I had heard a lot about this book before I ever picked it up. The Twitterverse was criticizing it left and right, to the point where I was on the fence about reading it. But, then I remembered that Twitter doesn't get to dictate my reading material, and I hopped in, because I had been eagerly anticipating this one, before all of this started. And I am going to address one of the big gripes people had, because I feel like that's only fair.
The biggest thing everyone and their dog was mad about was that they felt that Zelda was a "manic pixie dream girl" trope. And frankly, I completely disagree. Zelda is quirky, and unique, and wise... but there are reasons. She doesn't exist as some magical answer to Parker's prayers. I simply find that the term doesn't fit. Also, Zelda is awesome. There was a point in the book where I thought to myself "this could go a couple ways, and one of them would kind of make Zelda fit the trope", but that never happened. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
I have a lot of love for this book and its characters. Parker is a fabulous- witty, sweet, and amazingly talented. Parker wrote little stories within the book, and they were gorgeous. I was so captivated by them- and how they fit with the story. Parker (and Tommy Wallach, of course) has a real gift for words. During his narration, Parker made me laugh, I adored his sense of humor. The thoughts that Parker had... these are thoughts I know for certain I have had. He's incredibly easy to connect with, because he's so damn human, so damn real. He muses about little things in life, and also the bigger, meatier stuff, but in a way that makes sense.
"But I think life is a little like one of those special memory foam mattresses that they advertise on TV, where you can drop a bowling ball on one side and the person sleeping a few inches away doesn't feel a thing. Our biggest tragedies are still just ours."
And then there's Zelda. It'd be hard not to love her, and I definitely loved her. She's a bit of a mystery at first, but really, Parker is just as much a mystery to her- we just have the benefit of knowing Parker's thoughts. Zelda is just a good person, she's compassionate, and so, so wise. She was a girl who was legitimately nice and friendly to other girls (which is so refreshing to read about), and she's just a lovely person with a lot of insight about life. I was floored by this, because of how accurate it was, and how much it resonated with me:
"'We may get a job and a husband and a house, but the whole adulthood thing is just a charade. We're all pretending to have grown up. You know what the cruelest object ever invented is?' I shook my head. 'The mirror. It breaks the illusion.'"
And even though they are amazing characters, they're still incredibly normal too. The plot is incredibly character driven, but they're doing regular things, wanting the same out of life as anyone else.
There are a lot of really amazing messages in the book, but I am going to let you find them out on your own. I feel like as much as I want to gush about them, I'd be doing you, the reader, a disservice- this is the kind of book you need to really read with the context of your own life in the back of your mind. I don't think there's a person out there who can't relate to at least some of the topics that are touched on in this book.
Bottom Line: With exquisite writing and fabulous characters, Thanks for the Trouble is absolutely a book you need in your life.
*Copy provided by publisher for review
**Quotes taken from uncorrected proof, subject to change.