Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer's Reviews > The Thing About Jellyfish

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After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting--things don't just happen for no reason. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory--even if it means traveling the globe, alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe...and the potential for love and hope right next door.


The short review...

I had some trouble with this book. The mental health was all over the place. The split narrative while wonderful in the past parts was boring and slow in the present. We were told way, way too much in the present (used in adult contemporary books a lot) instead of shown (which is better for middle grade readers).

And the worst offense was that it was clearly written for adult readers.

The narrative is GORGEOUS! ...If the protagonist was a 40 year old woman... Okay, I'll take a 34 year old but that's as low as I go. Seriously the way disparate facts were woven together and point after point was made about the universe, jeeze an adult would barely be able to pull all that together. Yeah kids are smart, they come up with some doozies that shock you with their depth... but not 5 mind blowing conclusions within 3 pages!! If you wanted me to believe Suzy thought this then you've got to build the story so we understand HOW she came to these conclusions on her own. What inspired her? Where did it come from? Was it something her brother told her? Show us!!

The theme is said to be grief but the way the split narrative bonded us to Suzy and Franny's friendship, I really think the real theme is friendship. What do we do when we lose our only friend? ANYONE can relate to losing a friend... not necessarily to death but to time, to other friends and interests. The only problem is that the friends Suzy could have become friends with weren't shown becoming friends! They just suddenly were in the end, as a salve to grief.

While The Thing About Jellyfish needed some rewriting in my mind the narrative alone is so gorgeous!! Ignore the child protagonist and explore loss, grief and friendship...


Cover & Title grade -> A+

I will admit that this cover totally sold The Thing About Jellyfish to me. It's melancholy but hopeful... We understand immediately that the jellyfish are a symbol of a greater idea. An adult and a middle grader would be attracted to the illustration, perfect for those buying for a young reader and a young reader both.


What does The Thing About Jellyfish excel at?

-Split narrative!
This made the book so readable!! We are shown through back flashes how Suzy lost Franny way before Franny died. It's heartbreaking, it's all about friendship and it made you want Suzy to find new friends. The second person POV even heightened the emotions that you felt between Suzy and Franny... Ali Benjamin can clearly right!!

-Socially awkward!
The aspect of Suzy that I totally believed was her social awkwardness. This totally rang true. She's a smart girl. She learns well from her science teacher and pushes herself to talk when its that or fail. She just doesn't have a gauge about what to share or not share... but she learns!! We see through the lens of the past that she slowly put it together. She's not lost a friend before and this was her first and only friend. She had a learning curve... (aren't many of us socially awkward at first?!)

-Jellyfish villain!
I LOVE jellyfish... Okay, I used to love jellyfish, because this book totally killed that love. I didn't know jellyfish were a menace in the ocean. The facts... or should I say, the HARD TRUTHS about jellyfish all come out in The Thing About Jellyfish. Jellyfish are the villain and we see them from so many "based on real life" facts, including the authorities on jellyfish.

-Processing Grief Logically!
Suzy is taught a science system to solve problems. She's a really intelligent girl and applies that system to her grief. I found this so true to how kids today would try to process their feelings. She lost a friend and she can never change that now because that friend is dead. It's a hard thing and its emotional and learning that is so important for children. Coping mechanisms are built in our childhood!!

-Family is important!
Looking for that book that has solid parents? This is it. They aren't perfect but they clearly try and they love Suzy even in divorce. Her brother and his boyfriend are also there for Suzy. While I would have loved to have experienced their conversations with Suzy at the end I did love how they were portrayed so that kids can see... family is there for you. You feel alone, but you aren't!!


As a Writer...

I was super excited to read The Thing About Jellyfish because I noticed a review that said "she’s probably on the autism spectrum" though it never explicitly says. I love mental health of this nature and especially autism and asperger's syndrome which I know quite a bit about. And yeah there are some pretty textbook signs that are used in the course of the story.

Problem was these signs weren't incorporated the way a person with autism would act. For example, Suzy chooses not to speak for a time and has a very logical reason why she chooses to be silent. Someone on the spectrum may be selectively mute but its not for some "reason." If they are selectively mute its not something that they choose to do and not do. It's about comfort level. It's organic. The way The Thing About Jellyfish portrays selective mutism in autistic children is how you would imagine a child without autism would choose to be silent.

I have no problem with Suzy being an undiagnosed asperger's child. I have no problem with Suzy being a typical child going through a really hard time. But the interactions should match the back history. It really read like Suzy was a typical girl going through the loss of a friend. She's book smart but people slow.

Not one of the signs of asperger's was used properly to me... IF the author intended Suzy to have the syndrome or be on the autism spectrum. Since the book didn't mention either way and the therapist in The Thing About Jellyfish who SHOULD have seen the signs said nothing to the parents I'm operating under the impression that Suzy is normal... Book smart but people slow.

Mental health illustrated in books will always cause extreme opinions because its such a personal subject. We assume everyone has the same experiences and we assume the knowledge we have is absolutely correct. Even #ownvoices authors can muddle illustrating mental health issues because they are so close to the subject. As a writer myself to me its better to imagine the character and not the mental health when I'm writing... And I feel like even if Ali Benjamin was inspired by an asperger's list of signs it may be that Suzy turned out to just be really struggling and not autistic at all.

The Thing About Jellyfish is a great read for older teens and adults. It's full of depth, great writing and a young protagonist you can't help rooting for.


⋆ ⋆ ⭐⭐⭐ Authenticity
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Writing Style
⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⭐⭐ Plot & Pacing
⋆ ⋆ ⭐⭐⭐ World Building

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It was exactly one month since the Worst Thing had happened, and almost as long since I’d started not-talking. Which isn’t refusing to talk, like everyone thinks it is. It’s just deciding not to fill the world with words if you don’t have to. It is the opposite of constant-talking, which is what I used to do, and it’s better than small talk, which is what people wished I did.

My parents have a word for what I do—constant-talking , like that is a single word—and they explain to me that it is important to let others talk, too. Ask people questions, my mom always says. It’s not a conversation if you’re constant-talking. And I try to remember that, to ask people things.
But you like it when I tell you things. You don’t need me to ask you questions. You have never once called what I do constant-talking.

By now I was twelve years old and starting my second year of middle school. I knew a few things about grown-ups. And here’s one of the things I knew: Grown-ups are like everybody else—they don’t actually want you to say what you’re thinking.

What my dad wanted, I suspect, was the thing everybody seems to want: small talk. But I don’t understand small talk. I don’t even understand why it’s called that—small talk—when it fills up so much space.
Most of all, I don’t understand why small talk is considered more polite than not-talking. It’s like when people applaud after a performance. Have you ever heard someone not clap after a performance? People clap every time, no matter whether it was good or bad. They even applaud after the Eugene Field band plays its annual concert, and that’s really saying something. So wouldn’t it be easier and take less time and effort to just not clap? Because it would mean the same thing, which is nothing at all.
In the end, not-talking means the same thing, more or less, as small talk. Nothing. Besides, I’ll bet so-called small talk has ended more friendships than silence ever did.

Sometimes you want things to change so badly, you can’t even stand to be in the same room with the way things actually are.

Whenever I think about those two days—about the space between you ending and me knowing—I think about the stars. Did you know that the light from our nearest star takes four years to reach us? Which means when we see it—when we see any star—we are really seeing what it looked like in the past. All those twinkling lights, every star in the sky, could have burned out years ago—the entire night sky could be empty this very minute, and we wouldn’t even know it.

Near the corner of the room a sign said AN INVISIBLE ENIGMA. I knew what enigma meant—my mother often said I was one, especially when I dipped fried eggs in grape jelly or deliberately wore mismatched socks. Enigma means “mystery.” I like mysteries, so I walked over to read the sign. A photograph on the sign showed two fingers holding a tiny jar. Inside the jar, almost impossible to see, floated a transparent jellyfish about the size of a fingernail.

“I can talk. When there’s something to say. And it was Beauty.”
“Beauty?”
“And the Beast. Her name was Belle.”
“Oh.” He thought for a moment. “So does that make me the Beast?”
I shrugged.
“The Beast was a bad guy, right?” he asked.
I shook my head. “He was okay. He just scared people who didn’t know him, that’s all.”
“Huh,” said Justin. “That sounds about right.”