VD Book Review
Teen issues, family problems, and
forbidden secrets all play a role in Please
Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King. The
main character, Vera, is a young 18-year-old girl who struggles with these critical
issues throughout the novel. The story opens at the somber scene of the funeral
of Charlie Kahn, Vera’s longtime best friend.
Recently however, their relationship had deteriorated to the point they
hated each other, mainly because of Charlie’s shift to a new friend group
focused on being popular and causing trouble.
Vera struggles to cope with Charlie’s death and because of this, struggles
to come forward and tell what she knows about what really happened to Charlie. This manifests itself in guilt and to
overcome this feeling Vera turns to work and alcohol. Work comes in the form of “pizza technician”
or delivery girl for the local pizza place.
She enjoys her job and the people she works with, always going above and
beyond to do the best she can in order to make money to pay for college and the
future. Pagoda Pizza also comes with
distractions in the form of another worker, James, who is five years Vera’s senior
at 23. Although James is extremely nice,
he is a college drop-out with no real aspirations, but Vera decides she likes
him for his true personality and she begins going out with him. Through it all, Vera escapes the problems
that arise by turning to alcohol.
However, this only adds fuel to the fire as it leads to run ins with the
police, hallucinations, and even a hardwood bar floor. Vera’s father Ken, an alcoholic himself,
seeks to protect his daughter from the harsh realities of alcoholism he experienced
firsthand. Ken’s job is made harder by
the fact that Vera’s mother ran off to Las Vegas a few years ago with a doctor,
Vera’s only contact with her coming in the form of 50 dollars each year for her
birthday. In the end, Vera makes the
decision to right the wrongs and misconceptions against Charlie, even if it
means putting herself in harm’s way.
The teen issues present throughout
the novel, especially alcohol, leads to a connection with the audience because
of the startling reality of Vera’s situations.
Vera’s story is no fairy-tale and the battles she faces are not out of
the realm of possibility for many teens.
Alcohol serves one sole purpose in this novel, a coping mechanism to
overcome loss. The first time Vera truly
experiments with drinking is at the memorial service for Charlie. Vera quickly knocks back two shots when no
one is looking and says, “I had
no idea how much it would hurt my throat, but loved the way it made me feel a
minute later as I sat on the toilet, pondering the tiled floor. Warm. Happy.
Safe” (84). The fact that Vera is able
to accept the pain associated with drinking and instead focus around the
warming feeling it creates foreshadows the problems looming in the future. For many people, their first time drinking comes
at a time when they are in an uncomfortable situation, a situation they would
rather escape. Vera obviously
experiences this while at the memorial for Charlie. Being able to relate to a character is an
important part of any good story and moreover teens are able to find
similarities between Vera’s experiences and their own. I can personally understand this because I
have been in situations like Vera where I have had to overcome loss and wanted
to find something to numb the pain. Being able to relate to and understand what
Vera is going through makes the story more enjoyable and it leads readers to
invest themselves in the story. When a reader can make a personal connection
and relate it back to their own life and what they have to go through, the
story is better received and appreciated. Thus, the teen issues that this novel
addresses build an important connection with readers because the situations are
so common in everyday life.
King’s use of multiple storytellers
gives the audience unique perspectives to follow and allows readers to make
their own connections about different characters and events. Vera, Ken,
Charlie, and even inanimate objects have their turn telling their side of the
story. During one of the breaks from the
main storyline, Charlie gets a chance to speak out on his failing relationship
with Vera. From beyond the grave,
Charlie questions, “why did I turn on Vera?
I don’t know… Maybe because I knew she was fine and didn’t need to be
rescued, like Jenny and I did” (205).
Charlie sharing his thoughts to the reader is an interesting additional
viewpoint that adds intrigue to the story.
Charlie asks “why,” which is critical because it illustrates the fact
that he knows what he did was unjustified.
To be able to understand that Charlie feels bad about what happened and
that he still cares about Vera makes the reader more understanding of Charlie’s
actions. Multiple narrators allow the
author to share different perspectives of events and characters. The more different perspectives, the more
information readers have to draw their own conclusions. Early in the story, I lost respect for Charlie
because of his decisions to spread rumors and the way he treated Vera. However, I came to like Charlie by the end of
the story as he justifies his actions and apologizes through the notes he
leaves instead of asking for forgiveness.
The transition of Charlie from unlikeable to understood creates a
connection for readers that keeps them entertained as the mystery of the plot
is revealed at the end of the story. The
different storytellers make the novel a better read because they help weave
together the myriad of perspectives for the reader.
The theme of abandonment helps
readers better understand the difficulty and complexity of the issues in the
story. All the characters in the novel
are forced to deal with abandonment in different ways and in different
forms. Vera and Ken face abandonment
from Vera’s mother and it is a point that causes lots of controversy in the
novel. When sitting down with the
therapist to work out their problems, Vera notices, “We are realizing,
simultaneously, that we have never dealt with Mom leaving. We pretended—like
role-playing—but we never really did anything about it” (217). The reason Ken and Vera struggle so much to
communicate is the fact they have never truly moved on from Vera’s mother
leaving them behind for bigger and better things. Both Vera and Ken are searching for a way to
fill the void that abandonment has created in their lives. Vera uses alcohol, Ken leads a boring life, and
both have their own way to escape. This
theme of abandonment gives the reader something to attribute the problems of
the characters in the novel to. Without
this central theme, the story would have no real plot, and there would be no
backstory for the challenges that Vera and Ken face. The backstory of abandonment goes all the way
back to the relationship between Ken and his own mother during her funeral, and
the reader can appreciate how detailed and intertwined the progression of
difficulties is. I really enjoyed that
King made sense of why the Vera and Ken struggle and not just that they
struggle. It provides a strong base for
where their trouble stems from, and I could really imagine myself having to go
through what they did and how difficult that would be. I could feel my heart break during Ken’s
mother’s funeral scene and it made it crystal clear to me how far the
abandonment and problems dated back.
King goes above and beyond by using the theme of abandonment to make the
reader realize why the story unfolds the way it does, a unique ability that
truly transforms the story in a positive way.
Please
Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King is dark, witty, intriguing, and overall a
rewarding novel for people to read.
Specifically, I would recommend this book to teens because of the heavy
focus it has on teen issues and the fact that Vera’s life is relatable in so many
ways. Although not everyone’s best
friend has a Charlie-like change, everyone goes through different struggles in
relationships and this story helps people understand that they are not
alone. The book is unlike anything I
have ever read and in complete honesty that was a good and a bad thing. The changing narrators, flow charts, and plot
layout originally turned me off from the book.
However, I urge people to give the book a chance and push past the
initial uneasiness about the book. As I
continued to read, these unique characteristics are something I came to
respect, if not enjoy. This story
touches on subjects that many people never get the chance to read about, even
though they occur in families every day.
I challenge people to step out of their comfort zone and give Vera a
chance to change perspectives and create a lasting impression on social issues
in the world today.
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