35/50: The Tension of Opposites

I had intended to read this book for the June Book club over on Forever Young: A YA Lit Blog. I never got around to it, so when my newest buddy read for July came up and we both had it on our list, I jumped at the chance to read it.

The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Tension of Opposites goes through the aftermath of Noelle/Elle returning home after being kidnapped for 2 years. Her best friend Tessa is dealing with Elle returning, trying to rekindle their friendship to the way it was, and also live her own life.

Tessa struggles greatly with moving on with her own life after Elle returns home. She feels it's her responsibility to look after Elle and make sure she doesn't get into trouble. Tessa feels she must put her life on hold for Elle in order to protect her. She puts Elle's life before her own in order to try and hold on to Elle and those memories a little while longer, unable to accept the changes she sees in her friend. I was happy that Tessa is able to find happiness and let go of Elle a little in order to live her own life.

Elle is very different after being kidnapped. Certainly aspects of her personality that were present before she was kidnapped are exentuated when she returns. Elle wants to experience a lot of things she missed out on and from Tessa's eyes, goes about it the wrong ways.

I believe Elle was dealing with her problems in her own way. Her innocence was stolen from her and she will never get it back. She had a plan to get her 'normal' teenage experiences back and went through with them. She was able to open up to Tessa after a long while, and came around to being a great friend, just not the same one.

My only wish for this book was to be able to actually see the photographs Tessa and Max took of each other. I can imagine what they look like, but I would love to see them in person.

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