Dean is an art kid. He’s not a nerd, however. He’s way too cute for that. He’s tall, dark, handsome and wears a bun in an unironic way. (Time was, when a bun was seen as frumpy on a woman. When did wearing it make it look cool on men?)
So we wonder why Kaylee broke up with him. She wonders that too.
The unusual churning of adolescent romance/break-up is thrown into conflict with Kaylee’s laser focus on her volleyball career. She’s a baller, a star, and breakups actually seem to help her online profile. (Go figure.) The novel plants us firmly in the contemporary world, where Instagram photos can be tweaked to make anybody’s life seem perfect, where breakups can be just as casual as the relationships themselves, where a woman isn’t ruined or seen as a slut for her constant stream of boyfriends, if she plays it right.
In spite of the shallow nature of Kaylee’s online presence, I find myself admiring her go-getter spirit. She’s focused on her career so perhaps a long-term relationship isn’t in the cards for her right now. She’s only 16, for goodness sake! She manages to remain friends with her exes and they genuinely like her even post-breakup. There are no crazed stalkers determined to destroy Kaylee, no jealous girlfriends on her tail. By now, Kaylee is a pro on amicable romantic separations, which is enviable.
Trying to fix things with her former-best-friend-turned-ex-boyfriend is just unique enough for me to become interested in this story. How is she going to teach Dean to fall OUT of love? I’m reminded of the delightful repartee between Ganymede and Orlando as the former tells the amorous swain what fits, mood swings and changeable attitudes his love “Rosalind” will put him through if he persists in his pursuit of her. This likely won’t be on the level of Shakespearean dialogue but I anticipate humorous moments ahead.
So we wonder why Kaylee broke up with him. She wonders that too.
The unusual churning of adolescent romance/break-up is thrown into conflict with Kaylee’s laser focus on her volleyball career. She’s a baller, a star, and breakups actually seem to help her online profile. (Go figure.) The novel plants us firmly in the contemporary world, where Instagram photos can be tweaked to make anybody’s life seem perfect, where breakups can be just as casual as the relationships themselves, where a woman isn’t ruined or seen as a slut for her constant stream of boyfriends, if she plays it right.
In spite of the shallow nature of Kaylee’s online presence, I find myself admiring her go-getter spirit. She’s focused on her career so perhaps a long-term relationship isn’t in the cards for her right now. She’s only 16, for goodness sake! She manages to remain friends with her exes and they genuinely like her even post-breakup. There are no crazed stalkers determined to destroy Kaylee, no jealous girlfriends on her tail. By now, Kaylee is a pro on amicable romantic separations, which is enviable.
Trying to fix things with her former-best-friend-turned-ex-boyfriend is just unique enough for me to become interested in this story. How is she going to teach Dean to fall OUT of love? I’m reminded of the delightful repartee between Ganymede and Orlando as the former tells the amorous swain what fits, mood swings and changeable attitudes his love “Rosalind” will put him through if he persists in his pursuit of her. This likely won’t be on the level of Shakespearean dialogue but I anticipate humorous moments ahead.