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Monday, December 26, 2011

Review: The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson




Nina, Mel and Avery have been best friends since they were tiny. But one summer can change everything. When Nina goes away for a month, she comes back to find the world has changed. Mel and Avery have their own secret: one Nina can’t be part of.



After reading 13 Little Blue Envelopes and The Last Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson, then being thrilled by her newest novel, The Name of the Star (not to be confused with her pal John Green’s novel, The Fault in our Stars), I decided to pick up some of her other works, which lead me to The Bermudez Triangle.

The story begins with three friends going out for dinner, simple enough. It’s the last time they will all be together until Nina, returns from her summer course at Stanford—Avery and Mel will be staying at home, working.

The bulk of the story really centers around relationships - from Nina and Steve, Avery and Mel to Nina, Avery and Mel, each relationship is different and complicated and I thought that Maureen managed to capture the emotions of each of her characters with perfection. As a reader, I felt the butterflies when Steve admits that he’s been trying to get Nina to notice him, the hesitance as Avery tries not to put labels to her relationship with Mel, the betrayal that Nina feels in the changing room when she walks in on Mel and Avery kissing, and so much more.

The great thing about this story is that it explores the fact that relationships can be messy. It doesn’t necessarily tie things up in a neat bow, but it explores the complexity of friendships, dating relationships, and even a bit of family dynamics - all in a very realistic manner.

The one flaw for me was that the story dragged a little in the middle, however, the relationships kept me intrigued enough to push through.





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