edition language:English
genre: Sci-fi, Young Adult
series: The Athena Effect #1
My Thought
He smiled at her again, wondering how she could be such a contradiction. She knew so much, and yet almost nothing at the same time.
This is a story about a girl who lives in the country cabin for her entire life. She never gets formal education yet she’s smart. She’s unique and beautiful but skilled at blending in to the background. She’s good with knife but afraid when have to attend a public school. She had read Grey’s Anatomy but didn’t know its movie. She read a lot but doesn’t know what google is. This is a story about Caledonia McKenzie.
Caledonia or Cal reminds me of Jodie Foster’s Nell. She live away from modern life, it makes her seem naïve and innocent but strong and capable of things most people don’t. I can’t help myself to not love her, she’s so unique. I think she’s the most unusual character in contemporary romance YA books I’ve read. The fact that she’s an avid reader is a plus to love her more. As Calvin said she’s a contradiction.
Calvin or Cal is a senior at the same school with Cal, or he prefer called her Cali. My first impression of this Cal is an ignorant boy. He doesn’t care about school or anyone think and doesn’t have a plan what he’s going to do with his life after high school. But after he met Cali, he’s hard to resist. He’s so focus and persistent in a good way. He teaches Cali and vice versa. I love the way they teach each other. It’s kind of cute and sweet while in some part hilarious.
She met his curious eyes, “How did you know what Caledonia means?”
He looked sheepish, smiling, “I Googled you.”
She looked confused, “You what-ed me?”
“I searched you on the net.” She looked even more confused, and he realized that she really did grow up without electricity. “You know, on a computer.”
“Oh… computers. I don’t know how to use them.”
“It’s not that hard, and you can find out anything you want to know.”
Her eyes flew open wide, “And you found me?”
“It’s good,” Jarod nodded, surprised. “What did you put on the potatoes?”
“Rosemary.”
“Where did you get that?” asked Calvin.
She looked at him like he was mad, “It’s growing all alongside of your house!”
Through Cali & Cal eyes I can see that even a simple thing in live can be a big one for other eyes. Cali spent many her first experiences with Cal while he sees it in a different way. What I like the most about their relationship is it goes slowly. Lots of relationships in the story I read connected with such a rush, an insta-love. It didn’t happen with both of them but it feels more real for me. I can feel their connection grow each pages.As much as I like the writing, in some part I wish that it wrote in first person point of view. Maybe it’s because I’m dying to read through Cali and Cal’s mind, to know their opinion about each other. But then again, though this story wrote in third person POV Ms Anderson wrote it well. And I still really enjoyed it.
To be honest it’s kind of hard to decide how many stars I give it. I really enjoyed it but there are some parts that blur to me. The part that Cal seems has money but I don’t know where he got it. I mean I kinda want to know whether he got it from work or his brother gave him or what else, while I picture him as a middle class citizen without a job with his father in jail. The professor isn’t bad enough for me. Yes he caused many problems but he seems too easily to be tricked. And there are scenes that I’m quite hard to imagine it *spoiler is it possible for Cal to throw pebbles to 4th floor when Cali was kidnapped and stayed in Layla’s room? How can Cali put her head on Cal’s back while she wear a helmet?
And just like another books I loved, I have favorite scenes and a song that fit it. Here they are:
“Don’t be afraid,” he told her, “I’ll be right next to you. I won’t let anything happen to you”
He understood the feeling, slipping his arm around her waist to draw her closer. She smiled up at him, “Thank you so much for bringing me here.”
“What are you doing?”
“I said I’d make breakfast,” she replied.
He looked over her shoulder at the stovetop, “Yeah, but I figured we needed to go grocery shopping first. We don’t do a whole lot of cooking around here.”
She shrugged, “I’m used to improvising. It should be ready in about fifteen minutes.” She bent over to peek at something in the oven and Calvin had the urge to pick her up, set her on the counter and kiss her passionately. She looked up at him quizzically, as if she’d just read his mind, and it occurred to him that she pretty much could.
“I’d better go take a shower,” he said, kissing her on the cheek instead.
Day Too Soon by Sia is my soundtrack for Cal and Cal
Pick me up in your arms
Carry me away from harm
You’re never gonna put me down
I know you’re just one good man
You’ll tire before we see land
You’re never gonna put me down
Oh I’ve been running all my life
I ran away, I ran away from good
Yeah I’ve been waiting all my life
You’re not a day you’re not day too soon
Honey I will stitch you
Darling I will fit you in my heart
Honey I will meet you
Darling I will keep you in my heart
You’ll risk all this for just a kiss
I promise I will not resist
Promise you won’t hold me down
And when we reach a good place
Let’s be sure to leave no trace
Promise they won’t track us down
Now I’ve been running all my life
I ran away, I ran away from good
Yeah, I’ve been waiting all my life
You’re not a day, you’re not a day too soon
Honey I will stitch you
Darling I will feel you in my heart
Honey I will meet you
Darling I will keep you in my heart
I’ve been running all my life
I ran away, I ran away from good
Yeah I’ve been waiting all my life
You’re not a day, you’re not a day too soon
Oh honey I will stitch you
Darling I will feel you in my heart
Honey I will meet you
Darling I will keep you in my heart
Result: 3.5/5 Stars
Blurb from Goodreads
notalostwanderer 