This is my second (or maybe third?) time reading this, and while it seemed good when I read it in high school, it's definitely cringey now. Clay is just...not the great guy he's supposed to be. Plus, a lot of the characters are flat and Hannah's sort of revenge plot isn't the best way to present suicide. Let's not get into the show because that is a whole other can of worms.

I think this is the 4th or 5th time I've actually read this book, and each time, something different strikes me about this world Lowry created. This is one of the books I used for my MA thesis on gender in YA dystopia, and I couldn't help but think about that while reading it this time. There's just so much to unpack! The literature student in me really misses writing analysis papers sometimes.

Anyway, one of the most fascinating things about this book is the idea that if we take away all decisions people make, humanity will be content. But as Jonas figures out, this isn't necessarily the case becuase they miss out on so many other things. This is such a short book, but there's so much to unpack from it. Now I kind of want to re-read the rest of the books because I don't remember how they all connect.

Either way, this book will make for excellent discussion at book club tonight!