As a keen watcher of Pretty Little Liars, and a full on lover of the relationship between Aria and her English teacher Ezra, this is the type of story that really enthrals me! Me and Mr J was such a wonderful read, and honestly I thought it would for sure end up like the usual and it... nope, I’m not someone who spoils the story!
As for the characters, I’m not going to lie, I really thought they were some of the most realistic in this exaggerated situation, but I suppose you can’t really say exaggerated since it could happen every so often. Lara writes in her diary in a way which I found I could really relate to - I do not keep a diary, but I tend to speak like Lara. A chatty way, informal, casual, it’ll make teenage girls feel like they can relate to her. What made it seem so much more real was the things that she was going through, her parents’ situation, the bullying, the way she feels about her brother Simon. What made me sad was when she felt so low that she felt the only choice was to change, and not just because of the awful treatment in school, but she felt if Mr J was actually going to like or notice her that dying her hair and buying new clothes was the best option.
Mr J. Well, I have a continuous habit of falling for fictional characters (Jace, Will, Levi, etc) and yep, Mr J is another one. Surprisingly, as soon as he walked into the classroom and Lara wrote about him, I admit I could see why she liked him. Just like in PLL with Aria and Ezra, I rooted for them - to be quite honest, I know it’s not right at all, and that just like in the book as well as in real life the teacher/student boundaries are there for a reason. It sounds like I want them to be together, in another life they should be, in my personal opinion.
One important thing about Me and Mr J is that it is relevant to so many teenagers who’ll read it, and not just because Lara is super comical and Mr J has got surfer hair and sounds drop dead gorgeous! It has a platform of high importance, the latent message being, I think, a reflection on the terrible consequences that can be caused due to our behaviour. Think about it; at one point Lara wants to create drastic measures, she has a truly horrifying experience with her father, and low self esteem! It’s a reflection of what our attitudes could cause. Full of moral messages, but truly a weirdly beautiful love story of a teenager struggling to find herself. Me and Mr J is one of my new faves!
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Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop
