My top reading genre pick, without a doubt, is contemporary fiction, and I’m a sucker for a novel that features cultural references that relate to my own life experiences. Ernessa T. Carter’s debut novel, 32 Candles, released in late June, certainly bears all the markings of a 1980s childhood with a protagonist who views life through the eyes of a movie addict. Not just any kind of movie, though, but the specific teen flicks that decade is famous for- Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, and of course, Sixteen Candles.
Davidia Jones dreams of her “Molly Ringwald ending,” and no reasonable or charitable person could deny that she deserves it. Growing up without ever knowing her father, even his identity, would have been bad enough, but living with her abusive mother and being the constant object of ridicule by her peers pushed Davidia into a reclusive mindset, a lonely existence. Even in the face of such regular torment, Davidia still pegs her hope on the idea that someone out there could be her “Jake Ryan,” eventually seeing her with different eyes than the rest of the world and freeing her from isolation. Unfortunately, life isn’t a John Hughes movie, and Davidia’s changes in a flash.
The format of this novel in five parts- Then, In Between Then and Now, Now, In Between Then and Now (The Amendment), and Back to Now- presents Davidia’s story in the manner and time line in which she’s able to tell it, or more specifically, admit it to herself. Starting in a small Mississippi town and moving her life to California, brings a significant change in the newly-monikered Davie’s outlook on life, as well as her behavior and choices.
The first part of this novel really gripped me. I felt for Davidia, and my heart broke to picture her experiences, but my respect for her soared. In the face of a terrible childhood, she excelled at self-preservation, and I had great hopes for her eventual escape. But, to tell the truth, the latter parts of the novel had me losing some of that respect for Davie, as she began to make choices that didn’t seem to mesh with her previously developed character. This shift in character didn’t seem to take place gradually, but felt abrupt to me, which made it somewhat difficult to process and caused my positive feelings toward the protagonist to decrease. There was a lighthearted tone that seemed to take over the novel about a third of the way in, which came at me unexpectedly. Perhaps I would have felt differently, if I had gone in with a mindset prepared for a less serious read than I had expected from the first section of the book. Sexual and language content that feels realistic for its setting is present, which may or may not be an issue for some readers.
Overall, 32 Candles is enjoyable for its pop culture references and 80s movie-like story arc, even if the character development did not feel natural to me personally, adding it to the list of new fiction perfect for light summer reading.
At times, Dawn’s life is more like Beetlejuice than Sixteen Candles, it seems. She loves chronicling it all at her blog, my thoughts exactly.