I signed up for this book because the title is so cute. Like always, it's the title that gets us first, right? Then the blurb was interesting enough, so I went ahead and signed up for this on Netgalley.
Tumble and Blue sounded like a cute love story to me. But it's not really a love story. It's more of friendship and finding or forging your own path. Tumble and Blue in this story are teenagers who are both very unfortunate because they are unlucky in some things in life. And it's not just any luck but it's actually a curse handed down from their ancestors.
This story reminded me of the story--Gone South by Robert McCammon which is also set in a bayou or near a swamp. Like McCammon's story, there is also a mysterious aspect in this story and it's a golden alligator. And like the "Bright Girl in Gone South" in McCammon's, the gator has a magical power to change the destiny and life of the person who seek its help. The main characters were also both a boy and a girl, except in McCammon's they were adults and their problems were far darker than Tumble and Blue's were. Also, I think McCammon's was a lot darker and sadder in tone and in the whole aspect of the story. This one is for Young Adults and is light and funny at most.
I was fascinated by the different lucks and curses the members of Blue's family have. It's interesting. Some are really not so extraordinary and some are just so funny. Others were more serious and even life-threatening. Blue's curse, if you look at it, in the whole scheme of things, is actually a bit serious. Imagine never ever going to experience how to win, even in the most mundane of games like Scrabble, though I like Scrabble, it's not nonsense at all. Or ever win in any sport event or any school contest which is part of every student and teenager's life. It's so sad to contemplate and I do feel sorry for Blue, more so, because of his selfish father. Thanks the book Gods, he is so adorable that all this just happens to be so cute and not really to be taken seriously, if I were in the same age bracket. I wouldn't mind him not winning anything, I would gladly be his friend. I would try to win some for him, if that's the case.
Tumble on the other hand is a similar story yet I find her curse not really a curse at all. At her young age, she doesn't need to save the world. And the fact that her heart, just want to rescue and help everyone, is just big enough. I think, she doesn't need to worry about saving anyone at all. Let the adults, the firemen, and all other rescue teams do it. That's why I think, Blue's concern is more serious than hers. And I do understand where she's coming from. I know where she got this notion and strong urge to save the whole world. It's guilt. Accurately, survivor's guilt which is more psychological rather than rooted back to the curse. And it's not her fault if she survived, because knowing her kind heart, I think she would have done the saving if she had a choice in it.
When these two combined forces and ended up finding comfort and genuine friendship in each other, it felt like their concerns about the curses were not that earth-shattering after all. With them together, they didn't need to feel like they were unlucky or lacking. They were enough for each other. And in the best of friendships, you don't need to have magical powers or special abilities to find loyalty, you only need to be honest and genuine. Show your true self, including all the bad, and the scars. If someone's only friends with you because of the benefits, then that's not friendship at all but taking advantage.
I enjoyed this story and it's just right that these two found the strength within to prove to the world that they are not their curses. These two proved that they can change what was supposed to be a destined unfortunate life. They have moved on from what everyone calls their main imperfection and even turned it around. Tumble saved someone which she thought she could never do. She is after all a hero, in her own way. Then Blue won. He was the first to reach the golden gator. He won, even if he was supposedly destined to never win in his whole lifetime. They twisted their fates and made an even better one for themselves.
What I like about the story is the one about Tumble hero-worshipping this celebrity who made people think he is a real-life superhero, when in truth he's not. But I forgive Tumble because what drove her was her desperation and at her young age, she needed someone to look up to. It's just unfortunate because she did not see right through that person. Good thing, she eventually found out that he was not worthy of any praise or emulation or anything at all.
I give the book 4/5 gators. This is a story of the underdogs. The story is a reminder that we can be more than what people expect us to be; that we can prove people wrong; that we are more than what our inheritance, family, and everything else that we are; that we can be different from what people see our family, we can be better, stronger, and kinder. We can be everything we dream of and we should not let the world and people limit us, shape us, or box us, or stop us. This is an inspiring story especially for teenagers who are in the stage of confusion and they feel like they are pulled from all directions. This tells us to just listen to our hearts and let's not conform to what the world forces us to be. Let us be what we dream and not because of what people tell us what we can't be.
Another curiosity of the human imagination--this idea that you can un-break something. Piece the fragments of shell together and put the egg back in its nest if you like. What's inside will never fly.
- Cassie Beasley, Tumble and Blue -
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