So.I read this.I was amused by it. Irritated by it. But the emotion that lingers long after the book was read and returned to the library was frustration and a little bit of anger.The frustration was there because of the cliff hanger (yet another one, sigh) and the anger? Well, we’ll get to it eventually.First, let’s talk about the Mara and Noah. In the first book I was entertained by them. In this one, not so much. The novel doesn’t have much happening in it until the very end. Hodkin builds Noah up as this irresistible, tortured but soft as kittens dude that Mara cannot keep her hands off. Not that I blame her. I wouldn’t resist either. It’s not the overt sexuality in the novel that bothers me. Or should that be sensuality. Hmm. Never mind.Mara is deemed crazy so no one ever believes her when she says that her assaulter and ex-boyfriend is still around and still taunting her with the ease with which he intrudes into her space. No one believes her or will believe her because her track record isn’t good. It’s bad. Very bad. So we get lots of pages with this cat and mouse game with a few sexy scenes featuring Noah thrown in which may also include a bed and some clothes (not many but some).There’s also this incredibly dramatic scene that waltzed straight out of a Harlequin novel and into the pages of a YA novel. It involved a pretty dress, Mara, Noah in a suit and some loving on the sand, by the sea, and seagulls, perhaps, though those weren’t mentioned.I was rather bored throughout the novel. Then the ending came and BANG! It ended.So anyway, Mara’s mom is half-Indian. Her grandmother was totally Indian. I just did a ton of reading about post-colonialism theory. My question is…why is Mara’s mom half-Indian? Or is she Indian fully? As in India Indian. What purpose does it serve when the culture is not evident at all in the book. Apart from the superficial bindi etc, that is.Oh and Mara, on several occasions, mentions her paleness. Right. Mara’s half-Indian, if I’m not wrong. What purpose does it serve in the novel? Why is Mara Indian? To make her seem exotic? Or is it for novelty’s sake? When I first came across the Indian factor in the first book, I was intrigued because I thought this meant diversity. Um. Not. There is an obvious “othering” of Mara’s grandmother who is created as this strange creature with more than a little hints of the “Orient” woman, as Said defines her. I was really disturbed by Mara’s insistence on her paleness and the lack of Indian-ness in the household. Yes, I understand that not everyone holds on to their culture but an acknowledgement of Mara’s mom’s total assimilation would have made me feel better. As it is, I felt angry. I still feel angry actually. Out of everything that happened in the book, the Indian issue is what remained with me. Huh.
