"I guess love isn't enough sometimes." How far would you go in order to maintain a loving relationship? To what extent would you go? Where's the boundary? Before answering these questions, picture yourself as 17 year old Johanna. Johanna has had the longest crush on the bad-boy of the high school, Paul. Because Johanna's parents are beyond strict, she finds adventure and excitement with Paul. This story takes place in recent times in Pontiac, Michigan. After dating Paul for awhile, he begins to make Johanna choose between him and her best friend, Pam. So, Johanna struggles to decide what she values: an exciting, new relationship with Paul or her long, irreplaceable friendship with Pam. Even though this is a huge decision to make, it is not the main problem in the story. So, by me telling you that she chose Paul does not ruin this story. Before teasing you about how the book ends, I must tell you what exactly happens throughout this thrilling book. Paul and Johanna begin to fall deeply in love before they start arguing in an extensive way. Throughout these fights, Paul begins hitting her. I mean brutally hitting Johanna. She is covered with bruises and begins wearing long sleeve shirts in order to hide her humiliation. However, her biggest humiliation is the fact that the boy she is deeply in love with is willing to hit his girlfriend for no apparent reason. So, what does Johanna decide to do about Paul? Does she forgive him time after time? Does she break up with him? I guess you will have to punch into this book and see for yourself. Sometimes in life, people are really hard to trust. Sometimes you just have to trust yourself and let the heart decide what's best. Only you can determine how far you will go for the ones you love.I wanted to read this book because I honestly just picked it up at the library hoping it was good. However, I am so glad I read it. It captures you and makes you want to keep reading. This book honestly reminds me of the book A Child Called It in a sense of learning how to overcome abuse and what decisions must be decided in order to survive. Although I can't relate to domestic violence, having read A Child Called It has made me have a better insight on the life of the abused. Both of these have contributed to my heart being torn for people going through things like this. So, if you are going through domestic violence or know of someone who is, I highly encourage you to read this book. However, if you're like me who hasn't had these kinds of experiences, reading this book gives you a whole different insight on this controversial topic. So if there's one thing I want you to think about from this review, besides reading this book, is this: how far would you go for love? To what extent would you go? Where's the line drawn?
HOW DID I PICK THIS BOOK:How I picked this book was when me and my friend were trying to find a book in the library. We were reading the back cover of books that we thought looked good. My friend was reading the back of Things Change, and she told me that it sounded really good.Setting:Things Change takes place in a small/big city. The decade is around 2013, and the story takes place in a lot of place, but the setting is mostly in the school, and the main characters house.Conflict:The conflict or problem in things changes is that Johanna; the main character liked this guy named Paul. Once they started talking, Johanna and Paul started dating. In the beginning Paul seemed like a really nice guy. Then as their relationship kept going, Paul started to become abusive. The bad thing was that nobody knew about it. The night when Paul punched her the face was the last of their relationship, Johanna tried ignoring him, like at school, when he wrote letters saying that he was sorry. Brads (brad is Paul’s best friend) girlfriend Kara told Johanna that they needed Paul and her to get back together, because Kara wanted the last prom to be perfect. Johanna was a little bit hesitant but she gave, because Paul told her that he changed and he did. On valentines day Paul was upset and he went back to the way it was, except it wasn't as bad as last time; At least that's what Johanna thinks.Characterization:Johanna is dynamic because she changed the why she let people control her. For example she use to do everything that her parents wanted her to do, but then when they told her that she had to go to the college that they wanted her to go to and what job they wanted her to be in, is when she decided that she would do what she wanted and not do what everyone else wanted her to do.3 words to describe Johanna is that she’s Brave, Really smart (in school) and shes Independent. Passage from the book- “No, let me tell you something. I don’t care anymore. You can set rules, and I can break them, or you can learn to respect my decisions. But I’m not going to fight with you the rest of the summer and all of next school year about Paul. Do you hear me?” I shouted at her.( Authors last name: Jones 172)Theme:I think that the author wrote this book, so that people that are going through the same problem (abuse) as Johanna can connect with this book.Recommendation: I don’t think I would recommend this book to anyone. Even Though the back cover sounded really good, it just wasn't what i thought it would be. The editing wasn't very good either.
What do You think about Things Change (2006)?
THINGS CHANGE is a YA novel about a girl named Johanna who finds herself falling for the wrong guy-- a boy named Paul, a guy from the other side of the tracks. I had a hard time with this one. I didn't feel like Johanna had a reason to love--or even like-- Paul. I understood her need to be loved-- to fill the void left by her parents-- but Paul never swept her off her feet or said all the right things. Generally abusers are able to get away with what they do buy romancing the girl first, really saying what they need to hear. I think the story ARC should have been clearer, of how he starts out as prince charming and morphs into abuse, and she has a hard time becuase it's as if there are two distinct characters as one person. I also felt like Paul showed all the classic abuser symptoms, almost to the point of it being a checklist. Alcohol abuse? Check. Abusive father? Check. Isolate her from her friends/family? Check. Break her down with verbal abuse? Check. i wanted to see more from him.
—Mandy
Things Change is about a straight A student,Johanna that likes one of the bad boys in school,Paul. Johanna does everything she could to get Paul to notice her, but what she does know is that Paul is an abusive person. Paul's dad left when he was a little boy and he use to hit his mother. When Paul grew up he caught on to his dad's bad habits. Once Johanna started going out with Paul they got into a couple fight were she ends up being the one getting hurt and his way of apoligizing was getting her chocolate chip ice cream everytime he did something wrong. As the weeks went by Johanna's grades drop and her relationship with her parents become even worst then it was in the beginning. Paul's abusive ways didnt drive Johanna out of his life instead she took it as a way that he expressed his love. Till one day it all took a turn for the best,even though the memories of Paul were still going to be fresh in her mind and the love she had for him will never go away, she broke up with him. As for Paul he got a new girlfriend.
—Abigail
One of the worst books I've ever read. The editing was the worst part. Everything was choppy. Instead of, "Man, it's raining. Johanna and I broke up, it's a shame, but that's how it's gotta be," it was, "Man, it is raining. Johanna and I broke up. It is a shame, but that is how it has to be. Who talks like that? Paul was disgusting and gross. Johanna was also disgusting and gross. The only two characters I kind of enjoyed were Brad and Kara. The Bruce Springsteen references were awful. I love the Boss, but he was almost ruined for me. I hate that Paul kept saying, in his awkwardly choppy dialect, things like, "Johanna, this is a town full of losers, and I am pulling out of here to win." Puke. I'm pretty sure Bruce would be appalled at how corny this book made his music seem. Augh. Just never read this book ever. I want to burn it.
—EMi
