What I Read This Week:
Starting From Here by Lisa Jenn BigelowMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Starting From Here is the story of Colby, whose mother is dead, and whose father is a long-haul trucker who comes home maybe once a week. Her girlfriend broke up with her to focus on school, and Colby's own grades are perilously low. But when she finds an abandoned dog she names Mo, things start to change in Colby's life. Amelia, a cute reporter from the school paper, wants to interview Colby about her dog...and get to know her better. Robyn, Mo's vet, takes an interest in Colby and Mo and tries to befriend them both. But after the experiences she's had, Colby is reluctant to trust any new relationships, and nearly blows everything before she can figure things out.
This is a quiet story, made interesting by Colby's authentically muddled, unsure heart and mind. Colby's voice rang true, and while it's a short book, there are enough small atmospheric details to flesh out Colby's world. I wished it were a little longer--I wanted to see more of Colby and Amelia--but I think the ending is sweet and lovely just as it is.
Pretty Crooked by Elisa LudwigMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
The basic setup: former public school student Willa moves to a new town and starts at a fancy prep school. She makes friends with the rich, popular girls until she realizes that they can be pretty awful, so she starts stealing from them to fund secret gifts to the bussed-in scholarship students the popular kids make fun of.
Ok, I was intrigued. And there was a lot here that was fun. I liked a lot of the supporting characters--like Willa, I was actually much more interested in the three scholarship students than I was in the popular girls. I also thought Aidan, the love interest, was a lot of fun (although I am a sucker for the better-than-he-has-to-be super-charming rich guy: Logan Huntzberger, Gansey, I am looking at you guys.) I did, however, get frustrated with Willa a fair amount. I think my biggest frustration--assuming I am willing to suspend disbelief about the actual crime-committing, which, sure, why not--is that Willa fixates so much on new clothes. I understand why she went for that the first time, but she knows that at least one of these girls can barely buy school books and supplies! I don't know, it just felt like maybe she should have changed things up a bit. There were a few other times, too, that I found Willa just kind of...insensitive.
I will say, though, that I was definitely into the mystery around Willa's mom, which was not resolved in this book. For that reason, and because I did find this to be a fun read overall, I will be checking out Pretty Sly when it comes out in March!
View all my reviews
Waiting In The Wings
Ok, properly, I'm in the middle of this one. I'm loving it so far, though!
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| Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers |
I've been wondering about PRETTY SLY, so I'm glad you reviewed it here. It sounds interesting, so I might have to give it a try. I grew up on Robin Hood, so I'm drawn to stories like this. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd as for GRAVE MERCY, I loved that book so much. I read it on my Kindle and flew through it, so when I saw just how thick it is in book form, I was floored. Can't wait for Book 2!
Yeah, I'm finding GRAVE MERCY to be a shockingly fast read. I'm amazed by how much of that is from the short chapters--something I will try to keep in mind.
DeleteAnd weirdly, PRETTY SLY didn't work for me so much as a Robin Hood story, but like I said, there's this other plotline that's sort of in the background in this book, but I feel like in the second book it will take the foreground--at least, I hope it will, because that was the part I liked the most!