Odd One Out

I finished Nic Stone's Odd One Out today. I'm not sure I have a lot to say about it, but it is a Royal Reader book, so I should have something to say. (Jumped back up here to add that this is going to feel more review-y than I want things on this blog to feel; my mission statement has always been to use this space to blurt out the thoughts I can't contain, right as they're inspired by whatever I'm reading, but I drift from that vision when I need a dumping ground for thoughts I might have to share with a group.)

First things first, I feel like Rae gets short shrift. She certainly has a touch of MPDG about her, with the crossword puzzles and the high dollar words, not to mention the whole thing about Carousel Carl. (A story line that I think could have been left out. It didn't seem to pay out as much as it was building to.) And like any good MPDG, she seems primarily to exist as a catalyst for another character (or, in this case, two characters), flitting into their lives at a crucial moment and flitting right back out at a convenient time.

I did really like the way Nic Stone handled Jupiter's questioning (and that she explained her own history of questioning). It reminded me of this beautiful Orangette post (and it made me wonder, as I do every now and again, if Molly will ever post there again, because I really miss her writing), and her confusion and frustration felt very honest.

Let's be honest. I really just wrote this so I could bemoan the end (?) of Orangette.