Hi, I'm Lovella Mole and welcome to my book review of The Tragedy Paper written by Elizabeth LaBan. This was actually a book that was suggested by my classmate. She doesn't know that I write book reviews, since I did not tell any of my friends that I do. I'm a secretive person that way. Anyway, we exchanged books - I let her borrow Don't Look Back, the previous book I recently reviewed and she let me borrow this one. And hey! This was not written by a Jennifer, which makes me happy. Although, Jennifer Weiner, who wrote the first two books I reviewed, was mentioned on the cover along with her comment, "A beguiling and beautifully written tale of first love and heartbreak." Okay, even though a Jennifer didn't write this, a Jennifer commented about it. When will the curse of Jennifers end? (Haha, that actually made me laugh.)
I'm going to write this review very quickly since it's already 8:33 PM in my time, and I still have school tomorrow. I'm writing this one down because I'm reading another book. And if I'm going to wait for the weekend to come, I might forget the happenings of the The Tragedy Paper. It is a teen fiction/young adult novel. So, let me start off with reminding everyone about the criteria:
50 % - Story Itself
30 % - Characters
20 % - Writing Technique
Let the reviews begin! Oh, and I almost forgot: Spoilers Alert. You've been warned.
THE TRAGEDY PAPER BY: ELIZABETH LABAN
STORY
Before I make my comments about the story, let me just say that I love this book's title. It really caught my attention and it's very unique. I just so love it.
So, anyway, the story is all about a senior guy named Duncan Meade who goes to Irving School, which is a boarding school. The previous seniors who occupied their rooms always leave a present behind. Duncan unfortunately (or fortunately?) got the room of the albino kid from last year named Tim Macbeth. The present he left for Duncan were CDs. And no, not the kind where you play music. Tim recorded his story with the girl named Vanessa Sheller and what happened throughout their short-lived relationship. In a way, Tim had given Duncan a love story, which is the biggest gift of all. At first, Duncan was skeptical about receiving such gift, but when he listened to Tim's story and how he narrated it, a connection formed between the two.
I loved the story. It's very unique (just like the title), and I finished it for four hours. That's how I love it. If I read a book and never take a break, then you would know that I am completely engrossed with the novel. This just proved it. My classmate who gave me the book was shocked to learn that I was already finished reading while she didn't even started Don't Look Back. But I told her I fell in love with the story, and it got me hooked. Big time.
It may have the same technique just like Thirteen Reasons Why, a novel written by Jay Asher. I haven't read that novel yet, but I heard from my friends that it's all about a girl who recorded her story using a tape and then committed suicide. I don't know if that's correct, since I only heard stories about it and I haven't read it. If it is, it's true that it's quite the same with this book. The main characters from those books received tapes/CDs of other people's story and then feels a connection to it.
The story has also a great school. I love great stories with great places. It makes me want to go there. Just like the Harry Potter series, I wanted to go to Hogwarts. And when I read Anna and the French Kiss, I wanted to go to School of America in Paris. And when I watched Dead Poets Society, I wanted to go to Welton Academy, too, even though it's a boy school. In this case, I wanted to go to Irving School. It's just a beautiful place, and I could imagine studying there and writing my own Tragedy Paper. I have a lot of things in my mind to write about tragedy, believe me. And a teacher like Mr. Simon is always a good thing!
I love Tim Macbeth. I know Duncan is the main character, since he's the one in the present time, but I love Tim more than him. Tim is such a great guy, that I also fell in love with him. Forget about Vanessa, Tim. Please love me. I don't care if you're a blind albino dude. I love you. (Okay, I know I'm a weird person but yeah, I fell in love with some book characters once in a while. It just happens.)
And speaking of falling in love with Tim, I love his relationship with Vanessa. They're so perfect and oh-so good. I love their chemistry and I couldn't help but smile to myself whenever I read some of their scenes. Though their time is only short, I love it. But, I didn't like Duncan's relationship with Daisy. I didn't feel any chemistry between the two of them. It may be because the author reserved the whole romance thing for only Tim and Vanessa. But she should've made Duncan and Daisy have a good relationship, too. They only have a few scenes together, so I didn't really get why Duncan was so head over heels with this girl.
To put it simply, I love the story. Brava, Miss LaBan.
Overall Score - 48%
CHARACTERS
You know the rules, people. Only the main characters, so I'm not going to include Daisy and Tad.
Tim Macbeth. As I said earlier, I love his character. He's my favorite character in the novel. This is my first novel where an albino guy is one of the main characters. Actually, it may be my first novel with an albino person. So I was kind of intrigued by how they live and how other people treat them. He's a mysterious type kind of guy. The kind of girl where every girl would fall in love with. Just like Edward Cullen from the Twilight Saga. It may not be obvious, but I was once a very huge Twilight addict. Please, I was thirteen once, too. He's also a gentleman, and I love how he treated Vanessa while she was sick and throwing up. If I get sick and started throwing up, I want Tim to be by my side. I'm also sad how he ended up being blind. I didn't know if all albino people had problems with their eyes. As I said, this was my first novel about an albino person, so I'm pretty ignorant about those kind of people.
Duncan Meade. At first, I thought of him as a weak person. I had no idea why I thought about that, I just did. I also thought that he's a very frustrating character. Sometimes, I just don't get what the hell is his problem. I am not too happy with how he treats Daisy. I just don't like his relationship with Daisy, period. He doesn't call her all summer and then suddenly wanted to be with her in the first day of school. Oh-kay, man. Whatever floats your boat. I love the way how he connected with Tim through the CDs, though. And in the last part where he let Daisy listen with him was actually kind of cute. So I'll give him points for trying.
Vanessa Sheller. She's a John Green kind of girl. And by that, I mean she's like John Green's leading girl characters. She's like Alaska from Looking For Alaska or Margo from Paper Towns. She's wild, she doesn't listen to anyone, and she's spontaneous. I always love those kind of girls. It makes me want to be like them, too, since I'm not wild and I'm so not spontaneous. I don't listen to anyone, though, which may makes me sound like a bitch (people may agree with me in this one haha). Anyway, I liked her from the beginning but then grew annoyed with her when she can't just break up with Patrick even though she clearly has feelings for Tim. Why the hell would she kiss him back if she didn't have any? And besides, who was there for her when she was sick? Tim. And I know she stood by Patrick because his mom just died, but that's not reason enough. He was an asshole, and he doesn't deserve her. I'm so sad that I didn't get much about her after what happened in her accident. I wanted to know if she met up with Tim again or something. Can somebody please write a fan-fiction about this? Or better yet, Miss LaBan, can you please make a small story about this one? Pretty please?
Patrick Hopkins. I am totally confused about his character. Was he a good guy or a bad guy? From the very beginning, I knew he's going to be a distraction from Tim and Vanessa's relationship, so I was confused if he was just being nice with Tim or just being plastic/fake about it. In the end, though, he was an asshole. I thought he was being an asshole because his mother died, but it wasn't just that. Why didn't Vanessa break up with him sooner?! Ugh. The story could be so different if Vanessa just left him. It could even have a happy ending if she did left Patrick! Damn.
Mr. Simon. I'm not sure if they mentioned his first name (or last name? Hmm...) in the book but I just want to say that I like this man. I'm not even sure he's part of the main characters. I just wanted to include him because I like him a lot. He's the kind of English teacher everyone would love. You would totally not fall asleep in his class, I assure you. He reminds me of John Keating from Dead Poets Society.
Overall Score - 26%
WRITING TECHNIQUE
This is my first book from Elizabeth LaBan and it was a great one! I love how she uses simple words that gives powerful meanings. I was so surprised how awesome it turned out to be. I'm pretty sure that this is going to be adapted into a movie someday. And when that day comes, please, please cast a good actor as Tim Macbeth. He doesn't have to be really good-looking. Just a good actor that I think could portray the things I like about him. I will be looking forward for more, Ms. LaBan, which is why I'm giving you a perfect score in this particular criteria.
Overall Score - 20%
SUMMARY / RECOMMENDATION
The overall score of this book is 94%. This is my first book that I'm going to give in the 90-range and I think it deserves it. It's a beautiful book, and I recommend this to everyone. If you're a teenager, an adult, or even in your eighties, you should read this book. It doesn't talk about teen romance. It talks about tragedy and happiness. It's a mix of both. It's about learning from one person's mistake. It's about life.
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