Time for a mini-review! This time – a light and uplifting book called A Random Act of Kindness, which about a girl finding her own place and voice in the world. And of course, with a dash of romance. And everything starts with a good deed… With more good deeds to follow.
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★★★★☆ 4 stars
A Random Act of Kindness is a wonderful book. It’s not one of those ‘big’ books about some big idea or theme – more like it’s a slice of life story, which is easy to relate to, genuine and warm. And yet, it encompasses so much. There’s topics of struggling with self-esteem, finding your passion and place in life, the power of friendship, and of course romance. But aside from that, there are also side themes, some of which are very deep – like WWII refugee experiences (not to spoil, but I literally cried after one of the passages about that… caught me unawares), lifelong love and talk about ways we protect ourselves from the adversities of life, and how we all have different ways to do that. So many things! It all weaves together and makes for a heart-warming and genuine story.
Something that is truly unique about this book is the main character’s love for fashion and fashion history. We’re not talking about a vain chasing of fads here – for Fern, the main character, as well as for some of the side characters, wearing special clothes is a way to defend against the outside, a sort of emotional armor. Myself, I am simple and practical and I could be said to be the last person to care about fashion. And yet, this reasoning of you becoming someone else as you wear your ‘armor’ really resonated with me. I feel like the love for style and fashion here is presented in a way that is accessible to nearly anyone, and if you’re someone who has never understood why some people think it’s so important, this book could show a whole new outlook on it.
Another thing I loved is how many middle aged or older characters this book had and how it didn’t fear to show friendships between people of very different ages. It’s often a no-no in society, which I don’t really understand. Age shouldn’t be a barrier for friendship. And there’s more than that. I don’t want to go and spoil it, but the book is progressive in an unexpected and heart-warming way. However, the story can be simplistic at times, it does solve some things in an fast and straightforward manner and a questionable outcome. But it’s quite often the way in such books that things get resolved just because they have to, to fit the story, and since I knew the book was meant to be simple and uplifting, I didn’t really mind that.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook through NetGalley in exchange to my honest opinion. Receiving the book for free does not affect my opinion.
Any good light and soft reads you would recommend that you’ve read lately?
I’m Evelina and I blog about books that made an impression on me. I love middle grade, women’s, scifi and some literary too.
I’ve never understood that age barrier thing either. I think it starts in school where they put you into classes – by age. I grew up in a very small rural community and we played with the neighbor kids who might be 2-3 years different in age. When I got to school, I continued that habit and had friends of all ages and it made me a weirdo. It was just how it was always going to be. I have often been the youngest or oldest or only female in classes or hobbies or with friends. *shrugs*
Completely agreed- when I was in education I wanted classrooms based on ability not age (to a point.. I mean I didn’t want teenagers with five year olds- and sadly that could’ve been a possibility) … but 5 year-olds with 7 year-olds? Sure… why hold a 5 year-old back? That is insane to do just on age. And same with friendships. Neither the older child nor the younger child should be looked at oddly for having friends of all age groups. Social constructs screw up so many potential advances of humanity.
I suppose it could be harder to test for ability, but I think such classes would really work. It’s not fair to push a child who isn’t yet ready, and the same way it’s also unfair to slow down a more precocious child. And it’s absolutely true of friendships.
Yeah, probably! Although in a school, it probably makes sense to an extent. I remember I used to always marvel at the stories where they’d have kids of different ages in the same class in school, like The Little House on the Prairie. But I guess in such small communities there was no other way.
I have also always had friends of various ages! Mostly younger ones xD
This sounds like a good book to read. I also never understood why society seems to have such a weird thing about age differences in friendships. I have friends that are a good 15 to 20 years older than me, and their friendships are just as valuable and important as the friendships I have with people around my own age.
I know right! I think it gets easier to have older and younger friends when you’re in your 30s or 40s, but in other ages… it’s considered weird for some reason if you’re not related? I just can’t understand that. Age doesn’t matter that much!
I love her books! And yes showing friendship with people of different ages is wonderful and inspiring 😉
Ah, you’ve read her other books then 🙂
I lived on a dead end street and had friends from all ages. Still do. This sounds like a relaxing story to get lost in for a short time:)
Yeah, I also have friends of all ages 🙂 but not everyone can appreciate it! By the way, if you can relate to the all ages friendship thing, you should definitely read my review for Have You Seen Luis Velez, which comes out on the 22nd. You will want to read that book!
I really enjoy slice of life stories! There’s something about getting to know a character in such a fashion that really appeals to me! I think I had a somewhat similar experience when I read With the Fire on High. It’s a wonderful book that’s just following a girl’s life in her senior year of high school as she balances being a single mother with her dream of being a chef. I had a wonderful time reading it, even though I can’t exactly pinpoint what it was about the book that made it so great.
Me too 🙂 I think what I like about them especially is that they’re so character driven, and I adore character driven books. It makes it more real 🙂
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A lot of times less is more, and through your review, I think that book perfect embodies this idea. Although a lot of times, I read books to escape reality, more realistic books like this can be very eye-opening and inspiring as well. Great review!
Thank you 🙂 yes, indeed, it’s hard to read too many books like these because we do read to escape reality most of the time. But they are good and it’s great to know that some authors are raising issues like this.