her, anger for Lila having renounced to her ambitions and a bit of a shield, so she doesn't feel guilty or too sad about someone she cares about being in a pain neither of the two can resolve.