Belzhar, Meg Wolitzer
Belzhar, Meg Wolitzer
3 Rating(s)
List: $23.00 | Sale: $16.10
Club: $11.50

Belzhar

Author: Meg Wolitzer

Narrator: Jorjeana Marie

Unabridged: 8 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/30/2014

Synopsis

If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be at home in New Jersey with her sweet British boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She’d be watching old comedy sketches with him. She’d be kissing him in the library stacks.  

She certainly wouldn’t be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, living with a weird roommate, and signed up for an exclusive, mysterious class called Special Topics in English.

But life isn’t fair, and Reeve Maxfield is dead.

Until a journal-writing assignment leads Jam to Belzhar, where the untainted past is restored, and Jam can feel Reeve’s arms around her once again. But there are hidden truths on Jam’s path to reclaim her loss. 

From New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer comes a breathtaking and surprising story about first love, deep sorrow, and the power of acceptance.

About Meg Wolitzer

American author, Meg Worlitzer, has been the first author to participate in a coast to coast book club discussion via Skype. That would seem to be a great way to promote her work most advantageously. The work discussed was The Uncoupling. Meg was born in 1959 in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother was also a novelist and her dad, a psychologist. She graduated from Smith College and Brown University in creative writing. Her first writing was accomplished during undergrad, entitled, Sleepwalking, a tale of three college girls who were obsessed with poetry and death, and was published in 1982.

Her novels include: The Interestings, The Uncoupling, The Year Nap, The Position, The Wife, and Sleepwalking. These were all on the New York Times-bestselling list. She also co-authored a cryptic crossword book, and has taught creative writing in several important venues. Three films have evolved from her writings, including This Is Your Life, scripted and directed by Nora Ephron.

Reviews

Goodreads review by karen

i had a very medium response to this book. i'm conflicted about a number of its different elements, annoyed/perplexed by others, but also pretty impressed by the big reveal's ability to genuinely surprise me. however, that initial "pleasantly surprised" feeling morphed into additionally conflicted f......more

Goodreads review by Melanie

See more reviews at YA Midnight Reads I originally rated this 2.5 stars but screw it, it's been almost 2 months since I read this and I'm still majorly pissed off. Lowered to 2 stars. Belzhar is a very difficult book for me to review. I've been sitting here in front of my laptop for more than half an......more

Goodreads review by Giselle

It took me months to get through this one, I kept forgetting I was even reading it, so let's just say it wasn't a memorable read for me. It is unique, don't get me wrong, but I just didn't really care about any of these characters. Then when the magical element got introduced, it made the book even......more

Quotes

"It’s been a long while since a book has pulled me in this way; I read it leaning forward, figuratively on the edge of my seat with my heart in my throat. I had no idea what was coming, but I was hungry to get there. So subtly plotted and painfully beautiful, I couldn’t put it down. Meg Wolitzer is a an amazing storyteller.” —Jacqueline Woodson, winner of the National Book Award for Brown Girl Dreaming

"Wolitzer has imagined a world for young readers that celebrates the sacred, transcendent power of reading and writing." —The New York Times Book Review

“Expect depth and razor sharp wit in this YA novel from the author of The Interestings.” —Entertainment Weekly
 
“A prep school tale with a supernatural-romance touch, from genius adult novelist Meg Wolitzer.” —Glamour
 
“Basically everything Meg Wolitzer writes is worth reading, usually over and over again, and her YA debut…is no exception.” —TeenVogue.com

“Demonstrates the power of words to heal.” —The Washington Post

“A riveting exploration of the human psyche…Wolitzer's teenage characters are invigorated, flawed, emotionally real and intensely interesting. Even as readers fold back the layers of the story and discover unexpected truths and tragedies, the plot maintains an integrity that has come to be hallmark of Wolitzer's novels.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
 
“A smart and engrossing tale of trauma, trust, and triumph.” —School Library Journal, starred review
 
"A strong, original book." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
 
“Wolitzer handles Jam’s increasingly complex psychological state with delicate, nonjudgmental nuance …teen readers, especially rabid Plath fans, will relish Wolitzer’s deeply respectful treatment of Jam’s realistic emotional struggle.” —Booklist

“Enlivened by humor, memorable characters and a page-turning mystery only revealed in its final pages, Belzhar explores the role of trauma in young lives.” —BookPage

"But Jam herself is a fantastic portrait of a girl somehow younger than her own age, unable to cope with the hardships of being a teenager, and the final twist of the novel reveals an unexpected aspect to her character that makes her all the more heartbreaking." —The Daily Beast
 

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