Let's Talk About Books

So I decided to give this one 3 stars out of 5. I feel kind of dirty for doing that. I've heard so many amazing things about this book and I know that it's considered a true classic. In fact, from what I've heard it's the book that really started the YA genre. So to give it a mediocre score just feels wrong. But I gotta be honest and to me, this was just an average book. 

It was not a bad book. Not at all. Reading it I can completely see why so many people love it. The characters were all lovable and interesting and I liked how individual they were. Ponyboy was a great protagonist and I found him to be a really endearing narrator. I especially liked the parts after his concussion when he was still in denial about Johnny and Dally's deaths and was convinced he had killed Bob and not Johnny. The writing there was very complex and just overall kind of tugged at my heartstrings. 

The plot itself was pretty good and entertaining. I found it a little predictable, but that might be because I've realized that girl in my thesis class borrowed a LOT from the story. No shame, we were all pretty burnt out by that point. But it did spoil it for me just a tad. I liked how quickly the plot went. It didn't feel like it took place over a couple of days, even though it did for the most part. And it was interesting to see how all the characters interacted with each other and the situations they got into. I really loved the ending and realizing that the whole story was Ponyboy's writing assignment as a way of telling the story of the people he'd seen and who's lives he understood. That was really touching. 

I guess the biggest reason why I found this book to be average is because even though it was a moving story, I myself wasn't actually moved. There wasn't anything in the story that I particularly connected to. I fully expected to be bawling during the death scenes but I just kind of kept reading on. 

In the end, it's just not my kind of story. Nothing really wrong with it, I just didn't really care for it. It happens. I know people who love it though and the story is good enough that I strongly recommend giving it a chance if you're curious. Hopefully it will be your kind of story.