Rereading Books: Realizations

     I just finished The Clearing, and while I enjoyed reading it a second time, I also realized a lot of things that I hadn't realized when I read it for the first time in middle school. For one, the main character is way too dependent on male affection in order to feel loved and wanted. For two, she's kind of rude. There was way too much shrugging and "Um sure"s from her. For three, Amy and Henry's relationship was based on little more than their physical attraction to each other. Yeah, they loved each other and whatever, but I'm positive that Henry talked about Amy's physical beauty way more than he ever talked about her personality. The story just kind of lost its enchantment for me the second go-around. The beginning was just how I remembered it, but then it started to go downhill when it basically became entirely about the boys in Amy's life (Matt, Jackson, and Henry). Amy was just not a strong female character to look up to. She stayed in an abusive relationship with Matt and blamed it on her mom not being there for her. Yeah, her mom wasn't great, but Amy needed to tell her mom what was happening and not just accept the abuse because she thought Matt loved her. And I hated how even after being abused, Amy's new friendships were all male (Jackson and Henry). That's not realistic at all. She acted like she didn't trust men and yet she never formed any female friendships while in Rockville (except for Lori, and more than anything Amy just used Lori as an excuse to hang out with Henry). The author tried to make a message of "loving yourself as you are and not needing a man to make you feel special", but in the end, it was a man (Henry) who made Amy love herself. Even in her freaking alternate life at the end of the book, Amy winds up with Jackson, yet again needing a man to complete her! The first time I read The Clearing, I thought it was so romantic and magical and such a wonderful, creative love story, but now I'm not so sure. Hardly a day went by that Amy wasn't with some guy and when she wasn't, she was depressed and lonely. However, I still really like the book, despite this negative review, and would recommend it in a heartbeat.

What I liked about this book:

• The fact that Amy can time travel to the 1940s
• The fact that Henry is such a gentleman (well, except for that one part that urg... bothered me so much)
• Henry
• Basically just Henry
• And the 1940s

Day 426 Song Recommendation: "Just Say Yes" by Snow Patrol.

-SE Wagner