Luna

3/5 stars

“Like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, I thought. An exquisite and delicate creature, unfolding her wings and flying away. Except in Luna’s case, the butterfly is forced to rein in her wings and reinsert herself into the cocoon every day. Every single day, she has to become a shell of a person.”

The Skinny:
This is the story of a young man, Liam; a boy on the outside, yet a girl on the inside. By night, Liam is Luna, a girl who loves make-up and fashion. By day, Liam is an introverted boy who is only a shell of a person. Told in the voice of his younger sister Regan, we are privy to not only the trials and tribulations Liam must face in order to become Luna, but also the confusion Regan feels as she tries to simultaneously protect her brother and accept all of his changes.

The Review:
As I was reading many of the other reviews for this book, a huge source of contention for other readers was Regan’s ‘selfishness.’ Apparently Regan was an unlikable narrator due to her self-centered nature, which impacted peoples’ enjoyment of the novel. I have to say that while Regan was selfish at times, I did not dislike her as a narrator because of this. In fact, I felt that Regan was a more reliable narrator because of this character trait; what young high school student is not egotistical? As a high school teacher, I can say virtually none (I say so lovingly, because I too was like this :D). Also, I feel that some of Regan’s decisions and feelings were warranted. For as long as she can remember, Regan has been protecting her brother’s secret – I think that this would take a toll on anyone.

What impacted my enjoyment of the novel, far more than Regan’s selfishness, is the cardboard quality of some of the characters and situations. In particular, I felt that the relationship between Regan and her parents was pretty cliché. Regan’s mom plays the aloof parent, while her dad plays the mans-man father. Sorry, but I’ve seen these types of parents far too often in books and movies. I also felt that the relationship and dialogue between Regan and Chris was cringe-worthy at times. Regan is the ‘clumsy girl’ always falling and breaking things (hello, Bella!), and Chris is the hot guy that goes for the misunderstood girl. Their dialogue is frequently cheesy and awkward (yes, high-schoolers can be awkward, but this was a bit TOO much). I feel that Regan and Chris could have been very sweet, but instead I just felt that they were…blegh.

Despite the manufactured quality of some of the characters and happenings, I did like reading about Liam. I don’t know if ‘like’ is the right word. I felt for Liam, and I felt for his struggles. I found Liam’s story to be painful, but also interesting; this is the first book I’ve read about this subject matter. It saddened me to know that Liam felt like he had to keep his true self hidden. While this story was fictional, I know that there are people out there who have had to hide as well. I can’t imagine how painful of a thing that must be, and I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone.

Overall:
I liked the subject matter of this novel because I haven’t really read anything else like it. I wasn’t totally sold on the story because of the cardboard quality of some of the characters and events. This being said, I loved Liam’s character. I felt that he was really eye-opening and made me think and consider things I hadn’t before.