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A review by sheilsyy
The Last Boy and Girl in the World by Siobhan Vivian
2.0
I don't really know what to feel about this, because while I thought the plot was promising, the main character was just a real pain in the neck.
Aberdeen is bound to become a drowned town, and so residents are forced to pack up and relocate somewhere else using the generous amount provided by the government. Of course this doesn't go way too easily, especially for some residents who refuse to leave the home their familes have known for more than a hundred years. While the adults worry about putting up a fight to save their hometown, Keeley Hewitt and her friends decide to throw some more adventures and enjoy their most likely last few moments together. This also means Keeley has to take one last shot for the boy she's always had affections for, before everything gets underwater.
Vivian created a protagonist that, for me, was realistic as she struggled to deal with loss, grief, friendship, and young love. I was immensely drawn by the way she describes the turnout of events, to the point that it feels eerie. To think that the place where you've lived for the rest of your life could simply be washed away, and the people you've made relations with would eventually forget and lose you, sits heavy on me. After all, nobody wants to lose best friends, and most especially a home, right? By the way, Vivian says this novel was inspired by true events. The town of Aberdeen somehow reminds of Potosi, Venezuela (even though I've seen this only on pictures) and it's perturbing to know that this was once a town which inhabited a number of citizens, only to be submerged in water because of environmental factors.
The protagonist in this story, Keeley, is flawed, in ways that I even found myself relating to her. She's the friend who always tries to make everyone laugh but can sometimes get really frustrating especially when she cracks jokes at the worst times. Perhaps, it's part of her happy-go-lucky personality, and initially it was still tolerable for me, until it got exasperating. I felt like her character didn't mature convincingly enough and I didn't like how she treated Levi, the guy who she and others all think they can't vibe with the most, when for me, he was the most likeable and normal one.
Go ahead and read this book when you're in the mood for some dystopian-like stories. Keeley was a little bit complicated to deal with, but maybe you can endure her better than I did. Let's just say Vivian's writing style was the saving grace of this novel.
This review can also be found on my blog
Aberdeen is bound to become a drowned town, and so residents are forced to pack up and relocate somewhere else using the generous amount provided by the government. Of course this doesn't go way too easily, especially for some residents who refuse to leave the home their familes have known for more than a hundred years. While the adults worry about putting up a fight to save their hometown, Keeley Hewitt and her friends decide to throw some more adventures and enjoy their most likely last few moments together. This also means Keeley has to take one last shot for the boy she's always had affections for, before everything gets underwater.
Vivian created a protagonist that, for me, was realistic as she struggled to deal with loss, grief, friendship, and young love. I was immensely drawn by the way she describes the turnout of events, to the point that it feels eerie. To think that the place where you've lived for the rest of your life could simply be washed away, and the people you've made relations with would eventually forget and lose you, sits heavy on me. After all, nobody wants to lose best friends, and most especially a home, right? By the way, Vivian says this novel was inspired by true events. The town of Aberdeen somehow reminds of Potosi, Venezuela (even though I've seen this only on pictures) and it's perturbing to know that this was once a town which inhabited a number of citizens, only to be submerged in water because of environmental factors.
The protagonist in this story, Keeley, is flawed, in ways that I even found myself relating to her. She's the friend who always tries to make everyone laugh but can sometimes get really frustrating especially when she cracks jokes at the worst times. Perhaps, it's part of her happy-go-lucky personality, and initially it was still tolerable for me, until it got exasperating. I felt like her character didn't mature convincingly enough and I didn't like how she treated Levi, the guy who she and others all think they can't vibe with the most, when for me, he was the most likeable and normal one.
Go ahead and read this book when you're in the mood for some dystopian-like stories. Keeley was a little bit complicated to deal with, but maybe you can endure her better than I did. Let's just say Vivian's writing style was the saving grace of this novel.
This review can also be found on my blog