This book will be published on July 9, 2019. I read the advanced reading copy, and undoubtedly there will be some differences between what I read and the published edition.
That being said; do you ever read one of those books where there's a lot of grander symbolism going on and you're really not sure how you're supposed to interpret it. Then you think about it more, and you know that in the back of your mind whatever you interpret is like what you want to interpret and kind of a reflection of your mind works? But, on the other hand I still want to know what the author's true intentions are. ....yeah, so this is definitely one of those books. I also have a lot of questions of if the narrators are reliable, what's actually happening versus what's in their head?
Alright, here's an amazon summary so we can leap into it, but without all the advance praise stuff, "Billy Sloat and Lydia Lemon don’t have much in common, unless you count growing up on the same (wrong) side of the tracks, the lack of a mother, and a persistent loneliness that has inspired creative coping mechanisms.
When the lives of these two loners are thrust together, Lydia’s cynicism is met with Billy’s sincere optimism, and both begin to question their own outlook on life. On top of that, weird happenings including an impossible tornado and an all-consuming fog are cropping up around them—maybe even because of them. And as the two grow closer and confront bigger truths about their pasts, they must also deal with such inconveniences as a narcissistic rock star, a war between unicorns and dragons, and eventually, of course, the apocalypse.
With a unique mix of raw emotion, humor, and heart, the surreal plotline pulls readers through an epic exploration of how caring for others makes us vulnerable—and how utterly pointless life would be if we didn’t." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
There are two narrators to this story; Billy and Lydia. They are from rival towns, that through a series of lower census, the two rival high schools are merged into one school. There's tons of in-fighting between the two rivals, but Billy and Lydia have never particularly cared for their school rivalry. They meet one morning and Billy's belligerent positive attitude starts to wear down Lydia's frosty exterior and they begin to forge a friendship of sorts.
The world is also an alternate Earth of sorts with a few big details changed, but everything else seems to work the same way as our Earth. Instead of having a democracy, there's a monarchy. The King is kind of a bumbling fool, and seems to be a caricature of Donald Trump in many ways. They also place a HUGE emphasis on celebrities, like Billy's Uncle, who is super famous and suddenly disappeared. Only to reappear in Billy's house where he lives with his grandmother, in a house that is falling apart, and full of random things from the thrift store because his grandmother is also a hoarder.
Lydia lives with her stepfather who has a mild obsession with dragons versus unicorns. The book series that's based in the two rival towns, and he owns a bar that is kind of run down. But, basically both Lydia's and Billy's mothers are gone. Lydia has her stepfather for a parent, and Billy has his grandmother for a parent/guardian kind of figure.
That's enough summary.
Alright, so there's four main plot lines from what I can distinguish. There's the political aspect with the King/Uncle, there's Lydia and Billy both struggling to come to terms with what happened to their parents (lumping their friendship into this), there's the town rivalry itself (which I'm lumping the dragons versus unicorns things into), and there's the supernatural phenomena of the weather in the town itself. ....so how do all of these things play together?
Well, confusingly.
Everything takes place surrounding Billy and Lydia's friendship, and they're able to talk about things going on around the town, or witness a news report about it. I also kind of love their friendship and the portrayal of the give and take at different points throughout their lives depending on what's happening. They support each other, even though sometimes it's a little reluctant. It feels very authentic, especially in regards to their shifting world.
I did find Billy's characterization to be a little extreme. Billy had a relentless positive attitude, and it seemed like the book put him through his paces in an effort to break his positive attitude. He also kind of blundered around a lot of his relationships, trying his best to make everyone happy. He also accepted a lot of bad things in his life without protest, but he was also kind of raised by a television therapist of some sort. It's still unclear to me if they were actually a therapist, or if they were a knitter, or exactly what it was because Billy would only think about the things they said. Whenever the TV was on though, Billy would only remark about what they were physically doing, and then kind of extrapolate what they would be telling him from there knowing his situation. So, something else seemed to be going on with Billy mentally.
Lydia on the other hand, is super abrasive and comes across as mean. BUT, she cares for Billy almost a little too easily at first. It seems like she wants to care about people, she is just used to everyone being mean or belittling to her. So she hides her true passions, her true motivations; which is she really wants to pursue dance. BUT THEN, Lydia also has some odd psychosis going on. She hallucinates a little girl that seems to be her younger self for much of the book. She has conversations with her, she watches the different things the little girl does, but there are a few scenes where it seems like the little girl she's hallucinating also has control over some aspects of reality. Throwing objects, that kind of thing. So, it's a little confusing of how much the little girl is in Lydia's head and how much of her is actually real.
I don't really think I need to talk about the political aspect much as it seems to be a mockery coupled with the harsh reality of how a deranged monarch can ruin a country so easily. ...just read the book if you want to know more about it.
The town rivalry is kind of a background noise to the story. Billy and Lydia note it a few times, but rarely interact with that level of conflict. The political and town rivalry plot points have a lot in common, but ultimately, it seemed like they both played into the tone of the town and the environment that Lydia and Billy are raised in. There's not a lot of sunshine or good vibes going around town by any stretch of the imagination.
The supernatural phenomena seem to be a representation of the emotionally struggles of both Billy and Lydia. The symbolism crops up as a big emotionally moment happens in Billy and Lydia's lives. I would say that it reflects more of Billy's emotional state than Lydia's? But they're also portrayed in a lot of emotional tandem despite being in different situations.
But also, I kind of loathe Billy's uncle. I know we're supposed to dislike him on some level, but I found his whole character arc to be very trying.
....I'm also still not quite sure what I read. I'm not sure what the takeaway from this book is. So if you read it, and have a conclusion you'd like to share, feel free to leave a comment.
Happy reading!
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