Book Review: The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank

Thanks, God's Child, for recommending this book. I hope to see you back in blogland soon, girl.

The whole time I was reading The Wonder Spot I felt like I was reading about little pieces of me only from, like, a strange parallel universe where instead of being a black girl with a religious upbringing in the south and strange but sensible insecurities, I was a Jewish girl with a religious upbringing in the northeast. Sophie Applebaum's thoughts and insecurities and experiences at different stages in her life are so similar to mine. In a way, this novel has assured me that I'm not such a weird bird after all. This was the first time I've read a novel and really identified with a character so closely.

The Wonder Spot is a refreshing novel following the journey of a young girl into adulthood. It's realistic and honest. The friendships and relationships (romantic, platonic and familial) are all wonderfully crafted and all seem strangely familiar.

This would be a really-really good movie. Adult Sophie is SO Janeane Garofalo.

A friend of mine wrote that she gages how good a book is by how eager she is to read more works from the author, which is a pretty good measure. The Wonder Spot is awesome, and Melissa Bank's first novel, The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing, is officially on my must read list.

Comments

[God's Child]

Hey, thanks for the encouragement. I like what you had to say about this book re the common experiences people can have regardless of background.

[Anali]

Thank you so much for letting me know about this new book. I loved the first novel. I'm adding this to my book list!