Saving Montgomery Sole
Ratings2
Average rating2.5
A beautiful and offbeat novel from Mariko Tamaki, co-creator of the bestselling Printz Honor and Caldecott Honor Book This One Summer. Montgomery Sole is a square peg in a small town, forced to go to a school full of jocks and girls who don't even know what irony is. It would all be impossible if it weren't for her best friends, Thomas and Naoki. The three are also the only members of Jefferson High's Mystery Club, dedicated to exploring the weird and unexplained, from ESP and astrology to super powers and mysterious objects. Then there's the Eye of Know, the possibly powerful crystal amulet Monty bought online. Will it help her predict the future or fight back against the ignorant jerks who make fun of Thomas for being gay or Monty for having lesbian moms? Maybe the Eye is here just in time, because the newest resident of their small town is scarier than mothmen, poltergeists, or, you know, gym. Thoughtful, funny, and painfully honest, Montgomery Sole is someone you'll want to laugh and cry with over a big cup of frozen yogurt with extra toppings.
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Highly underwhelming, and the audiobook didn't redeem it. I almost quit half way through, but decided to stick with it just in case it got better. Despite really like Tamki's graphics, it sure didn't get better. The plot, in that there was any, was predictable and pedantic, Monty was written like an angry 12 year old despite being 16/17, there was a lot of girl-on-girl hate, much of which was unwarranted, and her character was highly unlikeable but not in a redeemable or understandable way. Will not be recommending to students.
“What are you afraid is going to happen if someone is sad?”They could leave, I thought. They could fold in on themselves and just disappear. They could not come out of the bedroom, ever.
Montgomery was quite relatable and I saw myself in her many moments in the book. The anger with religion and the anger towards the people who were homophobic and harmful towards her loved ones. It was refreshing to read a book where the main character had two mums that were in a healthy relationship and the author didn't try use harmful stereotypes like I have witnessed in the past with series and books.
It addressed religious trauma which I think is a huge problem that a lot of lgbtq+ people and the people who have watched their loved ones being affected by it deal with. Montgomery had witnessed her parents being affected by the way her grandparents weaponised their religion to be hateful towards the family, Montgomery became almost fearful of religion as a result.
I'll be honest and say that it took me a while to get into this book but once I did, I began to enjoy it. I would've enjoyed this story more if it was longer and we were able to witness more character growth. Overall, I liked the story and would probably revisit it.
I liked this book, but many of my preconceptions of paranormal ya set me up to expect a different longer book (maybe a trilogy :-O ) you may also like a teenager dealing with teenage feelings and the threat of a focus on the family style preacher coming in to rabble rouse might pose to her two-mom family.
