Odd One Out
Nic Stone’s, “Odd One Out” isn’t what I expected. Mostly unexpected because when Matthew Winner talked with Nic about her book on his podcast I missed the part about the book being divided into three point of views. It threw me off, but the story is put together so well! Once I realized this it was fantastic, though I do want to hear more from each character’s POV. I have heard there will be a sequel! If you want to hear Matthew Winner’s Children’s Book Podcast #508 with Nic Stone go here: http://www.matthewcwinner.com/single-post/Nic-Stone
Story
There are three main characters in this story. They are Courtney, Rae and Juniper. Courney is a basketball player and off season cheerleader. He starts off the story and it’s soon revealed that he compares all girls he dates to Juniper. Rae loves word puzzles and becomes a flyer with a bit of help from Courney. She’s had a boyfriend in the past and is most likely straight, but that doesn’t stop Juniper from crushing on her. Juniper is confident and loves music. She is determined to only give the charms of her bracelet (each representing an intimate act) to the right girl.
The story has all the elements of an average love triangle in this book, but this is not your average love triangle. In your average love triangle A likes B, and B likes C and sometimes C likes A or B. In this love triangle Courtney likes Juniper. Juniper likes Rae. But does C like B, or A? Could B like A even though B just likes girls? There is a lot of questions characters ask themselves about their sexuality. The answers to these questions aren’t as clear as they might appear at the beginning of the book. While lots of things are explained, none of the answers feel set in stone at the end.
There is so much that Nic packed into one book. All of the characters are dealing with lots of different life issues outside of romance. I feel like each character goes through a full journey of self discovery that’s intertwined and also independent of the other characters.
The characters are all fully developed in this book. There are side characters that may seem shallow at first, but all of the side characters feel real. Nic Stone does an amazing job making the teens in the book feel like real teens and their actions make sense. There were things in the book that made me scream at the book “DON’T DO THAT” and the characters don’t listen. Sex does happen. Bad things happen. “Odd One Out” is such a good read!
I am overwhelmed with how much I liked this book. I wish I had books like this when I was younger. It’s definitely one of my MUST READ books for everyone. If you’ll excuse me I’m going to go order “Dear Martin” from my library.
Buy the Book
Buy the Book: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781101939567?aff=penguinrandom
Nic Stone’s Website: http://www.nicstone.info/
More about the book: https://www.getunderlined.com/books/534051/odd-one-out-by-nic-stone/
If you can’t afford to buy this book consider leaving a review or requesting your library buy this book!
