The Skinny
(aka Back of the Book Summary in a Sentence)
Ryn gets stranded at an airport overnight and accidentally swaps phones with Xander, which is made even more horrible by the fact that the very last text message from her dead friend is on her phone and she’s never read it before.
Nutritional Value
(aka What’s Good)
Every time Ryn is curious about anything, she’ll do an internet search for the answer on her phone. It was like reading Google results every few paragraphs. And yes, I put this in the What’s Good section because I’m a big fan of Googling stuff too. After reading this chapter, I’ve learned things like how it’s not really normal for fingers to sweat, but it’s not abnormal either, and that flight attendants have special seat belts that are safer than the passengers’ seat belts. Now I won’t have to Google these things myself.
Freezer Burn
(aka What’s Bad)
Geez, that was a depressing read. Ryn is just an angsty ball of grief, anger, and guilt. Plus, she actively avoids human interaction. Since the perspective is first person present, the reader gets into her head and is submerged in negative thoughts and emotions. And to top it all off, she doesn’t even respond to her parents’ many worried texts asking if she landed safely in the violent snowstorm. That’s right, be inconsiderate and make your parents worry.
Lingering Aftertaste
(aka My Prediction)
Ryn meets a cute boy at the airport and they’re both stranded for the night because of a blizzard. I’m predicting these two will fall in love over the course of the less than twenty-four hours they’re together, and Ryn will start acting like a nice human being again and finally start to move on from her grief.
Taste Test Verdict
(aka Would I Read More?)
Considering the only thing I liked about this chapter was Ryn’s constant internet searches for trivia, I’m going to have to pass and not give this book a second scoop. I completely understand that she’s suffering from the grief of her friend who died a year ago, but she can still be a kind person even if she’s grieving. She was mean and judgmental this entire chapter, and I’m not big on reading another 400 pages of that.
Memorable Morsel
(aka Quotable Quote)
She literally keeps a list of grievances. What the heck?
When I finish typing, I do what I always do. I scroll up, skimming my long list of grievances, until I find the first three stones in my path to eternal misery.
Do you guys enjoy reading books where the main character is a complete downer? Sound off in the comments below!
Get The Chaos of Standing Still
Gwen thinks that it’s as close to magic as humans can get when a blank Word document is filled with groups of letters, and those groups of letters turn into lines, and those lines turn into a whole new world.
When Gwen isn’t reading or writing, she’s drinking boba milk tea and singing along to Steven Universe. You should sing along with her.