“Sarah,” he says, softly, almost hesitantly, and my moyo slam bangs, beating hard, and this is what it’s like to want someone wewe can’t have. To want someone wewe shouldn’t even be looking at.
Sarah is in quite the predicament. She’s riding that rollercoaster of first upendo – the pain, the exhilaration, the ups and downs. Only problem is, she’s doing it solo – unrequited style. She’s been in upendo with Ryan since the eighth grade, but now he’s dating her emotionally stunted best friend, Brianna, and Sarah is forced to stumble through each day, the pain of seeing them together pulling at her insides with every sekunde that passes.
Brianna has crappy parents who clearly don’t want her around, and Ryan seems to make Brianna feel like she matters to someone. At least, that’s how it looks to Sarah, which is why Sarah is so hell bent on keeping her feelings completely and totally to herself. How could she take Ryan away from Brianna, when she has so little to start with?
Besides, there’s no way Sarah could compete with the sassy, sexiness that is Brianna – and Brianna makes sure Sarah knows it every single day. Brianna might have crappy parents, but that’s no excuse for the way she treats those around her. Its obvious to the reader that Ryan is nothing zaidi than a self-esteem booster for Brianna, and while she might actually upendo Sarah, she doesn’t know how to onyesha it. I couldn’t help but wonder if Brianna only kept Sarah around to make herself feel better.
But then, it seems, Ryan sees through Brianna’s dance, and decides to take his affections elsewhere – right into the garden of Sarah! Turns out, Ryan has kind of been in upendo with Sarah for ages, but got all caught up in the whirlwind that is Brianna and time just got away. But he wont stand for that anymore. He wants Sarah, and nothing – nothing – will stand in his way.
Not even Brianna, when she walks in on Ryan and Sarah lying curled up together in Sarah’s bed.
The Unwritten Rule is interesting exploration through the rules of dating and friendship. Were Ryan and Sarah wrong to pursue each other when Brianna was still so clearly caught in the middle. Did they consider her feelings enough? With the way Brianna was treating the pair of them, should they have considered her feelings at all? When is it okay to break the rules of friendship for matters of the heart? These are all maswali I asked myself repeatedly throughout this story.
Sarah and Ryan are both likable characters, but I found Brianna to be shallow, callous and difficult to read. She’s clearly got some emotional issues, but the way she treats those around her makes my stomach squirm. You’d think, with her nyumbani life being so terrible and all, she’d value the upendo of her Marafiki a little more.
The Unwritten Rule is a nyumbani run for Elizabeth Scott. This is a great, contemporary chick lit read!
Publication date: 2010
Pages: 210
Rating::
Teaser Quote: “I wasn’t happy with you? Brianna says. “Almost eight weeks, Ryan. And then wewe go and – ” she glares at me. “Is this my anniversary present? wewe could have at least picked someone decent. Someone I’d believe wewe want and not just who wewe used to make yourself feel better.”
