Author: Julie Murphy
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT
Pages: 408
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Year Published: 2017
Format: Audiobook
"Ramona was only five years old when Hurricane Katrina changed her life forever.
Since then, it's been Ramona and her family against the world. Standing over six feet tall with unmistakable blue hair, Ramona is sure of three things: she likes girls, she's fiercely devoted to her family and she knows she's destined for something bigger than the trailer she calls home in Eulogy, Mississippi. But juggling multiple jobs, her flaky mom, and her well-meaning but ineffectual dad forces her to be the adult of the family. Now, with her sister, Hattie, pregnant, responsibility weighs more heavily than ever.
The return of her childhood friend Freddie brings a welcome distraction. Ramona's friendship with the former competitive swimmer picks up exactly where it left off, and soon he's talked her into joining him for laps at the pool. But as Ramona falls in love with swimming, her feelings for Freddie begin to shift too, which is the last thing she expected. With her growing affection for Freddie making her question her sexual identity, Ramona begins to wonder if perhaps she likes girls and guys or if this new attraction is just a fluke. Either way, Ramona will discover that, for her, life and love are more fluid than they seem."
My Rating: 4/5
This story is so much more than the description. At its core, I found it to be a coming of age story and then the story of sexual fluidity. Not that I know anything about the secondary topic. I thought it was hard to read at some points to watch Ramona go through the emotional struggles of relationships with everyone in her life. Here is what really threw me off about this story. In the opening description, we are told that Ramona is 6'3 and that just threw me. Every time she had physical contact with people it's all I could picture. On another note, her extreme loyalty to her sister is just amazing, maybe not completely healthy but admirable at points.
The setting was also one that I enjoyed. I think hearing the accents and the way people reacted to certain events was so vivid to me.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
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