On the Fence by Kasie West : Changing without Changing
Finished On the Fence by Kasie West. A girl with 4 brothers and dad is a policeman, that made the interesting promise. What book delivers is not that bad, but there is not any exceptionally good element, that I can say impressed me.
The last book I read, Ask The Passengers, was also a school romance. There, the protagonist questions some philosophies, and in doing so, you got to learn about Zeno or Plato.
Here, nothing sort of that happen. It is totally a chick-lit, with funny moments of course. But it would be wrong to criticize the book because of that, as the book never promised anything more than a few eye-rolling moments.
So you can either enjoy a funny book, or you can think that there is nothing to read.
Enjoying the Book
I enjoyed it.
The book with 5 boys is enough to make you laugh. Add some awkward situation, and the scene will be hilarious. And that happens.
Like in the park, they were playing football. They throw Charlie into the pond. Or brother warning all the other boys to never ask their sister out.
Charlie’s boyfriend comes to play with her brothers. And Braden’s girlfriends come too.
Well, there are lots of funny moments.
Maybe I should go to the concert. I was a sporting-event type of girl, not a loud-music event one. At least that’s what I had always thought. But here I was standing in this store, in these clothes, hearing the sound of laughter in the back room, and realizing that maybe there was more to me than I realized.
Normal Girls vs Charlie
There are many instances in On the Fence where Charlie differentiate between normal girls and her. She believes that normal girls do makeup, go out with boys, and have fun at the party.
While she considers herself a sporty girl or Tom Boy. It was alright.
But her thoughts about these girls, who does makeup and do parties takes a wrong turn. Her opinion about them is that they all do that crap because all their social position comes from their looks. So their looks are important to them. Because they lack other skills.
Which is wrong, as pretty people could be smart too. John Green’s Paper Towns is all about it.
However, when you see that she spent her whole life with 5 guys, you wonder maybe this thinking has come because of it. Because guys do think like that.
Braden and the Love
When Braden and Charlie start talking at the fence, and yes there are no bugs there. 🙄
Everything was fine, and then, out of nowhere, Charlie realizes that she is in Love with Braden.
There was no build up to this. They were good friends, and there were feelings, but dropping Love was out of the blue.
Braden is a funny character, which could have better backstory than an abusive father. That is predictable, and do nothing but give a reason to sympathize with Braden. Like he is some sort of broken jar, that needs to be in careful hands, and Charlie must handle him.
Accepting the Grief
The book ends with Charlie remembering her mother. And everyone telling her the truth finally.
She also tells the truth of her relationship with Braden to her family. In a sense, a member goes, another takes its place.
But how long a high-school love story ends?
Her brother was right. Comparing with other boys, Braden has more power to hurt her heart. So, in a way, it is not a happy ending, but a sad one.
What to Do?
Because I am sure this will not work out well. Maybe you should accept the love in whatever dose you get it.
But what about the side effects. Tell me what you think.
Is it okay to live a good short span and then long tough span or you should live nor happy, neither sad long life?
In a sense, On the Fence by Kasie West is a travel book, nice to read on a journey, and then forget about it. No need to remember any of it.
On the Fence by Kasie West
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