A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

"You were like a piece of magic. You held the fixed stars in place for me and you stopped them from falling" 

A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty follows the story of a girl from the World and a boy from the Kingdom of Cello. They live in different worlds, but are connected through a small crack- just wide enough to fit letters. They write to one another, and help each other with their problems. 

The funny thing is that I actually borrowed this book a few months ago, read a few pages, got tired of it, and returned it again. But I had forgotten I had already started reading this book, and just a few weeks ago, I borrowed it again. And I'm glad I gave the book a second chance. 

The beginning is quite slow (that's why I didn't finish reading it the first time), but the story gets increasingly better. Since part of the book is set in a magical Kingdom, I found it hard to understand everything that was going on. I think that Moriarty should've explained this Kingdom in more detail, and what the 'Colours' are. 


What I found both good and bad about A Corner of White is its simple vocabulary and structure. I would've appreciated a more challenging and sophisticated vocabulary, but at the same time, the book's simplicity made it quite easy to understand (except for a few things in the Kingdom, as I said in the paragraph above). 

If you're looking for a book with romance, then this book is probably not for you. It has a few relationships, but the love between the characters isn't built very well throughout the book- it seems quite sudden. I found the romance in the book rather comical..."Her second thought was that his lips were kind of like snails, exactly like the texture of a pair of snails (only without the shells)" (part 6, chapter 5). I don't know about you, but I literally laughed out loud when I read that. 

Also, I think I should mention that the book is the winner of the NSW Premier's Literary Awards and the QLD Literary Awards, so I guess that means it's a pretty good book. 

A Corner of White is part of a trilogy, and the third book will be out in 2016. I really enjoyed reading this book, and now I think I will read more books from Jaclyn Moriarty. I will let you know when I do.