Title: Please Ignore Vera Dietz
Author: A.S. King
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release date: October 12th 2010
Pages: 336
Genre: Contemporary YA; magical realism
Source: Bought
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Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything. So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
I was expecting this book to be good. Everyone seemed to have loved it, and it's a Printz Honor book, so it's got to be good. I was expecting it to be well-written and literary - but I wasn't expecting it to be so perfect for me.
I don't even know what it is about Please Ignore Vera Dietz that made me love it so much. It's just so honest and perfect. I know, this going to sound so, so cliched and stupid, but... this book speaks from my soul. While reading, I really felt like A.S. King had written this book just for me, made everything just the way I like it. When I'd finished the last page, all I wanted was to go back to the beginning and read it over again. And again. And again.
The narrative in Please Ignore Vera Dietz is so unique. Most of the book is written from Vera's POV. Vera is such an amazing character. She's quirky and unique and so easy to relate to, even when I didn't agree with her decisions. But in between Vera's chapters, we have a few chapters with other POVs, like Charlie's. Charlie is a great character, too - I didn't like him, but I liked reading about him. That goes for Vera's dad, too. We even get to read from the POV of inanimate objects, which sounds weird but is kind of awesome. The pagoda was my favorite character. Okay, no it wasn't... I just wanted to say that because, well, when else could you say something like that?
I'm not even sure you can classify this as contemporary, since we get to read from the POV of inanimate objects and a dead guy. There are some ghost-like or afterlife-like elements in Please Ignore Vera Dietz - which I know, sounds strange, but trust me, it works. I don't think it even matters what to classify this book as - I think it'll work for fans of any genre.
I'm a huge fan of new adult books, and while Please Ignore Vera Dietz is set in high school, it reads a lot like new adult. Vera's eighteen and works full-time, outside of high school, and we read a lot more about her working than about her going to school. That aspect made me love the book even more!
There's just something about A.S. King's style and Vera's voice that made me love Please Ignore Vera Dietz so, so much. I want to hug this book and never let it go. I can't think of anything I could write that would do this book justice. Just read it.
Now that I've finally discovered A.S. King, which of her books should I read next? Which of her books have you read, and what did you think?
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I recently tried reading this, but for some reason, it didn't click with me. But everyone else around me loved it, and it feels like a book that I should have loved, too. I think I need to re-read this one now.
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Yay, Hannah!I've been looking for a copy of this in our country but I can't find one. *sighs* I wanted to read it because it's a Printz Honor book. I have this goal to read books that have literary awards! Anyway, you make me want to read it more now. :( I hope I get a copy of this soon. It's weird to have POVs of inanimate objects! Haha! This is the only book of A.S. King that I personally know of. But Ask The Passengers seems to be a good one!
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