Lady Business

Claire at PB Reader told me the same about the twist being easy to spot - I wonder if it's because she might have grown up with similar stories as you. I've never read Blyton! I think I'd like to one day despite the problematic aspects.

I think I missed the clues about Reese :( Will have to read again. Also, tag away! I don't think it would ever be tiring!

As for the twist complicating the manic pixie dream person narrative, hmmm, I think it does and doesn't. I suspect Rosoff was saying something very specific about how that kind of idealisation is not actually gender-dependent but something that happens between humans. BUT. The point Phoebe North made about Paper Towns still following the MPDG structure exactly even when it's suppose to question it also applies here. However, I have to confess this is a point I don't think I can get behind 100% - it assumes those narratives have no redeeming features, period. I understand why people feel that way, but like I explained in that post from a while ago, there's actually a lot about them that I value. The pattern of making the girl the object of idealisation and the boy the idealiser does bothers me, and neither Green nor Rosoff break it in the end. This saddens me, but I still love the stories for what they are. We just need MOAR stories with girls doing the desiring/idealising/being changed by another person.