I went to the library to grab a bunch of books I had on hold and ran into my favorite librarian. We chatted for a bit, I gave her my copy of a book I wanted her to read. It was a good visit. By the end she had run off and grabbed this book off the shelf and added it to my already large pile. She demanded I read this book first and that I go right home to start it. She was serious. I don’t ever doubt this librarian’s views on books. She is scary good at finding books for people.
So I went home (after some more adventures) and started this book. I got yelled at for being late to dinner, because I just couldn’t put it down mid-chapter. So I kept reading, then forgot to stop, hence the yelling. This is one of those books where you just have to keep reading. It felt like my life depended on finishing this book. It was just magnificent.
The chapters switch narrators between Red and Blue. They are part of opposing armies of a time war. They are never really in the same time or location (or time strand) chapter to chapter or even at the same time. They work to send letters. They fall in love. THEY BREAK MY HEART.
Each chapter is really short, a few pages at most. Then there is a letter. The letters. I just, the letters. I could have just read a book of just the letters. I could read this book over and over and over and over again. The letters are magical. The letters get better every time I read them. There is just so much in them. I learned so many new ways of saying red and blue. I have a few more books in my to-read pile.
My favorite librarian has started finding blue and red pairs everywhere. She enjoys finding them, so now I am hunting for them to send to her. My favorite being that my favorite character in a show that I just got her to start watching, its red and blue combined. There are so many ways this book will stay with you, but the simplest is the names. It will be hard to forget this book. I will probably read it again.