Book Review: And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky

Sep 11, 2011 by shanyn

Title: And Then Things Fall Apart
Paperback, 272 pages
Author: Arlaina Tibensky
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: July 26, 2011
Source: Publisher
Buy: Amazon
Add To: Goodreads

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Book Summary:
Keek’s life was totally perfect.

Keek and her boyfriend just had their Worst Fight Ever, her best friend heinously betrayed her, her parents are divorcing, and her mom’s across the country caring for her newborn cousin, who may or may not make it home from the hospital. To top it all off, Keek’s got the plague. (Well, the chicken pox.) Now she’s holed up at her grandmother’s technologically-barren house until further notice. Not quite the summer vacation Keek had in mind.

With only an old typewriter and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar for solace and guidance, Keek’s alone with her swirling thoughts. But one thing’s clear through her feverish haze—she’s got to figure out why things went wrong so she can put them right.

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Review:
The summary of this book describes it exactly – the narrative of Keek, a Sylvia Plath lover, bedridden with chicken pox and obsessed with her typewriter. What I didn’t know going into it was how literal that description is – it is, in fact, the inner dialogue of Keek. The premise is that she is typing the entire thing on a typewriter at her grandmother’s.

The beginning of the book is fun because she has a very high fever from the chicken pox. Arlaina Tibensky does a great job of putting a little hysteria into it, as one is when they have a temperature of 103. Keek does a great job of explaining her feelings and giving us backstory if we need it. She is also quite obsessed with The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and several times while reading I was thinking this would be a great companion novel if anyone was reading Plath’s novel, as Keek makes probably one hundred references to things in that book.

In general, I enjoyed And Then Things Fall Apart, mainly because Keek has a realistic voice. She is not afraid to reflect on her past, and grows in the pages instead of just whining about her situation. She says many clever things, which represented her intelligence overall, and made me appreciated her more. Some of my favorite lines:

“We had different lunch periods, but I have heard the story so many times I could make a YouTube video of it using sock puppets and a Barbie doll.” (pg 71, ARC)

“This is the thing about great literature. It reads like truth and sticks to you forever and lets you know that you are not alone.” (pg 103, ARC)

This is not a book to pick up if you’re looking for a lot of action and adventure, since it is mainly self reflection, but it IS a book that will make you think about your situation, particularly if you’ve been in a place similar to Keek. Fans of self reflection, character growth, and Sylvia Plath will want to pick this one up.

Buy: Amazon

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