The Fragile Ordinary
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4.7 • 6 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
I am Comet Caldwell.
And I sort of, kind of, absolutely hate my name.
People expect extraordinary things from a girl named Comet. That she’ll be effortlessly cool and light up a room the way a comet blazes across the sky.
But from the shyness that makes her book-character friends more appealing than real people to the parents whose indifference hurts more than an open wound, Comet has never wanted to be the center of attention. She can’t wait to graduate from her high school in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the only place she ever feels truly herself is on her anonymous poetry blog. But surely that will change once she leaves to attend university somewhere far, far away.
When new student Tobias King blazes in from America and shakes up the school, Comet thinks she’s got the bad boy figured out. Until they’re thrown together for a class assignment and begin to form an unlikely connection. Everything shifts in Comet’s ordinary world. Tobias has a dark past and runs with a tough crowd—and none of them are happy about his interest in Comet. Targeted by bullies and thrown into the spotlight, Comet and Tobias can go their separate ways…or take a risk on something extraordinary.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Impossible Vastness of Us and the On Dublin Street series comes a heartfelt and beautiful new young adult novel, set in Scotland, about daring to dream and embracing who you are.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Comet Caldwell, 16, is sure she will never live up to her cool name. She has friends, but she doesn't do social media, and she's certainly not hooking up; the boys she knows are nothing like the "brave and loyal and swoonworthy" heroes of the romances she reads. Then Tobias King moves to Edinburgh from America; he's smart and handsome, but he hides his brains and pals around with a bad crowd, which includes his cousin Stevie. Comet is surprised when Tobias is interested, but their getting together leads to her being bullied and Tobias becoming estranged from his cousin, who really needs a friend. Young (The Impossible Vastness of Us) creates a genuine and relatable heroine in Comet, but the narrative relies heavily on exposition, with Comet dictating her thoughts and emotions in a manner that can come across as forced. And when Stevie gets into real trouble, it feels less like a plot development and more like an arbitrary event needed to create an obstacle to Comet and Tobias's otherwise perfect love. Ages 14-18.
Customer Reviews
Loved this!
Comet is young bright girl who keeps to herself and with herself comes to conclusions about the people around her and stays away. Until book-boyfriend looking Tobias comes to town, she passes him off as the popular guy with the bad crowd, ladies man, when they are forced to pair up she discovered the truth about him.These two put together were the perfect mix and brought the best out of one another.
This book was heartbreaking and beautiful and all I can say is that I want a love like this.
3.75 stars-coming of age, heart breaking story
3.75 stars--THE FRAGILE ORDINARY by Samantha Young is a contemporary, young adult story line focusing on sixteen year old British student Comet Caldwell, and American Tobias King.
Told from first person point of view (Comet) THE FRAGILE ORDINARY follows one year in the life of sixteen year old Comet Caldwell, a product of emotionally absent parents whose lifestyle has affected their only child. Comet is a bit of a loner; a unique teen whose sense of style is one of a kind; a socially-awkward nerd who prefers to spend Friday nights with a book rather than partying with her two closest friends. But things are about to get a little more exciting when an American student saunters into our heroine’s life. Enter sixteen-year old Tobias King, the young man with whom Comet will fall in love. What ensues is the slow building friendship and relationship between our leading couple, and the fall-out as life, betrayal and loss threaten any semblance of normalcy for our struggling heroine.
Comet Caldwell uses poetry and pose to pen her deepest secrets and the painful reality of life amongst the Caldwell clan. Her home life is a mess, as she battles the emotional highs and lows of her first teenage crush without the support of the people at home. Tobias King has been uprooted from his American home, and finds himself caught between right and wrong. Meeting Comet Caldwell is like a breath of fresh air but not all is well as life begins to spiral out of control.
THE FRAGILE ORDINARY has all of the hallmarks of the young adult genre: oblivious and narcissistic parents who struggle to maintain their own destructive relationship; the mean girls and boys whose direction in life is to make everyone else miserable and sad by spreading lies and rumors, issuing threats and ultimatums; a love triangle or a potential for a love triangle involving one or both of the leading characters; the odd-ball heroine who is a little bit clumsy, unfashionable, geeky and lost; and ultimately, the object of our heroine’s affection- the beautiful, athletic and broken bad boy whose own secrets and history are damaged and dark.
Samantha Young pulls the reader into a coming of age, heart-breaking story. An emotional roller coaster of teenaged angst mixed with successes and failures, rejection and acceptance, ultimate highs and pitiful lows. The premise is endearing; the romance is sweet and passionate-the sex scenes are limited and mostly implied; the characters are colorful and engaging.
Very intriguing story!
Wonderful story about a young girl and struggles she goes through as she tries to understand herself and the people around her! This book has so many deeply felt emotions and complex characters. It was refreshing and relatable and very well done! I loved it! Comet was an amazing and intriguing young woman.