Boy Proof
by Cecil Castellucci
~Feeling alienated from everyone around her, Los Angeles high school senior and cinephile Victoria Denton hides behind the identity of a favorite movie character until an interesting new boy arrives at school and helps her realize that there is more to life than just the movies.~
This author has an excellent grasp on how a young person's fear of rejection can lead to self-imposed alienation. In Boy Proof the main character, takes on the persona of her favorite sci-fi character, Egg, pretending to be just as smart, tough and unforgiving. Ultimately its a ploy to control the possibility of rejection. By making oneself unapproachable being alone isn't so bad. It's a choice. Reject them before they can reject you. Many teens choose to submerge themselves in a fantasy, taking on a persona to shield themselves from real life. In the end though, being alone is lonely, regardless of how it happens.
Egg's voice, feelings and actions ring true at every turn. The Hollywood backdrop, far-too-interesting parents and nearly perfect love interest manage not to detract from the believability of the story and, instead, make it even more engaging.
~Feeling alienated from everyone around her, Los Angeles high school senior and cinephile Victoria Denton hides behind the identity of a favorite movie character until an interesting new boy arrives at school and helps her realize that there is more to life than just the movies.~
This author has an excellent grasp on how a young person's fear of rejection can lead to self-imposed alienation. In Boy Proof the main character, takes on the persona of her favorite sci-fi character, Egg, pretending to be just as smart, tough and unforgiving. Ultimately its a ploy to control the possibility of rejection. By making oneself unapproachable being alone isn't so bad. It's a choice. Reject them before they can reject you. Many teens choose to submerge themselves in a fantasy, taking on a persona to shield themselves from real life. In the end though, being alone is lonely, regardless of how it happens.
Egg's voice, feelings and actions ring true at every turn. The Hollywood backdrop, far-too-interesting parents and nearly perfect love interest manage not to detract from the believability of the story and, instead, make it even more engaging.
posted by Dex at 11:19 AM
2 Comments:
Really? I loved the voice and the writing, but the perfect boy drove me crazy. And the girl he was with for most of the book--it just didn't make any sense. I found the plot, well, lame. But, yes, she's a wonderful, wonderful talent and it was impossible not to fall in love with Egg. If only there'd been more story and all the lovely touches that make Egg so real had been used with more of the other characters. . .
I too loved the voice but I wonder how much dysfunction I could have handled without at least one well-adjusted, likable character around. I don't think the boyfriend was written as perfect simply for the sake of making him dreamy. He allowed Egg to see that you can be cool, smart and a wonderful person. Unlike Egg, he was probably fairly open to other people and saw something in that girl he was dating that Egg would never take time to discover.
Also, I think the descriptions of other characters were colored by Egg's perception of them. (Heh. Egg coloring. Sounds like Easter.) For example, were the members of the Sci-Fi club truly nerdy and pathetic or were they just passionate and knowledgable about something they cared about? Think about it. They weren't the ones dressing and acting like their favorite sci-fi character. Egg was. But because the story is scewed by Egg's perspective, they're just two-dimensional nerds.
I think the same thing happens with the other girlfriend, whatever her name was. When Egg gives her a compliment, the girl doesn't return really return it. But what was she supposed to say? "Thank you and I like how socially withdrawn, elitist and bizarre you act 99% of the time." And when the girlfriend was being manipulative in order to get Mr. Perfect closer to her? Well duh. She's a teenage girl. All's fair in love and war, people. Again, we're only seeing things that Egg sees. We never get a description of this girl when she's alone with Mr. Perfect. Maybe she's actually very nice and charming. Maybe she's interesting.
In general, it didn't bother me that most of the other characters weren't deeply fleshed out because this is Egg's story and it's Egg's perspective of those around her.
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