Oh, my God, this book was so much fun. I might even go so far as to call it a perfect book. Quick, wildly amusing, easy, but also genuinely emotional and thoughtful. I keep thinking that maybe I should give it a 4 instead, mainly because the writing style is simple and that’s usually something I care quite a lot about, but I’m resisting the urge because, deep down, I believe this book is worth it.
Lillian is brilliant. I get so frustrated reading books sometimes because a character’s decisions are often necessarily flawed to further the plot, to the point where I’m yelling at pages of words because that’s not what I would do. Honestly, I can make peace with it because it’s necessary, but this book was such a pleasure to read because I didn’t need to make peace with anything. I loved how freely her character, and by extension, the entire plot, was written. It’s like Kevin Wilson decided to write a heartfelt book of unrestrained nonsense and succeeded fantastically. It makes me interested to read more of his work.
But combined with this luxurious frivolity is a real story about wealth and lack of it, and the ease with which rich people navigate the world at the expense of others. I resented Madison and Jasper at the same times as Lillian did, and felt (in her words) ‘tenderness’ for them when Lillian felt it, too. It made me angry that they were so willing to write off these two children, to whom the world had been so cruel thus far in their lives, basically for their own convenience. For shallow, silly things like ””public image.””
There’s a plot twist in this book that changes their minds that I really should’ve expected, but didn’t. I’ll blame that on the pure joy of reading this. Usually I don’t care about spoilers but I want anyone who reads this post to read this book, so I’ll err on the side of vagueness.
I loved this from the bottom of my heart. I loved the found family that develops between Lillian and the twins, proving biology is meaningless when it comes to family. I loved the realness of Bessie and Roland in their emotional turmoil. This book is excellent for anyone who doesn’t read much. It’s entertaining, short, and most importantly, an elegantly told story with a wholesome message. Stop reading this review and go and read the novel instead.
https://thebookmartian.wordpress.com/2021/02/01/nothing-to-see-here-by-kevin-wilson-review/