Review: The Thing About Jellyfish

The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This review is also found on Goodreads! :)
--
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
--

I think this is what young adult novels should be like--real, but uplifting. The Thing About Jellyfish effectively unmasked the voice of the youth--timid but strong, reluctant but full of wonder. Suzy's strength is in how she fully embraced what she is and what she's not. She, despite all her strength, went through her own way of grieving and dealing with the guilt. What I love about this book is how it did not portray the mean girls as the hopelessly evil mean girls. I know I should not discount the possibility, bullies vary. But the story focused on how Suzy learned to forgive Franny and herself. Honestly, I never really cared enough for Franny. I'm sorry, but if you're a bully who, not only DOES NOT stand up for her best friend, but eventually bullies her, too, then you won't really get any sympathy from me. But Suzy...my dear, sweet Suzy. I want to hug that kid. I can listen to her ramble on about pee and Irukandji all day long and I would love that sweet, fragile, kid.

One of the strengths of this book is how Benjamin wrote with the voice of a bright twelve-year old full of loss and wonder. Suzy's voice didn't come across as too childish, nor too mature. Her thoughts are full of wonder and curiosity, they are almost lyrical. But it never came off as absurd coming from a twelve-year old. Her thoughts are straightforward, which makes her easy to understand. But even with the simplicity, I've learned a lot from little Suzy. It's amazing how adults know a lot, but sometimes children are wiser.

--

But a person doesn't always know the difference between a new beginning and a forever sort of ending.

If people were silent, they could hear the noise of their own lives better. If people were silent, it would make what they did say, whenever they chose to say it, more important. If people were silent, they could read one another's signals, the way underwater creatures flash lights at one another, or turn their skin different colors.

The thing you and I understand, Jamie, is that having venom doesn't make a creature bad. Venom is protection. The more fragile the animal, the more it needs to protect itself. So the more venom a creature has, the more we should be able to forgive that animal. They're the ones that need it most.

It's peculiar how no-words can be better than words. Silence can say more than noise, in the same way that a person's absence can occupy even more space than their presence did.

...A mother dolphin does not stop swimming for the first several weeks of her newborn's life. The newborn calf doesn't have enough blubber to float, so it needs to be carried along in its mother's slipstream. If the mother stops swimming, even for a short time, the calf will sink.
It must be tiring, being a mom.

Humans may be newcomers to this planet. We may be plenty fragile. But we're also the only ones who can decide to change.

View all my reviews