Book Review: Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

Flipped

by Wendelin Van Draanen
Published: May 13, 2003
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Format: Paperback (224 pages)
Source: Library

Flipped is a romance told in two voices. The first time Juli Baker saw Bryce Loski, she flipped. The first time Bryce saw Juli, he ran. That’s pretty much the pattern for these two neighbors until the eighth grade, when, just as Juli is realizing Bryce isn’t as wonderful as she thought, Bryce is starting to see that Juli is pretty amazing. How these two teens manage to see beyond the surface of things and come together makes for a comic and poignant romance.

I read this in one sitting as a bet against a friend that I couldn’t finish a 200 page book in less than 4 hours. I did! I win :)  I loved the themes in this one about looking on the inside instead of the outside.  The characters either focused on the external appearances of things or the internal value of things.

This story is told in duel perspectives that alternate each chapter.  The boy, Bryce, had a charming but sarcastic voice with not much dialogue while the girl had a sweet, funny, and endearing voice with a Hermione-type personality.  After reading a while I noticed that the girl, Juli, focused on dialogue and detail.  The voices were distinct and I enjoyed reading each of their stories.  But I think I might have liked Bryce’s voice just a little more because his slightly negative attitude and sarcasm were just so much fun.

Finally I break free and do the only manly thing available when you’re seven years old – I dive behind my mother.

– Wendelin Van Draanen, Flipped pg 3 (Bryce)

Yes, each chapter tells the same plot from the previous chapter but just from a different point of view.  While the plot being retold did make the book feel a little long and slightly draggy, it was definitely not boring because the author, Wendelin Van Draanen, did a awesome job messing with your perspective and challenging your biases.  For example, there’s one scene where Bryce insists that he didn’t say anything mean and just summarizes what he said and is baffled by Juli’s anger.  Since you are reading that scene from his point of view, you agree with him.  When you read Juli’s chapter, you see the actual dialogue of what he said and your perspective flips and you see that he was being kind of a  jerk.

That’s not to say I chose a side.  I could see why each character did what they did and it was so interesting to read two different views of the same events or conversations.  Since you know what motivates each of them, you don’t really judge them as one being better than the other.  I also liked seeing how Bryce would do something out of self interest and Juli would see it as kind.  It was cute to see how they interpreted each others actions.  They both almost always got the other’s motivations wrong.

I thought that this was such a beautiful novel about how important it is to look at things and people for what they are on the inside instead of how they appear on the outside.  And when you do this your perspective can totally flip.

It was on a day like that when my father’s notion of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts moved from my head to my heart.  The view from my sycamore was more than rooftops and clouds and wind and colors combined.

It was magic.

– Wendelin Van Draanen, Flipped pg 37 (Juli)

Overall, it was a cute love story about seeing people for who they really are.

Content Rating: Everyone, a clean read.

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• eBook Challenge 2014
• Standalone Challenge 2014