Review: Love this series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 27, 2013
I really liked this book. I liked it for all the same reasons that I loved its predecessor but I also liked it for its differences.I wish more people wrote like Haddix does. I swear she could probably take a book I hated and re-write it into something I’d sigh contentedly over. There’s just something so effortless about her styling and characterization. Everything seems to develop organically, nothing feels forced or contrived.This book follows Firefly Hollow but the main characters have changed a little. Instead of Sarah and Owen (nom nom nom nom) we follow the story of one of their sons, John, and the woman he’s to marry, Zanny, short for Suzanna.They first meet when John is just nine and from there you watch them grow up, see John notice Zanny as more than just his kid sister’s best friend and witness their budding romance. You’re also witness to their relationship’s near collapse and their struggle is what takes up a majority of Butterfly Lane.This story was a much more emotional journey for me than Firefly Hollow. While reading the first book I pretty much had the stupidest grin imaginable plastered on my face for 75% of it. Not so much this time around. I was up and down and happy and sad and even angry at times but you know what? I enjoyed every second of it because at the heart of everything there was a realness to John and Zanny's relationship that struck a chord within me.No one is perfect in real life and too many times in literature readers are subjected to a fairy tale ideal of romance or worse, drama for drama’s sake. Not in this book. This isn’t a fairy tale. It’s also not filled with childish relationship drama. This is a realistic portrayal of what marriage can be like. Spoiler Alert: It can be hard. There can be serious miscommunications. It requires compromise and compassion and understanding and empathy and most importantly communication.Not only do you get a look at John and Zanny’s relationship but the Campbell clan and all their various interactions play a large part in this book as well. You get hints here and there of what’s going on in the other lives of the Campbell children and I can already see (I HOPE!) the spin offs of the rest of the series and cannot frigging wait for them!Also, can I just say I have no idea what they’re feeding the men in rural Kentucky but whatever it is, the Campbell boys got an extra few doses of the good stuff. There is just something so swoonworthy about them. Especially Owen (nom nom nom nom), who, like a fine wine, only seems to get better with age.I’m not going to lie, there was a time or two while reading this that I wanted to murder his son John as well as slap Zanny upside the head but that eyetwitching angst Haddix made me feel was TOTALLY worth it because when the two of them finally get their crap together? Woah.This book is a beautiful story about family, love and life. It’s about growing up, about things not always going to plan, trying to make the best of the hand you’re dealt and working hard for what you really want and who you really love.