Becoming Chloe by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Jordan is living on the streets of New York when Chloe finds him. He’s been basically kicked out of his family because of who he is and left to fend for himself. After being hurt, Chloe’s the one who nurses him back to health, forming a bond that really can never be broken. When Jordy finds out that Chloe’s fighting her own demons, he sets out to show her how beautiful the world is even throughout all of the badness that seems most prominent. They meet many people, see a ton of great sights, and learn more about themselves and the world than they had ever imagined. But what will they decide. Is the world more beautiful than it is ugly or is it the other way around? The one thing no one can doubt is that their lives will never be the same.

I don’t think this book hit me as hard as I had expected it to, but it was still a pretty amazing book. I was expecting to be blown away, but even though that might not have been the case, I was still reasonably wowed. The story itself is a great one and one that will make you rethink how you look at the world. Looking at the problems of our world verses the beauties of it from the eyes of someone who is seeing it all for the first time is really hard-hitting and it made me think; do I appreciate the beauty that is all around me? And I think that I’d have to answer that I probably don’t. You know, we are all just so busy rushing through our lives at break-neck speed that it’s rare that any of us really have time to stop and smell the flowers. I really would love if I were able to take a break from life and just go find things. Not necessarily even outside my own state. Just to be able to notice and appreciate things that I haven’t before would be enough. So as you can see, it’s the kind of book that really makes you think about things which is definitely a good thing. I also liked how the characters weren’t stereotypical at all. They were people that were battling their own problems in life, and found each other through that. It was nice to see characters out of the ordinary and who helped you expand your thinking. I also loved the whole self-discovery aspect of the book and how, in the end, the question of beauty wasn’t clear-cut. The author left it for you to decide if you thought the world was good and it was nice how a specific viewpoint wasn’t forced on you. So I would definitely recommend Becoming Chloe. Even though it wasn’t as provoking as I though it was going to be, it was still an amazing book.