Your Blue Is Not My Blue: A Missing Person Memoir by Aspen Matis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How long did it take you to see the juxtaposition on the cover? The two intertwining images? I'll sheepishly admit that I had looked at it numerous times only had only seen the bare trees at night--with stars in the background...until I had almost finished the book and got another view: ah, the profile of Manhattan, with buildings lit up at night! That's an awesome cover--really. And, overall, I thought a pretty awesome book on the author's journey from a young girl trekking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) to a mature adult woman breaking out as a credible & published writer in New York City. I thought her story was well told and poignant, beautifully describing the aches & pains along her life journey as it unfolded. Some tense moments, suspense--will she actually finish the manuscript? what happened with her husband just up & disappearing--and why? will she get kicked out of her Manhattan apartment? Will she reconcile with her parents, especially her mother, whom she felt angry & upset with for years and whom she ignored? Great to see how her college writing class teacher slowly became her mentor, over long late night walks around Washington Square and late night cafes. How her mentor pushed her, questioned her, and steered & encouraged her in pursuing her vision for becoming a writer with something to say.

Did her mentor also tell Matis that she needed to sprinkle her prose with lots of color/colorful words, to spruce up the page and attract readers' attention. Probably, IMHO. While you're reading--just take not of all those color words. Well, just look at the title. I think, overall, they do help brighten up the story. I also loved the settings for the unfolding story: the PCT, the AT (Appalachian Trail), NYC, San Fran or Berkeley, Los Angeles, Colorado, and Boston, to mention a few. What bummed me out about Matis' story was what seemed to be her rather casual acceptance of Justin--her husband's--disappearance and ghosting. I mean, why didn't she at least track him down (she did eventually find out where he was living) & go to him to try to work things out face-to-face? Why give up so easily and put in the divorce papers, before making every effort to save the love they really seemed to have? I was pulling for Matis to do more to at least attempt to save her marriage...

Got this book through our Amazon First Reads, I believe. Read it on my Kindle.


View all my reviews