This was an interesting approach to a story of self discovery.
Maude is assigned a project on family in her photography class. She loves her mom and dad, her adoptive parents, but yearns to learn more about the woman who gave birth to her. She embarks on a journey to Tallahassee, which will serve multiple purposes. Maude will get to visit her best friend, Treena, who is currently in her freshman year of college, and she will get to try and find out more information about her mother.
This idea of college being a testing ground, a place where one can "reinvent" themselves intrigued me. Treena was away from her home, from her very strict parents. She was in a new environment, where she does not bear her former high school labels. This "new" Treena was not what Maude expected to find when she arrived at FSU. The pair spent a good part of the book trying to work through this love they still have for each other, but this desire Treena has to be allowed to grow and change.
I think about my in between right now. In between high school and college, In between the before and after finding out about my mother. The in-between of who I was and who I'm slowly becoming.
At the same time, Maude suffers through a lot of personal turmoil as she discovered more and more about her mother. She had this idea in her mind of who this woman was, and everything she learned, contradicted what she believed. Maude also struggled with who she was, and how Treena changing, and her mother being someone other than who she expected effected who she was.
I'm a blur. I'm not clear and crisp like some people; instead I'm messy on the edges and not quite formed. I'm many pieces all put into one, and one day I'll figure them all out. But right now, I'm happy being a blur.
Overall: I liked the relationships (between Maude and her parents, Maude and Treena, Maude and Bennett). The characters were very real and likable. They had flaws, but they never denied their shortcomings. They grew as the story progressed, and Bennett really was a total sweetheart. There were quite a few beautiful moments of personal reflection, which were probably my favorite parts of the story.