Book Review #29: The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

    Here's the thing about this post, it's been a while since I've read this book. This means all I can really remember are the big things that affected me at the time, of course, that's pretty much why I chose this book. I loved it when I first read it in middle school, it featured a young girl who's smart and was having trouble fitting in. I'm not quite sure why at the time this had affected me so much, but now when I look back on it, I find it easy to see. I just think that this book is brilliant in that way because so many can connect to this, whether it's because they have trouble fitting in or if it's because middle school was the worst for them. It doesn't matter, well it does, but it can be any of the issues readers see in this book for them to connect to. It does cover a lot of issues, in my opinion anyway, but all of it is something that connects and something that in the narrator's point of view is exactly what could happen. I only say could because many things can happen to many different people. I remember telling my sister about the book while I was reading it and she told me that it was one of her favorite books as well, which is a difficult task considering she read far more books than I did at that point. 

    Looking back at the actual content of the book, that main character isn't overly annoying unless it's on purpose and part of the point. I felt as if I could read a hundred more pages of the book with that character in the lead. The title also may seem not connected until you reach basically the beginning of the book, but it isn't just that one thing that gets connected. Jellyfish are a very important part and I find that the author uses facts about jellyfish to further the intensity of the book. One fact that has stuck with me since reading that book is how many people get stung by jellyfish per day; one of the parts in the book I immediately think back to is when the narrator counts how many people have been stung by the minute. There's just something so eerie and beautiful at the same time that I keep thinking back on that. I also think back to the point where all the stress the protagonist faces builds up to her breaking down in the middle of an airport when she's on her way to run away, except it isn't her breaking down that I remember, it's her brother coming to talk to her and help her out of the mental stress if only for a moment. The moment just felt so heart-warming, and it really brought the book together. I'd love to reread this book or even buy the book to have it permanently on my shelf.

    Overall book rating: 10/10