Julie is in high school, skimming swimming magazines for anything to do with her older brother now living in Germany, struggling in her long-standing friendship with Erika now Erika is interested in boys and she herself isn't, really. Then there's Alexis who swims and plays soccer and starts seeking Julie out. Joining the swimming team isn't really the easy slotting in place she—and the people who knew her brother—expected it to be. Outside of school, she makes an unexpected friend in Ben who was in school with her brother.
I thought this book captures how tricky it is a teenager and how things don't always go the way you want them to. ( )

I almost don't know what to do with this book. One of the blurbs on the cover described it as "part diary, part dream" which definitely feels right but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. The lack of punctuation for dialogue really threw me off and left me confused half the time. I both loved and hated how open-ended the book was. I wanted some better understanding of what was going on with Julie's brother, but I liked how open Julie's own future and story seemed, not tied up in a neat happy ending.

This book has been sitting in the back of my head for almost a week and I'm still not sure how to sum it up or what all to say. Definitely a unique reading experience for me, though. ( )

Little less than halfway through and I just cannot force myself to read anymore. This is worse than the usual teenage angst-y fiction; it's mind-numbingly boring, and I can't find anything relatable at all that keeps me interested in the story or any of the characters.

I've seen this described as a YA coming-of-age story, which I think is a misnomer all around. It feels very much like it was written for adults, not teens, and it's a piece of the main character's coming of age, surely, but it definitely doesn't feel like Julie has demonstrably "grown up" by the end. None of which is a criticism. I liked much about this short novel--the early 90s Seattle setting was nicely evoked, the details about swimming competitively (especially the actual in-the-water stuff) was lovely and familiar, and the exploration of Julie's understanding of her sexuality and of her place in her family and the world was compelling. In the end though I didn't love the book, mostly because the style--though it felt appropriate for the subject matter and the "feel" of the book--rubbed me the wrong way. Some of the details about Julie's absent brother also felt unusefully murky for too long. As the only real reason this wasn't a four-plus-star read for me was my subjective unhappiness with the style, reservedly recommended if the book sounds interesting to you. ( )

The strength of this novel arises from Sara Jaffe’s intimate treatment of her heroine’s painful self-questioning and doubt. Fifteen year-old Julie holds forth in Dryland; her just-awakening attractions and aversions play perfectly true. The somber, expect-the-worst tone of her monolog suits her situation perfectly. Julie is genuine and has kindness in her soul and we root for the best for her.

At story’s outset she misses her brother, nine years her senior, and purportedly living in Europe. His departure is wrapped in mystery for Julie, and at the newsstand she looks through swimming magazines for him pictures that might look like him - he was a notable athlete, a hero made of multiple school records and loads of trophies, some still displayed in the school lobby. It isn’t until she joins the swim team herself that her perspective begins to change.

This novel encompasses a passage for Julie. She tries to balance friends from different camps while still forging her own path. She grapples with her attraction to other students, and tries to make sense of her friend’s sometimes baffling crushes. This is the stuff of millions of young people’s lives, and Ms. Jaffe makes Julie’s journey special by couching it in unmistakable teen language. It’s a language built with rebellion, and an immanent maturity, but its largest ingredient is of course uncertainty. It all too clearly and accurately demonstrates that an adolescent’s life is brutally difficult.

The author keeps her descriptions to the bare minimum. That and the young girl’s narration of her own process give the book a dream-like quality, but at the same time certain scenes have an indelibility that will stay with you. Swimming scenes are few, actually, and while I expected at least the possibility that competitive swimming would give Julie some transcendent moments, this is not the case. Julie is being born to everything. She needs to experience all the trials and triumphs first-hand, and experience these she does.

Dryland is soulful, honest work. It lives up to fiction’s highest calling: it is an accurate, sympathetic telling of a person’s progress through life. Take it up!

http://bassoprofundo1.blogspot.com/2017/06/dryland-by-sara-jaffe.html ( )