Title: Thinner Than Water
Author: Justine Larbalestier
In: Love is Hell ( Melissa Marr, Scott Westerfield, Justine Larbalestier, Gabrielle Zevin & Laurie Faria Stolarz)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Romance, Young adult
Dates read: 4th September
Pace: Slow
Format: Novella
Publisher: Harper Teen
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: I shivered.
Jean has finally handfasted with the boy that she’s been dreaming of. But her family doesn’t think that he’s right for her. Will they ruin everything, or will blood prove thicker than water?
Yeah. This story didn’t have a happy ending. At all. Although, it was kind of bittersweet which made me enjoy it. Although I definitely wanted to punch Jean’s family in the face. They were just plain evil. And horrible. And it was all just heartbreakingly wrong!
I’ve honestly always hated the saying that blood is thicker than water. I think that it tends to be used a little too much to justify the atrocities that we commit upon our kin. So the play on this in “thinner than water” was really beautiful. Especially considering what a horrible family Jean comes from… and the small minded prejudice of the town that she is from.
Although this is a fantasy story, it feels a little more real world. It also highlights the fact that our unacceptance of others can have some incredibly horrible consequences. Not often involving a horrific death, but there’s often a death of some kind involved. And it’s the ones who have tried to survive and exist that truly suffer. The ones, like Jean who are left behind that have to feel the consequences of prejudice.
The messages in this novella have lingered long after I turned that final page. I think the horribleness and bitter sweet ending to this tale is why it’s hung around so long. The themes, the love and the loyalty were heartbreaking and beautiful. It’s not the kind of novella you’re likely to forget.
Earth and Skye 
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