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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
I liked the main idea of the book, but I didn't really like how the story ends, maybe because I didn't expect that kind of end.
Stay by Deb Caletti is about a deep and sensible subject that can happens to everyone.
Stay by Deb Caletti is about a deep and sensible subject that can happens to everyone.
Abuse is not an easy topic to cover.
I think Deb Caletti does a more than fair job of depicting the complex emotions of someone in an unhealthy relationship in Stay.
Stay goes back and forth in time -- Clara now, with her father, in a little beach town where her history can't catch up with her, and Clara then, when she's beginning, and then in, a relationship with Christian.
The parts in the present show us how emotionally wrecked Clara is. But then the parts in the past show how she got to be in that position, how she justified staying in an unhealthy relationship, how all the tiny decisions led up to this monumental breaking point, how small acts in their relationship led to this huge, awful, scary monster of a relationship.
Though I've never been in an abusive relationship (thank god), I'd imagine that Stay gives a pretty good perspective on what it feels like to be swept away into a romance you think will be your perfect happily ever after and then end up scared, feeling at fault, and wondering how it got this bad.
Stay is not a light read, but I didn't think it was overly intense, either. Or, at least not as intense as the topic could be. There's definitely a lot of happy, particularly with the chapters in the present. Clara is recovering, and a new romance with a very cute, sweet boy begins, and there is a lot of light to balance the heavy.
Which, I think, is so like life.
I think Deb Caletti does a more than fair job of depicting the complex emotions of someone in an unhealthy relationship in Stay.
Stay goes back and forth in time -- Clara now, with her father, in a little beach town where her history can't catch up with her, and Clara then, when she's beginning, and then in, a relationship with Christian.
The parts in the present show us how emotionally wrecked Clara is. But then the parts in the past show how she got to be in that position, how she justified staying in an unhealthy relationship, how all the tiny decisions led up to this monumental breaking point, how small acts in their relationship led to this huge, awful, scary monster of a relationship.
Though I've never been in an abusive relationship (thank god), I'd imagine that Stay gives a pretty good perspective on what it feels like to be swept away into a romance you think will be your perfect happily ever after and then end up scared, feeling at fault, and wondering how it got this bad.
Stay is not a light read, but I didn't think it was overly intense, either. Or, at least not as intense as the topic could be. There's definitely a lot of happy, particularly with the chapters in the present. Clara is recovering, and a new romance with a very cute, sweet boy begins, and there is a lot of light to balance the heavy.
Which, I think, is so like life.
It took me a while to get into this book. While the main character had an interesting life, I feel that the way it was portrayed it the story went a bit slow. However, I kept reading and I'm glad that I did. It did pick up in the end, but I feel that it took a tad too long to get there, occasionally leaving the reader hanging in boredom. I will be reading another one of her books, titled 'The Story of Us', in hope that it will be a bit better than the last.
I was actually surprised by how much I liked this book. I read one Caletti book several years ago and it was ok, but I wasn't persuaded to read any more until I saw this one on Amazon. It reminded me a bit of Sarah Dessen's Dreamland - I feel both authors handled the issue of abusive relationships in a realistic manner. Caletti's writing was beautiful, and I liked the flashbacks to the past. Loved Clara and her relationships with her father and the people she meets in Deception Pass. I'll definitely check out some of Caletti's backlist now.
It took me several years to finish this one but I’m glad overall that I picked it up, especially since it’s not something I usually read. The pacing is constant: not too fast or slow and there’s a general plot point, the whole thing feels realistic and given the subject matter, that’s a terrifying thought.
I wasn’t sure how she’d end it but okay.
Favourite quotes
When you're a person whose life has mostly brought good things, you believe in goodness. You believe things will work out. Even the worst things will work out. You believe in a happy ending.
But you are naive. The mostly good in your life has made you that way. You've spent so much time seeing the bright side that you don't even believe the other side exists.
-----
We like the thought of being held, until it's too tight. We like that certainty, until it means there is no way out.
——-
I felt as desperate to make him stay close, to keep him close, as he did - love, of that’s what you could call it, was bound up with some bottomless, clutching need
——-
We had a daily routine. Routine is cement for one people, coziness made solid, certainty building more certainty. For others, routine cracks surfaces with its weight, creating a boredom that presses down and down until something breaks
——
Because a single word was just kindling on a fire, and contact like this was gasoline
I wasn’t sure how she’d end it but okay.
Favourite quotes
When you're a person whose life has mostly brought good things, you believe in goodness. You believe things will work out. Even the worst things will work out. You believe in a happy ending.
But you are naive. The mostly good in your life has made you that way. You've spent so much time seeing the bright side that you don't even believe the other side exists.
-----
We like the thought of being held, until it's too tight. We like that certainty, until it means there is no way out.
——-
I felt as desperate to make him stay close, to keep him close, as he did - love, of that’s what you could call it, was bound up with some bottomless, clutching need
——-
We had a daily routine. Routine is cement for one people, coziness made solid, certainty building more certainty. For others, routine cracks surfaces with its weight, creating a boredom that presses down and down until something breaks
——
Because a single word was just kindling on a fire, and contact like this was gasoline
you had to pay very close attention to it. because on chapter would talk about what was currently happening, and the next would talk about what happened between her and christian. it was kind of a hard read, but only because you had to know exactly what was going on. some chapters i liked but some i couldnt get into. overall it was an okay book.
Caletti is so good at packing an emotional punch. And speaking of punching, I have some choice
*MY THOUGHTS*
This book surprised me in both good and bad ways... Let's start with the good. I really liked the way Caletti went back and forth between the past & present. Clara's memories were my favorite part of the story. I think this was because this is where the danger of Christian was. I found myself swallowed up by those chapters, yelling at the book as if I were yelling at Clara herself. As for the bad, I was surprised that the only time I found myself wrapped up was when the fear of Christian was around. The chapters from the present weren't as engrossing as the others. But at the end, when Christian surfaced in the present, I was a goner. I also was torn between the "realistic-ness" of the situation. I felt after events like that there was no way anyone would move on as easily to Finn as she did. But, I did like the way Christian was portrayed and the realistic way she- a fool in love- kept letting him back in. This was definitely a nice way to come back to realistic fiction.
This book surprised me in both good and bad ways... Let's start with the good. I really liked the way Caletti went back and forth between the past & present. Clara's memories were my favorite part of the story. I think this was because this is where the danger of Christian was. I found myself swallowed up by those chapters, yelling at the book as if I were yelling at Clara herself. As for the bad, I was surprised that the only time I found myself wrapped up was when the fear of Christian was around. The chapters from the present weren't as engrossing as the others. But at the end, when Christian surfaced in the present, I was a goner. I also was torn between the "realistic-ness" of the situation. I felt after events like that there was no way anyone would move on as easily to Finn as she did. But, I did like the way Christian was portrayed and the realistic way she- a fool in love- kept letting him back in. This was definitely a nice way to come back to realistic fiction.
Beautifully written story about a girl in a controlling relationship.
“Look right at that fear. Fear is the biggest bullshitter,” Clara’s father said to her. He was talking about the bridge over Deception Pass that was bringing them to their summer hideaway in the Pacific Northwest, but it may as well have been about her ex-boyfriend Christian. Clara Oates and her writer/widower father were leaving their town behind because Christian was intent on winning her back and would not leave her alone and his actions were bordering on the frightening. In alternating chapters, Clara tells the story of how they met and fell in love and then how Christian’s love became controlling and obsessive. The slow reveal of the details intensifies the creep factor of the relationship. Of course there is a summer romance and the one unrealistic part of the book. How can Clara fall and trust so easily after such a frightening romance with Christian? All of the staple themes are here: love, family, relationships, trust, lies, fear and obsession. All of the characters are fully developed and there is a plot twist that shakes Clara’s trust in everyone. Sarah Dessen, Laurie Halse Anderson, and of course Caletti fans will love this book.
“Look right at that fear. Fear is the biggest bullshitter,” Clara’s father said to her. He was talking about the bridge over Deception Pass that was bringing them to their summer hideaway in the Pacific Northwest, but it may as well have been about her ex-boyfriend Christian. Clara Oates and her writer/widower father were leaving their town behind because Christian was intent on winning her back and would not leave her alone and his actions were bordering on the frightening. In alternating chapters, Clara tells the story of how they met and fell in love and then how Christian’s love became controlling and obsessive. The slow reveal of the details intensifies the creep factor of the relationship. Of course there is a summer romance and the one unrealistic part of the book. How can Clara fall and trust so easily after such a frightening romance with Christian? All of the staple themes are here: love, family, relationships, trust, lies, fear and obsession. All of the characters are fully developed and there is a plot twist that shakes Clara’s trust in everyone. Sarah Dessen, Laurie Halse Anderson, and of course Caletti fans will love this book.
Stay reminded me alot of the movie Fear. For one thing, the protaganists both had psycho boyfriends they were in love with. In Fear, Reese Witherspoon's character falls for a scary, bad-boy drug-dealer played by hunk, Mark Wahlberg. The fact that he's a drug-dealer should scream to you that dating him would be asking for trouble, but of course Witherspoon continues dating him even though her father advises her not to- kinda how Clara's father didn't like her going out with Christian in Stay.
What I loved about Stay was how the author approached the story. Instead of writing only in present tense, Caletti alters writing in past and present in order to show Clara's flashbacks of her regretful relationship with Christian and how that experience affects her now. As Clara tells the story on how she met and went out with Christian, she sounds mature and wise, acknowledging her mistakes and stupidities. If Stay was written while Clara was going out with Christian i would have found Clara dumb and would have wanted to smack some sense into her like I had with Reese Witherspoon in Fear.
Instead of having Clara's psycho boyfriend be a gangster or a serial killer like most of the cliches, Caletti made Christian sensitive and affectionate to show how these qualities can grow into obsession and jealousy. Christian's sweet personality also explains Clara's reluctance to break up with him until, you know, he's not so sweet anymore.
Other than entertaining, this book also had its share of funny and shocking moments and also leaves us with a meaningful message. I know one thing for sure: I am definitely going to be reading more of Deb Caletti.