Flipped and the Importance of Feeling Loved

 

My best friend's favorite book, one that she has been talking to me about nonstop for weeks, is a book called Flipped by Wendelen Van Draanen. I watched the movie adaptation with her last weekend— it was alright, but nothing special— and she told me that it was horrible in comparison to the original book and that I had to read it. I usually do not go through a full-length book so quickly; however, in the case of Flipped, I finished its entirety after having started the first few pages a week or two ago in the span of two days.

Although Flipped is marketed as a "romance" book, it is far more than that. It follows two characters— Bryce and Juli— both completely different people, yet Juli develops a crush on Bryce nonetheless. Like every other one of her friends, she attempts to get closer to him by showering him with gifts and compliments, however to no avail as Bryce continues to see her as nothing more than an annoying nerd that may as well be stalking him. His own family's remarks about her do not help his opinion, either, as they often call Juli's family things like "wrecked" and a "pest".

One of Juli's most important gifts to Bryce was a carton of eggs— not because it was a grand gesture as it really was nothing more than eggs, but because of what it represented. Juli cares for her chickens more than anything in the world, and so her gifting their eggs to Bryce showed just how much she wished for him to even tolerate her. Unfortunately, Bryce despises the gift so much that he becomes repulsed by any and all eggs afterward, and promptly throws them away.

However, it was not because he was disgusted by them or the concept of Juli being the one to give the carton to him. The reason why he despised the gift so strongly is because it made him scared.

It made him realize that he liked her, too, and that his family would hate him for it— and just when he finally comes to terms with it, Juli comes to terms with the fact that she should not spend so much energy on those who don't even want it.

The book's title makes sense now, doesn't it?

I found the two main characters in this story incredibly interesting to analyze, as the two of them are very layered in personality and the author does a wonderful job at fleshing them out as the novel progresses. 

Juli Barker presents herself in the beginning of the story as kind, smart and very, very persistent— she shamelessly defends those she cares deeply about, and is particularly intrigued by Bryce due to his aloof and stubborn demeanor. Although the only side she had seen from him at that point was his exterior, she believed that there was more to him beneath the surface, as there is good in everyone. However, as the story continues and Juli realizes that Bryce has met her with very little except bitterness even while trying to bring out the good in him, she learns to value her own self-worth and decides that she should not love someone so strongly against reciprocating it.

Bryce Loski seems to be a very one-dimensional character when first introduced, as that is likely how he wants to be perceived. He values his social image more than actual friends, and thus wants absolutely nothing to do with Juli after what he has heard about her and her father from his family. However, having been afraid of showing much affection (or emotion at all for that matter) his entire life, even when he knows deep down that he loves Juli, he does not want to face it and pushes her away. When Juli begins to push back as a result of his ignorance, only then does he begin to think of Juli not in hatred but in guilt and regret for treating her in such a way just because she wanted to believe he was a better person than the front he put up.

The ending to the book is very bittersweet and hopeful, both characters having grown and almost completely changed. I believe that it teaches a very important lesson about self-worth and how important it is to let those you care about know that they are loved so that they can love you in their fullest capacity, too. I'm also very glad that the book did not go in the direction of many other romance stories, that being "sure he ignores you constantly and insults you every day, but he loves you! You have to love him back and fix him!". I am also glad that they did not portray Bryce as an unrepairable monster, nor did they make Juli a saint that has done nothing wrong in her entire life. They change in many ways, both for better and for worse— but by the end, they have both been inspirations for each other to become who they truly want to be.