Skip to main content

All The Truth That's In Me

All the Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry is a contender in this years SLJ Battle of the Books which is why I read it. (In fact, you can go to the site and see how it fared in the first battle today.) I would not have read this if it had not been a contender, and now that I have I'm torn. There are some amazing elements in this book, but one thing brought the whole experience down for me. Crashed it down in burning flames actually. 

Synopsis:
Four years ago, Judith and her best friend disappeared from their small town of Roswell Station. Two years ago, only Judith returned, permanently mutilated, reviled and ignored by those who were once her friends and family. Unable to speak, Judith lives like a ghost in her own home, silently pouring out her thoughts to the boy who’s owned her heart as long as she can remember—even if he doesn’t know it—her childhood friend, Lucas. But when Roswell Station is attacked, long-buried secrets come to light, and Judith is forced to choose: continue to live in silence, or recover her voice, even if it means changing her world, and the lives around her, forever. This startlingly original novel will shock and disturb you; it will fill you with Judith’s passion and longing; and its mysteries will keep you feverishly turning the pages until the very last.

Judith, a girl who had hopes and dreams, had her life stolen from her. As her story opens her world has shrunk to the size of her small family with her angry mother. She interacts with no one. Yet her mind is as expansive as ever. She thinks. She feels. She still hopes and dreams. The object of her most secret affections, Lucas, is her constant companion in her mind. She talks to him constantly, a running narrative that as a reader you, you are dropped into with no explanation. And that was a brilliant story telling device. So brilliant. Judith's character unravels as she tells a story already in progress and shares thoughts of a life she is already living. As the plot gets underway and Judith is forced to bring others into her thoughts and memories in a attempt to save the home she loves, the scope of the narrative grows larger. Judith's character grows with it, as does Lucas, who becomes more of a person and less of the object of Judith's imagination. Both of them learn a lot about who they are and their place in the community they grew up. And how perilous it is. Judith manages to find her voice too, but there are costs to all of this. The way the story is told envelopes everything in mystery and intrigue. The reader only knows as much as Judith is willing to reveal to the Lucas inside her head, and then the man standing in front of her. The process is a beautiful thing to see unfold, and I was captivated by Judith and her story.

But.

I'm sure there are many out there who are going to think I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill. So be it. This is important to me. The setting ruined the experience of the book for me. Yes, it is gorgeously written. Yes, the characters are engaging. Yes, the intrigue and suspense are done well. And yet, the book's lack of setting completely threw me out of the story time and time again. I often say I don't read for setting and don't even think about it unless it is done astonishingly well or is astonishingly lacking. This book falls into the latter camp. I have no idea where/when this is taking place. I didn't know going in that the construct of the world was this flimsy and wasn't prepared, so as I started reading the questions kept piling up. It is the most reminiscent of Puritan colonial times. Not early, but later-I would say second quarter of 18th century. And yet, it's not that. The places are not the same, there are these mysterious enemies called "Homelanders" (how lame and lazy is that?), and yet there are elements of our world too. When I see these are like Puritans, I mean it quite literally. They dress like them, have a similar society set-up, and use the Bible. There are other hints too that this is clearly supposed to be part of our world. But it's not. And it bothered me constantly. I discovered after I finished that the author addressed this in an interview with School Library Journal. In it Berry says this: I knew I needed to create the world that Judith’s story required, rather than tether her story to an actual historical timeline. I love historical fiction, but I didn’t want Judith’s story to take on the weight of the genre’s conventional expectations. To which I say, malarkey. What genre expectations? Readers are the ones with expectations, and as a reader I expect ANY book I read to have a proper sense of time and place, whether created in a fantasy world or built on the actual one. This book is in no way fantasy. But it's not at all historical fiction either. Or maybe she was referring to the expectation many of us have for historical fiction to be accurate, and she didn't want to be bothered with the research aspect. I don't know if that's true, but it was what I kept thinking as I was reading and the lack of place kept bothering me. She also has this to say in that same section regarding the made-up setting: I wanted her narrative to enjoy the prerogatives of contemporary fiction, where character can reign supreme, and the backdrop can be Anytown, USA, Now-ish—as non-specific as Roswell Station feels. And again, I have to say WHATTT???? Character reigning supreme is a prerogative of contemporary fiction. No. It's the prerogative of the writer telling the story regardless of genre. You think character can't reign supreme in historical fiction? Read Elizabeth Wein. Read Gary Schmidt. Read Jepp Who Defied the Stars. Read The Wicked and the Just.  And that part about Roswell Station feeling non-specific makes me want to laugh. Or cry. It doesn't fell non-specific. It feels like Puritan New England around about 1740 (or possibly 1640 though Judith's statement about them not having stoned/burned any one in her lifetime make me think probably not), but without actual real details to back it up so the reader is constantly wondering where the heck they are.

Yes, that aspect ruined the entire book for me. You may feel different and that I'm exaggerating the importance of actual setting, but for me it was a big deal. It was continuously problematic for me as I was reading, and the it's all I can think about after. It's tainting the entire reading experience for me. I know a lot of people who loved the book. The sad thing is I could have too. I wanted to. I loved the characters and themes. But I can't love a book when every other page an element is causing me to be thrown from the story and want to bang the book against something hard. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Favorite Kissing Scenes

When thinking of a favorite things post I could do for February I decided it would have to be kissing. I've already done couples and I was feeling in the mood to do something fluffy and Valentine's related. So kisses it is. I read more MG than YA, and the YA I read tends to not focus on romance so this was actually harder than I expected it to be though a few jumped into my head right away. (And one of my choices does actually come from a MG book. One is adult. Gasp!) The actual scene from the book is quoted followed by my thoughts. The king lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her. It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and a groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife, and when it was over, the king closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the hollow of the queen's shoulder, like a man seeking respite, like a man reaching home at the end of the day . - The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner Turner doesn't write the

TTT: Most Recent Additions to My TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly themed blog hop created by  The Broke and the Bookish  and now hosted at  That Artsy Reader Girl . This Week's Topic: Most Recent Additions to My TBR List From Most Recent to Least: What books have recently caught your eye?

This Side of Home

What attracted me to This Side of Home by Renee Watson was the cover. The story hooked my interest. The characters made me fall in love. Maya has lived her entire life in the same neighborhood in Portland hanging out with the same group of friends: her twin sister Nikki, their best friend Essence, and Ronnie, Malachi, and Devin-three boys her father mentors. They have plans for the future that involve each other: prom, college, life. But things in their neighborhood are changing. People are moving in and starting new businesses. Property values are going up as a result. In addition to change, this is also causing trouble. Essence has to move out of her  house when the owner decides he can make more money selling it than renting it. The racial demographics of the school, which has been mostly African American, is shifting. This presents new challenges and choices for Maya and her friends. It brings new people into their lives at the same time. Maya has to figure out how-and if-she wa

Serafina and the Black Cloak

Serafina and the Black Cloak  by Robert Beatty is a thrilling tale of mystery and adventure set at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC in 1899. Having lived in Asheville and visited the house several times, there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to read this. (Also it's MG fantasy, always a bonus for me.) Serafina lives in secret in the basement of the Vanderbilt's spacious vacation home. She has lived there most of her life. Her father worked on the house as it was being built and is the mechanic who runs the massive generator and keeps the electricity going. Serafina is the chief rat catcher, slipping through the halls of her massive home secretly and quietly. She is light on her feet, sees well in the dark, and is quick enough to catch the vermin and keep them out. Serafina knows she if different and strange. Her father insists she stay hidden. But all that changes when one night Serafina witnesses a horrible crime. A little girl, a guest in the house, is fleein

Shorter Musings MG Fantasy

Here are some shorter musings on recent MG fantasy reads. Anya and the Dragon   by Sofiya Pasternack This book is fun. It is a book full of adventure, an obvious bad guy, some more complicated morally gray area characters, and a strong, brave heroine. It is also a book about friendships, community, and fighting for what is right. All things that usually work for me really well. While I enjoyed this, I did feel it was a little overlong and there were certain plot points at the end I didn't love. However, there were things I thought were done really well, such as Anya's Jewish faith and the idea that power needs to be challenged. In the end it was a middle of the road read for me, but it is one I will certainly be recommending to dragon and fantasy adventure lovers I know! R is for Rebel   by J. Anderson Coats This is tough because I usually really like Coats's books. I had such a hard time with this one though on so many levels. It's difficult to get into because t