Inner Sparkle Reviews

So...this author has officially ruined me for other writers. Okay, so maybe I'm kidding on that regard (once a reader, always a reader), but on a serious note, this novel is...well...I'm speechless. At first what pulled me in to the book was its cover. It is simple, yet breathtakingly beautiful. The colours just popped out at me and basically screamed for me to take an interest and attempt to read the story behind that picture. Reading the blurb, a spark was born. A spark that I wasn't sure would burst into a full on flame, until I got about a chapter in. Then it turned into a raging inferno that I couldn't put out.

From the beginning, we meet the main character, Willie, and her interest and understanding of literature and poetry is apparent. But, it isn't until between chapters two and four that we begin, or at least that was my case, to care about this main character. She begins to feel real, and not just another character taking yet another class in yet another young adult novel. Her drama, her life, her passions begin to flow out on each page.

Willie's pain and the people around her made me feel something. Her art, the way it is described, the way every single detail of every single situation in this book is written is absolutely exquisite. Purposeful. The rising anticipation in the relationship between her and her professor, and the absolute fall of the tragedies and heartbreak in this novel. Everything is given just the right touch to make it seem real. To make the story come to life. Throughout the story, I can sense Willie growing, I can sense her turning into the butterfly we know her to be. She goes through so much, but learns more about herself in a short time than she ever thought possible.

This book is fearless and indescribably beautiful, and each character brings another element that just makes this story work almost flawlessly in its execution.

A coming-of-age story that basically has surpassed the coming-of-age stories that I have read before, this book is lyrical and artistic in itself, and truly a masterpiece.