Thalia @ Pictures in the Words

Dear heavens. Can I just.

*throws book*

I thought that I would like this, considering A Walk to Remember is my favorite Sparks book, and it's also YA. I think this is the only other young adult novel Sparks has written, but I guess I shouldn't have expected much.

The first thing that struck me with this book is how much I absolutely despise Ronnie. More than maybe any other Sparks character ever. She is so infuriating and rude and stereotypical and I just really can't stand anything about her. She is incredibly disrespectful to both her parents, ignores all her mother's rules for her, shoplifts regularly ("just for the thrill"), screams at her younger brother every time he says anything to her, and what gets the most is how rude she is to her parents. I know I already said that, but honestly? It seems like Ronnie has had a pretty dang good life. Two parents who love and adore her, a father who taught her everything he knew in a specialized field (even getting her an opportunity to play piano in Carnegie Hall), a little brother who (for some reason) looks up to her, and a good situation in life. Yes, her parents are divorced. Maybe she blames her father a little bit. But she huffs and puffs at her mom for an entire eight hour car ride, leaves without saying goodbye, threatens to buy a plane ticket and go home if her dad isn't just the way she wants him to be, and actually screams that she hates him just because his friend, who happened to be a cop, offered to go find her when she refused to come home that night.

You know what? I have absolutely no tolerance for characters (or people) who disrespect their parents. To me, there are very, very few situations that warrant the ability to be rude to your parents, let alone scream that you hate them. And none of those things have happened to Ronnie. She's actually just a giant brat.

On top of all that, she's one big stereotype. She's rude and tough and hangs out with the rough crowd, but of course she doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs, because "that's stupid". She will scream her head off at her parents and brother, but evidently, she's great with kids! She will find any excuse to start a fight, but when two guys she doesn't actually know start to get rough, she suddenly becomes a saint and tells them to knock it off. She judges people within the first three seconds of even seeing them (she instantly decides she doesn't like Will because he must be "in the popular crowd"--which is what she decuded from his being good looking and having people cheer for him in a volleyball game), and "always roots for the underdog, just because". Laughably, Will describes her as someone "who doesn't put people in any boxes", which I'm pretty sure I literally snorted at. Despite what a downright terrible person she is, she loves children, animals, is a vegetarian (who says she doesn't care less what other people eat, but it makes her sick to think about where the meat came from--giving the very distcint impression when she lectures her dad for making bacon that she actually does think less of those who eat meat), never does anything illegal (except shoplifting) or stupid, because Ronnie is just perfect.

And we're supposed to like her for some reason, because she covers up what a terrible human being she is by thinking a puppy is cute or helping a six year old find his mom in a McDonald's. McDonald's--a place she actually doesn't enter "on principle".

Am I the only one who sees this? How the heck am I supposed to read this entire book with her as the main character, and somehow cheer or identify with her? I can't stand her, and she's the kind of person that I honestly would slap across the face if I had to listen to them whine and complain all the time. Ala Gandalf.

Also, to top off this wonderful book, we have the alternating narrations again. Between Will, Ronnie, and Marcus. Marcus is a scumbag. Overly so. Am I reading The Lucky One again and didn't notice?