Meg Wolitzer

Jam Gallahue, fifteen, unable to cope with the loss of her boyfriend Reeve, is sent to a therapeutic boarding school in Vermont, where a journal-writing assignment for an exclusive, mysterious English class transports her to the magical realm of Belzhar, where she and Reeve can be together.

Belzhar

a novel

Jeannette Ordas

I felt torn about this book. I liked certain things about it - the boarding school, the relationship between the characters, but the more far-fetched elements seemed to pull this story apart for me. Maybe I should go read some Sylvia Plath for a bit of backstory. I expected more.

devin.reads

FULL REVIEW ON MY BLOG: http://devinreadsbooks.com/2015/01/25...

jess

okay, so not "the secret history" at all, but it was okay. i gave this a 3-star at first because i was hooked by it, but nothing in this book really ... stood out? it was an incredibly intriguing plot but jam wasn't the most interesting of protagonists. i don't mean this in the "she's boring and whiny and i hate her" way. i just didn't like the romance subplot with reeve. and yes, this was sort of an overreaction.

Zoe Smolen

Real rating of a 3.5 (why can't we do half-stars on Goodreads yet?) 

I liked this, but I wanted to like it so much more. I was hoping for more The Bell Jar since it was such an important book to me growing up (and it still is). But I did really enjoy it. I loved the progression of the characters. The little twist at the end was one I could kind of see coming - but I couldn't work out exactly how it was going to happen.

Devin Jones

I was sent here because of a boy. His name was Reeve Maxfield, and I loved him and then he died, and almost a year passed and no one knew what to do with me. A group of emotionally fragile, highly intelligent teenagers gather at a therapeutic boarding school where they are mysteriously picked for 'Special Topics in English'. Here, they are tasked with studying Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and keeping a journal. Each time the teens write in their diaries they are transported to a miraculous other world called Belzhar, a world where they are no longer haunted by their trauma and grief - and each begins to tell their own story. From internationally bestselling author Meg Wolitzer, and published by John Green's editor, Belzhar is a breathtaking and surprising story about first love, deep sorrow, and the power of acceptance. Entertainment Weekly's YA book of 2014 TIME Magazine's Top Ten YA of 2014 Kobo's best of 2014 Amazon's best books of 2014 'A story about what it means to lose someone, or something, you love. Twice.' Kirkus Reviews 'A welcome attack on continuing to live in the past at the expense of the present…Dry humour accompanies each journey in this readable novel, already selling well in America and deservedly so' Independent 'Breathtaking' Glamour magazine 'Wolitzer has imagined a world for young readers that celebrates the sacred, transcendent power of reading and writing' New York Times 'An engaging fable about literature's healing power' Financial Times