19. Are We There Yet? by David Levithan.

This book was a nice, quick read. It's a story about two brothers (that seem quite different) that are tricked by their parents into going on a trip to Italy together. Danny, the older brother, is obsessed with his job and is constantly talking about what goes on at work. Nothing seems to matter too much to him except work. Elijah, the younger brother, is in school and more laid back. He's always very nice to everyone, always says 'please' and 'thank you'. Once they get to Italy, the brothers pretty much assume what will happen, like how their conversations will go, etc. In the book, they visit and describe many different museums/sites, which is interesting to read about. At one point, Elijah meets a girl and is caught up with that. The girl plays a somewhat big part in the story, but I don't want to spoil anything. I enjoyed reading it because it wasn't like a lot of the other teen novels that I've read recently. It takes you through Italy and through a troubled sibling relationship. It definitely makes me want to read the rest of David Levithan's books. Apparently he and John Green wrote a book together--I am VERY anxious for that to come out. It will most likely melt my fucking face off.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.


Quotes:

"Although it is such a singular word, there are many variations of alone. There is the alone of an empty beach at twilight. There is the alone of an empty hotel room. There is the alone of being caught in the throng of people. There is the alone of missing a particular person. And there is the alone of being with a particular person and realizing you are still alone."

"In the age of guidebooks, websites, and radio waves, discovery has nearly become a lost feeling. If anything, it is now a matter of expectations to surpass---rarely a matter of unexpected wonderment. It is unusual to find a situation that appears without word, or a place that was not known to be on the road."

"Discovery cannot be revisited."



I'm late in posting this because I finished this almost a week ago. I'm already almost done with #20. I'm going to go finish it now, but I won't update the blog again unless I get extremely bored. Which, come to think of it, is very likely.

PeaceLove&HairGrease,
Kristen