“Don’t stop believing. Ever. Without belief, there is no hope. And without hope, there is nothing. Always believe and then you’ll always have hope.”― Jodi Taylor, The Nothing Girl
Grade: 4
The Nothing Girl is a slow burner romance that, for the first 2/3 of the book, felt like a story about nothing. But just when I was about to give up on the thing, something major happened and I found myself sobbing hysterically telling everyone to leave me alone because I need to finish this book that still felt like it was about nothing, but now had me seriously hooked. As I reached the end, I was grinning like a loon glad with all the happily ever afters. But the most surprising thing was I somehow understood that The Nothing Girl was about something very deep after all.
Jenny is a young girl about to commit suicide. She is odd, has a bad stammer, lost her parents at a young age, and is essentially held prisoner by her “guardians”. She’s planned it all out and is ready to do it. Until a big golden horse, Thomas, appears to her and tells her that she shouldn’t because she’s special, and really never really was going to because she did her homework for the next day anyway – I mean who does their homework then kills themselves?
The book meanders around from there. Jenny and Thomas jump into the future and we see how Jenny’s life really has pretty much sucked, but how Thomas her imaginary? Invisible? Magical? Horse friend has helped her cope and deal through the years. We get to know her family and essentially the characters in her life – up until the day she accepts a marriage proposal that will help set her free.
I am putting the book firmly in the romance category because it’s a slow burner romance, and one of the most unusual and more imaginative ones I’ve read. I literally walked around grumbling about how I had no idea why I was still reading this book since it was “ABOUT NOTHING!” and then my boyfriend found me sobbing on the couch. I was wracked with sobs people! That’s how moved I was by this book. By the end all is well and I can’t wait to chat with other readers about it.
Bottom Line: Take a possibly imaginary horse friend, a scruffy cat, a donkey, an old Victorian, and a socially awkward girl and make a romance. That’s how I’m going to sell this book to you. But trust me, it’s going to take a bit to see the magic. Give this one time. It’s worth it.
Cybil Solyn
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