The Thing About Jellyfish

There is no way Franny could have just drowned.  She was a really good swimmer.  When Suzy's mother tells her, "Sometimes these things just happen," Suzy can't believe it's true.  Her best friend (former best friend?) couldn't just die like that especially not with so much anger left between them.

Maybe that's why she's so quick to jump on the idea of the jellyfish.  It's rare but possible it could have been in the water with Franny.  It's venom is so powerful, Franny would have drowned before anyone could save her.  This makes more sense than the idea that Franny's death is just a random event.

It's just not right that Franny's death could be random, that the last words she and Suzy exchange were in anger.  Suzy thought there would be more time.  But there wasn't.  Now there doesn't seem to be anything at all worth talking about, so Suzy remains silent.

No one else knows what she's thinking as she dives into research to try to prove a rare jellyfish killed her former best friend.

This was a good read about grief and emotion.  My only complaint would be in the growing tension between Suzy and Franny.  The final event that forces the two apart is pretty extreme, and it's difficult as a reader to understand Suzy's behavior and to really imagine a situation where anyone would think what she did was ok.  Yes, the book was good, but I'm a little conflicted.