“If you would tell me the heart of a man, tell me not what he reads, but what he rereads.” — François Mauriac
Rating: 7/10"Alex Braverman is here. And I'm about to see him. A ponytail isn't going to cut it." "I bet he practices that pose in his room at night." "Noticing me now that Isabella's gone — or at least that's what it feels like. You only really notice the moon when the sun goes down right?" "I had an American Girl doll who looked like her. I can't remember which one. Nellie? Kit? Definitely not Josefina." "Isabella makes a stunning first impression, but there's the whole tortoise and the hare thing, right? And who's more of a tortoise than me?" "Know I like you 'for realers,' as my little cousin would say. Okay?" "I don't need to feel ignored and passed over up close. I can enjoy those feelings just fine from a distance." | This book was only OK. I typically love the romance parts of stories the best, but this one had just too much. It was basically all about the boys. The camp seemed like it's main purpose was to find someone to either hook up with or date and not to act. It seemed like the only thing on the characters minds and really the only thing they ever talked about, which didn't seem realistic for being set at a prestigious acting camp. There needed to be more "other stuff" and less which boy should I choose, why did this boy do this, boys, boys, boys (and trust me, I'm surprising myself by saying this). Maybe if the action was less G and more PG-13, it wouldn't have bothered me as much? But that sounds bad too. I just don't know. Let's dig some. Franny comes from a poorer background but always seems to be surrounded by friends and others with more money than her. She's forced to get a summer job at her mother's insistence and lands in Oregon with her aunt sewing costumes for an acting camp. There, she reconnects with old friends, falls again for old crushes and meets new friends. But she's reluctant to trust. Coming from a past where people weren't like her, she has a hard time letting people in. But gaining confidence from an unexpected role, fending off the mean girls and finally letting someone in ends in a summer Franny won't forget anytime soon. I did enjoy the fact that thing finally seemed to go right for Franny. She proved working hard give you way more satisfaction than being given everything in your life like Marie or many of the other people she grew up being surrounded by. But overall it was just meh. I enjoyed Claire LaZebnik's other novels but this one just didn't do it for me. Not bad for a quick read if you need a break between school books or heavier topics, but not something I would pick up if I was looking for the next great award winner. "It looks like movie lighting. It's melodramatic. Clichéd. Magical. It feels like the last morning of something." "Because there was this guy — oh, and there was this other guy too. But mostly? There was this guy..." |