“I can’t ever be the blazing star that Iris was. I’m still just a cold, dark satellite orbiting a star that went super nova.”
Andria’s twin sister, Iris, had adoring friends, a cool boyfriend, a wicked car, and a shelf full of soccer trophies. She had everything, in fact—including a drug problem. Six months after Iris’s death, Andria is trying to keep her grades, her friends, and her family from falling apart. But stargazing and books aren’t enough to ward off her guilt that she—the freak with the scary illness and all-black wardrobe—is still here when Iris isn’t. And then there’s Alex Hammond. The boy Andria blames for Iris’s death. The boy she’s unwittingly started swapping lines of poetry and secrets with, even as she tries to keep hating him.
Heartwrenching, smart, and bold, Dreaming of Antigone is a story about the jagged pieces that lie beneath the surface of the most seemingly perfect life…and how they can fit together to make something wholly unexpected.
I can't even put a finger on what I loved most about this book, I just know that I couldn't put it down. I started reading it because it was next on my ever-expanding list of NetGalley books, and I figured it would take me a week or so. Nope, two days later, I was clawing at my Kindle, trying to figure out why the book ended and why there wasn't more hiding somewhere. I couldn't even read the sneak peek of her next book because I knew I would want to read more of it, and that seemed so unfair that I would have to wait for that, too.
Andria and her family are still reeling over the death of her twin sister, Iris. Andria has curled into herself, shunning most friends and only trying to get through the next two weeks without having a seizure so she can get her driver's license. That's not an exaggeration: Andria suffers from epilepsy. But the next two weeks tests everything that Andria has: her grades are slipping, her friends are pushing her to be social, and her sister's ex-boyfriend suddenly comes back from rehab with a new look on life. As Andria's story moves forward, her sister's story unravels, and the entire town is in for a big surprise when everything finally comes to light.
While sitting in bed today thinking about books (because that's what I do), I realized that books that give me the information I need without me even knowing it are my favorite kinds (see: JK Rowling). I guess sometimes I really like feeling like a fool at the end, like I should have seen this coming, if only I had read the sacred text close enough. Robin Bridges lays out the story of Antigone in the early chapters of the book, and I read through it, nodding and thinking, yes, yes, of course, this information is relevant, but not all of it. Well, it ends up that that information was more relevant than I could ever imagine.
What starts off as a simple (???) story of a terrible tragedy and the ripples it leaves behind, takes a quick left turn into an even more harrowing disaster that affects more people than previously believed. And, really, isn't that the true definition of a Greek tragedy? Everything you know is wrong and to prove that, we're going to through the worst at you? Yep, that's this book. Just when you start getting comfortable and falling in love, Robin Bridges hits you with reality. What was especially interesting was how the other characters reacted, because sometimes little information like that is left out. But this was a bombshell, and everyone had been affected, and Bridges made sure to inform the reader how everyone reacted. It was small, but effective.
I appreciated the poetry that was really at the center of this book. Whitman, Dickinson, Rossetti, all the lines were picked with care and they fit so beautifully in the story. It prepared the reader for what was to come, as well as gave them a peek inside the backstory of these people, one that wouldn't be shared until the end of the book. I love the idea that words written hundreds of years ago bind people together, and can create bonds in the unlikeliest of places.
Oh, hey, did I also mention that there could have been a potentially heart-wrenching scene involving an animal and the author didn't do it? Yeah. I will never be more grateful than when the episode passed without anyone harmed. THANK YOU.
Dreaming of Antigone comes out March 29th, and I'm not kidding here when I say to pre-order it right now. Trust me, have I ever steered you wrong? I'd like to think I have not, so you can definitely trust me.
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