Favourite Books - Within These Lines

Okay, so I debated whether I should do a review on Within These Lines or A Monster Calls. Since I read Within These Lines first, I thought it had priority over the one I finished yesterday. So if you wanted to read about A Monster Calls... I'm sorry. I hope to write its review soon.

Photo by Valentina Ivanova on Unsplash

So first things first, Within These Lines was written by Stephanie Morrill. It is a standalone story. And I am sharing the blurb at the beginning this time:

Evalina Cassano's life in an Italian-American family in 1941 is everything is quiet and ordinary... until she falls in love with Taichi Hamasaki, the son of Japanese immigrants. Despite the scandal it would cause and that inter-racial marriage is illegal in California, Evalina and Taichi vow they will find a way to be together. But anti-Japanese feelings erupt across the country after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Taichi and his family are forced to give up their farm and move to an internment camp.

Degrading treatment makes life at Manzanar Relocation Center is so difficult, Taichi doubts he will ever leave the camp alive. His only connection to the outside world are teasured letters from Evalina. Feeling that the only action she can take to help Taichi is speak out on behalf of all Japanese Americans, Evalina becomes increasingly vocal at school and at home.

With tensions running high and their freedom on the line, Evalina and Taichi must hold true to their values and believe in their love to make a way back to each other against unbelievable odds.

 

Rating: 💜💜💜💜💜 (5/5)

Content: mild violence

Genre: YA, historical,  romance

This book was really clean in a lot of ways. While it did show darkness, it wasn't gross or overwhelming or disturbing. Shocking, yes, and maybe uncomfortable but in a good way. After all, this whole story is about the injustice of racism when the war between the Americans and the Japanese started. So I would describe it as "racism at its worst".

As a historical fiction book, I have no idea how accurate this book is but by the content of the notes at the end of the book, I get the impression the author really did her best to be accurate as possible. And for me, it felt realistic enough to be true. But I want to note too that this book only give a small piece of a real history, a glimpse of what happened.  

I also want to add that the blurb doesn't tell the story justice. Which was why what actually happened was unexpected for me but definitely pleasant. I don't know about you, but if my expectations are better for the story than worse for the story, then I don't like it. 'Cause in my opinion my expectations were better than what the story gave me in the end.

Why I love this book: The main thing that made me want to read it the most was that it addressed a serious topic, which is the same reason why I loved it. It also told a moment in history that is not commonly known. Everyone knows about the attack on Pearl Harbor but not really after that. It was very interesting to get to read that. Another thing is how real the characters became to me. I cared so much about their stories would play out. I worried about them, like worried about them-doing-something-really-stupid-that-they-will-regret-and-need-to-heal-from sort of thing. Or dying... Also, I loved how a lot of the story wasn't focused on the romance. It's more about two people, who happen to be in love, who are dealing with racism and fighting against it/enduring it. So if the romance put you off, I think you should give it a try. It's so much more than a complicated romance.

Other thoughts (on characters with no spoilers):

(These are comments only on the characters who made a significant impression on me in some way.) 

Taichi, I must say, was the one who surprised me the most. He did things and thought things that I didn't expect he would but was still in character the whole time (the blurb is very misleading). All his choices made sense to me, so he was a very realistic character. He was also noble, a character who honestly tried to do right. I love him a lot, though at times I did get annoyed at him (you know how you know better than a character moment?)

Evalina, while I definitely admired her actions and beliefs, I saw her as a bit self-centred. Her reason for speaking up was because she loved someone who was affected. Would she still speak up if she didn't? But despite that, it did lead her to do good and made her care for people who were oppressed and were receiving complete injustice.

Aiko is the best sister ever. She has so many wise words for Taichi and I felt like she could be talking be talking to us as well. You can learn a lot from her words. At least two lines awestruck me. 

Diego is another amazing supportive character. He was fun. Easy to love. Felt real. I don't know why but the way the author showed his humanity was touching for me. That one, though brief, scene was golden. 😍

Gia was lovable but also at times oblivious to other people outside of her. I felt she can be seen as annoying or silly but I would call her simple. She's the sort of character who can take happiness as she sees it. I liked her a lot, cared for her. I was very pleased with how her story ended.

James needs a honourable mention cause he's such an amazing character. If I could make fictional characters my friends, he would be one of them. I love a friend who sees the bright side.

Evalina's parents were very cool. I love how caring and loving they were with their daughter. And they have such a beautiful husband and wife dynamic. 😍 

Taichi's parents... well, I didn't think much of them. I felt like they put pressure on him to be "a good boy" all the time and stopped him from maturing, like finding his own beliefs and standing. They didn't seem very supportive of him being his own man. Yes, obedience is very important but putting him in a box can have damaging effects on his growth as a person. Other than that, they were fine parents and good people. They do have some endearing qualities, like humility I think, but the thing above was what stayed with me after the finish.

Is this for you or not? Read at your risk.