'Midnight''s spell over me has been broken, and I am disappointed.
Violet's brother Will is a psychopath and a serial killer in the making. Even when they were little kids he didn't merely tease her and be nasty, he possibly tried to murder her - he gave her multiple Chinese burns, took her to the very edge of a top stair when he blindfolded her, and he tried to suffocate her in her bed with a teddy! This is not normal behaviour!
Will is an evil, selfish, unstable, demented little shit. I don't know why Violet never stands up to him, why she sticks up for him, why she wants to remain close to him, and why she's so obsessed with him after everything he puts her through. He bullies her, abuses her, and tortures her. He continuously forces her through traumatising situations, frightening her and taking advantage of her PTSD (his fault and he knows it!), just because he feels like it, and is never sorry in the least (he never actually says sorry to her once in the entire book). It's sickening to read about.
But throughout young Violet's story, Will remains her number one person, when he torments her for fun. Even if he is her big brother, it's still suspect.
The parents aren't much better people. Their marriage is clearly falling apart, and Violet does compare her mother being a spineless doormat to her authoritative father to her own toxic relationship with her brother, but the parents remain together at the end. Just like Violet carries on worshipping Will like an abused puppy.
Making things worse is that the female friendship between Violet and Jasmine - which takes up most of the book and is developed beautifully, with definite queer vibes - is sidelined and dropped unceremoniously at the end in favour of the sibling abuse dynamic, where apparently everything is fine and sorted, in a rush. What bollocks.
I hate how pathetic Violet is. But I don't want to hate her because it'd feel like I was blaming the victim, and I admire her creative streak and love of fantasy and fairy tales. She deserves better. She deserves a happy and healthy Sapphic relationship when she's older.
The fairy tale book elements and fantasy illustrations in 'Midnight' are very nice. And there is a slight fluttering of queer details throughout; not just with Violet's interpretative feelings towards her new friend Jasmine, but she also mentions that boys as well as girls are in love with Will, and that campy men play in the pantomimes she's been to, and then there's Jasmine's dad's versatile theatre and TV acting career. I appreciate the message that boys and men can do and like whatever they please. Masculinity and femininity, and gender, are societal constructs, after all.
It's a shame about Violet and Will's toxic relationship, and the dangerous message in that that could influence young readers and give them the wrong idea of how happy families should be like.
Abuse can happen anywhere. Anyone can be an abuser, and it doesn't matter how you're related to them or how dependent you may be on them, you don't owe them anything.
There goes my final Jacqueline Wilson read and review. It's been a mixed bag overall. Oh well, I like at least ten of her books, and I'll be keeping them on my shelf.
Final Score: 3/5
P.S. Continuity error: Near the end of the book Violet accidently cuts Will right across the face, bad enough to bleed. This is never mentioned again afterwards. Their parents don't even notice it.
P.P.S. WTF error: Another great message to send children: it's okay to hop in a taxi when the driver insists, free of charge, especially in a dodgy, rundown area. You can totally trust him. *sigh*
Original Review:
I'm on a nostalgic high.
Yeah, I read Jacqueline Wilson books in my childhood. I'm English, and they were my primary reading material outside of 'Harry Potter' and other fantasy books. They were my first experience reading slice-of-life or contemporary YA material. I didn't like all of them, and I did eventually outgrow them; I'd realized even back then that a lot of Wilson's books are rather samey. Most glaringly, they often star the worst adults ever to appear in children's entertainment. I mean, it's good to show that adults are not perfect or saints, but jeez even Homer Simpson is a better parent than these childish, borderline-abusive and unstable train wrecks. Why is the mum always off with a new boyfriend or husband, practically abandoning her young daughter?
But recently, I've come to remember and appreciate some of these strangely charming and cute books. They were not always realistic, or morally sound, but they were a part of my life growing up in the world, after all.
This month I've decided that I'll review the Jacqueline Wilson books that I liked the most as a child. And as a further test to see if they've held up, I'll be reading a few of her more recent books as an adult. Her children's books tend to look cute, even today, thanks to Nick Sharratt's illustrations, and are almost always female-led, told from a girl's perspective of family, friends, school, and adults in general.
So to start, here is a favourite of mine from when I was a creative, shy and lonely girl fantasy bookworm with an older brother. 'Midnight' stars a creative, shy and lonely girl fantasy bookworm with an older brother. However my brother is not adopted. Or psychotic.
Even the title enchanted me. Plus the cover with the purple and the crescent moon. I've always loved the mixture of gothic, darkness, creepiness and pretty things, like fairies. Dark fairies.
Violet is a fan of Casper Dream (yeah, totally not a pseudonym)'s fairy books, which she is embarrassed by because she thinks she is too old for them (she's thirteen). She lives in the shadow of her disturbed brother, Will, who likes to play twisted games with her. She sees him as "magical". In a way, he is. Will is like Puck, or any other mischievous Shakespearean character. He's a mystery even to himself. As a kid I was convinced that he would grow up to be a serial killer. Not much has changed now.
Introverted Violet has no friends, until the colourful manic pixie dream girl Jasmine attends her school. It is fascination and possible sexual awakening at first sight (nothing comes of it, then again this was published as children's lit in the early 2000s), and the two become instant friends.
Fantasy and complex reality intertwine like a dewy, silky spiderweb in a mist, and not in a way that Violet expects or likes.
'Midnight' has secrets and lies, dreams and nightmares, smoke and mirrors, and general eeriness. I adored it. It was quite different from other Jacqueline Wilson books I'd read. It is for a slightly older audience than the other books. It highlights creativity and artistry. And it features meeting your hero by chance and coming back disillusioned yet wiser. Typical contrivance.
The parents are together in this, and Violet's family, despite certain issues (but what family isn't complicated?), is loving and supportive, especially her mum.
Dark and soft and comforting, cloudy and dreamy and twinkly, 'Midnight' is an opal. An obsidian lite YA. An almost gorgeous read.
Final Score: 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment