Book Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 / 5 stars)
A boy – no, a young man…maybe even a prince – has always lived his life on the road. Literally. The one day, when he accidentally drops his phone under a bridge, he meets an individual covered in mud. A troll, so to speak. After bonding over coffee and sharing a bond as deep as love, all the prince wants is for the troll to be happy. But happiness comes at a price.
Like a lot of people who have read this short-story, I also found myself wonder “what was that” regarding the ending. After pondering it, I think I have an understanding of the allegory the author is trying to make. Personally, I believe the story is about global warming and the consequences of it: a creature stuck in an unfamiliar place, worn away, and at the mercy of man. Is it the right analogy? I don’t know. But perhaps that is the beauty of this story.
I haven’t read any of Rainbow Rowell’s work before. Without a doubt, Rowell is a talent and compelling author with a taste for symbolism. Unfortunately, with so many people unsure about the ending of this story, it reminded me more of an academic short-story than a fun fairy-tale.
I am glad I read it though. It gave me a taste of Rowell’s writing and a chance to really think. Perhaps you’ll have a different interpretation of it than me.
I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.
What’s it about?
A charming everyman and a mysterious something-under-the-bridge cross paths in a short fairy tale by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and the Simon Snow series.
It’s fate when a man accidentally drops his phone off the bridge. It’s fortune when it’s retrieved by a friendly shape sloshing in the muck underneath. From that day forward, as they share a coffee every morning, an unlikely friendship blooms. Considering the reality for the man above, where life seems perfect, and that of the sharp-witted creature below, how forever after can a happy ending be?
E.S. Barrison 