The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Blurb (on back of book): Max: Chill. Sports. Video games. Gay and not a big deal, not to him, not to his mom, not to his buddies. And a secret: An encounter with an older kid that makes it hard to breathe, one that he doesn't want to think about, ever.
Jordan: The opposite of chill. Poetry. His "wives" and the Chandler Mall. Never been kissed and searching for Mr. Right, who probably won't like him anyway. And a secret: A spiraling out of control mother, and the knowledge that he's the only one who can keep the family from falling apart.
Throw in a rickety, 1980s-era food truck called Coq Au Vinny. Add in prickly pears, cloud eggs, and a murky idea of what's considered locally sourced and organic. Place it all in Mesa, Arizona, in June, where the temp regularly hits 114. And top it off with a touch of undeniable chemistry between utter opposites.
Over the course of one summer, two boys will have to face their biggest fears and decide what they're willing to risk -- to get the thing they want the most.
MY OPINION: ****
This book was OUTRAGEOUSLY adorable and I loved every second of it. Max and Jordan are one of my new favorite book couples because of just how much I loved them.
The book centers around Max, a Mexican boy who is gay and accepted by everyone who matters to him, and Jordan, a boy who is forced to take care of his sick mother and run a food truck. I loved the idea of the food truck because it was so unique and a cute way of bringing the two together. I liked how they gradually changed throughout the book and became more confident over time, both with the food truck and with each other.
Max was so much more complicated than he at first seemed. He's described as a jock "dude-bro" who has a really supportive mother and really good friends. However, he's gone through a traumatic experience that he doesn't truly know how to define and my heart sank for him. I liked how this book explored the idea of rape and how even though you think something is okay, if you didn't feel okay then it's not okay. Max is under the mindset that just because he is bigger and stronger than the boy who was with him means that he wasn't raped because he had the ability to get rid of him. However, this is untrue and I liked how the book dealt with that. However, I hated how his dad handled things and I would have liked a stronger character arc there and give the dad some redemption or at least tell him why what he did was wrong.
Jordan has to take care of his mentally ill mother who completely changed once his father died. He has to go through an entirely different sort of trauma that I found both heartbreaking and depressing. I loved how this book dealt with conflicting feelings and how sometimes it's hard to not be selfish, especially when the person who is supposed to take care of you is failing you in every way. I would have also liked to have seen a larger character arc with Jordan's mom because she deserved to either redeem herself or at least get more help than what she had. I couldn't help but feel a strong and instant dislike for the mother because of the way she went about her life. Obviously I understand what she's going through, at least sort of, but I hated how she didn't even seem to care about her own son.
The relationship between Jordan and Max was so unexpected and expected at the same time. The two are polar opposites who don't seem the least bit compatible and often find each other annoying or rude. However, I think that this is what actually drove them together and I liked seeing their chemistry grow throughout the book. Jordan was highly insecure about himself and I liked how Max helped to bring him out of that shell and unhealthy mindset he had put himself in.
The friendships between Jordan and his "wives" and Max and the Three Musketeers was a beautiful dynamic that I loved seeing. It's important to have good friends that you can trust but also have a good laugh with and I liked how that was included with all of the friendships in the book. I would have loved to have seem more about what happened with their relationships but alas, we didn't get to know how that all ended.
I loved Jordan's poetry and Max's art!
I loved the writing style of this book. It was both simplistic and beautiful at the same time. Yes, it was sometimes quite slow-paced and lengthy but overall, I liked how it flowed throughout the book.
I would recommend this book to readers looking for a cute but serious YA romance novel!
Main Character: Jordan, Max
Sidekick(s): Wives, Three Musketeers, parents, etc
Villain(s): Kevin, rape, mental illness, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.
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