Jessica (HDB)

So I don't think this is exactly going to end up as a review. By which I mean that normally I sit back, try to assess the good and the bad, and then attempt to write it up in a coherent fashion. Nope, this is all rambling. This is stream of consciousness. I tried to sit down and write an actual review, but I this book is just too full of feelings for that to happen. I didn't know it was going to hit me this hard this time around. 

I read this book in my teens. I might have been thirteen, or fifteen, I don't quite remember. What I do remember is thinking that the best part was the fact that friendship was what slayed the beast. How many stories out there are all about one person who, against all odds, fights back? This story is about how a group of friends, of outcasts brought together by fate, of completely terrified children, that believe enough in their bond to fight that evil. I still think that's my favorite part, but more than that I see how much I miss that bond. Friendship as an adult is so much harder. It comes with barriers, and judgments. Childhood friendships are so pure.

Look, I'm not going to lie. I all out bawled at the end of this book. That didn't happen to me the first time I read it. It might not happen to me if I read it again. But this time around it just hit home so hard. The concept of slowly forgetting who you were, of losing the special bonds that you thought would last forever, well I guess I'm just at a point in my life where that is especially true. These characters were like my best friends. I was devastated to have to let them go at the end.

Gah. Rambling, I know. I'm a big sappy, mushy mess right now. But damn did I love this re-read. It was what I needed right now, without knowing I needed it. It was cathartic. And I have a book hangover that might last a few days, because it's sticking with me.