I was dreading the kiss but the kiss never came. That is why I like this book.
Somehow Amber’s friend Ty began to stand out from the other members of The Five and it seemed inevitable that Amber and Ty would end up together by the time Matthew Quick finished writing page 353 of Sorta Like a Rock Star. But the kiss never came and its absence is what earned my respect for this novel.
It threw me off when Ty started showing his feelings for Amber because it seemed as though she had tried to be her own person, a solitary hope spreader, and in the end she could only get herself back together with the help of a man. That is why I am glad the kiss did not happen. The kiss always happens and it always sends the message that people need to have a significant other to be happy, that they can’t just be happy on their own. This book was different though, because it didn’t resolve the relationship between Amber and Ty. We know there is some interest there, but it never develops. I can’t decide if the inclusion of the Amber-Ty relationship makes the novel stronger or weaker. I feel like it detracts from the storyline by adding extra tidbits that don’t need to be there, but at the same time it almost adds to the message by pointing out that Amber gets back on her feet not because she has some significant other to fall back on, but because she has her friends’ love for her and her love for everyone she meets. She is not like her mother who needs to rely on one boyfriend or another; she can be strong and support herself with the help of her friends.
Hilary Korabik
I loved that they never kissed. I think that their relationship strengthened the book. It showed exactly how depressed Amber was. Even though Ty was reaching out to her more so than her other friends, she turned him away because of her depression. I think that Quick did a wonderful job at developing complex relationships with his characters, and Amber and Ty were no exception. I think that this leaves room for the reader to extrapolate. Will they end up together later on? Or will Amber stay alone to prove her independence? I think that not having them kiss in the end set this book apart from most other YA novels. While many aspects of the ending of this book were "fairy tale-esque," this particular aspect was not, and I really liked that.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Amber's relationship with BBB? Granted he's a dog, but didn't he ultimately pull her out of her rut? (Then there's all the questions of did she deal with any of her issues or did she just displace them onto BBB?)
ReplyDeleteI also appreciated that the romantic element with Ty never really came to the surface. Danielle, you bring up an interesting point about Amber and BBB's relationship. My interpretation is that BBB did not actually pull her out of her rut, but rather served as a medium for her to begin her journey forward. I think her love for him made her realize that she had been being selfish in the way she was treating others (indluding the dog) when she was refusing to leave her room. Going with that reading, I don't think she displaced her issues onto BBB; I think the fact that she cared about him so much helped her realize that she had to deal with her problems sometime. I'm interested to hear what you think about this though, because I think it's a great question.
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