Something in the Way
by Jessica Hawkins
“No matter what you achieve in life, it means nothing if you suffer the heartbreak that comes with falling for someone you can never have. Because even though I saw Manning first, my older sister saw him next.”
Something in the Way takes apart the issue of a statutory infatuation, and it does it with class and consideration. If you’ll be put off by a simmering romance between a sixteen-year-old and a twenty-three-year-old, don’t pick up this book. Also, if you’re expecting a steamy, naughty book because of the cover design, you won’t find what you’re looking for in this one. This is a thoughtful, extremely realistic, deeply romantic story about a man who feels drawn to a younger girl, but because he knows what’s at stake, feels he can only spend time with her if her older sister is around. Sound complicated and awkward? It is.
I love this book. Jessica Hawkins is a fantastic and realistic writer, creating instant tension in the first chapter and maintaining it through the last page. There are several scenes so thick with anxiety and anticipation, I found I was actually holding my breath while reading them. Written in alternate perspectives, Hawkins takes both a feminine and masculine tone, explaining each character’s feelings and their intelligence. The story is painstakingly slow, but that’s the point: time passes too slowly for the characters, and the time they do get to share together doesn’t feel long enough. The pace is perfect, since this is mostly an internal book, one that manages to make a taboo subject relatable.
Something in the Way takes apart the issue of a statutory infatuation, and it does it with class and consideration. If you’ll be put off by a simmering romance between a sixteen-year-old and a twenty-three-year-old, don’t pick up this book. Also, if you’re expecting a steamy, naughty book because of the cover design, you won’t find what you’re looking for in this one. This is a thoughtful, extremely realistic, deeply romantic story about a man who feels drawn to a younger girl, but because he knows what’s at stake, feels he can only spend time with her if her older sister is around. Sound complicated and awkward? It is.
I love this book. Jessica Hawkins is a fantastic and realistic writer, creating instant tension in the first chapter and maintaining it through the last page. There are several scenes so thick with anxiety and anticipation, I found I was actually holding my breath while reading them. Written in alternate perspectives, Hawkins takes both a feminine and masculine tone, explaining each character’s feelings and their intelligence. The story is painstakingly slow, but that’s the point: time passes too slowly for the characters, and the time they do get to share together doesn’t feel long enough. The pace is perfect, since this is mostly an internal book, one that manages to make a taboo subject relatable.