April Favorites

This month, I have decided to start doing a monthly favorites post. In this post, I will be paying homage to some of my favorite things, movies, books, etc. that I came across in the stated month.That being said....

My Favorite Book: 
     This month, I got a chance to read Sam Greenlee's book, The Spook Who Sat By The Door in preparation for completing my final paper for my African-American Literature class. For me, this book was a present surprise. I didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I did.
     The novel is about Freeman, an African-American revolutionist who is the "token black" within the CIA during the Civil Rights time period. Angered by the oppression of blacks in America, Freeman takes it upon himself to regain power for this racial group by training African-American gang members in Chicago to become a guerrilla army to fight against Whites. Readers get to see just how far, Freeman is willing to go to gain freedom from those he feel have wrongly governed over
blacks for far too long.
     This book was really powerful for me in terms of its message about how different minority cultures wear mask in an attempt to hide their true feelings about certain situations (i.e., questions of class, social treatment, etc.) or to keep themselves from shaking up other people's perception of certain racial groups. While, I read this book as a part of my course curriculum, I would recommend it for anybody who enjoys a good historical novel or who wants to read a book that is akin to Native Son by Richard Wright or Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I didn't write a review on this because I had so many emotions after reading it and was unsure how to put them all into a coherent review that was tasteful and informative opposed to sporadic ranting and philosophical musings...after all I do enough of that in school and this is my "happy place." If anyone is interested in this book, I would definitely go on ebay and get a copy. The novel itself is sort of hard to get a hold of due to it being banned for a period of time by the American government (LOL it literally brings a whole new meaning to the term "banned" books).

My Favorite Movie:
      I simply LOVE the movie, Silver Linings Playbook. This movie had everything in it, romance, comedy, drama, mental illness topics...In short, it was phenomenal! The main plot follows Pat Solitano who has recently been released from a mental health facility. Pat's main goal is to reconnect with his estranged wife, Nicki who he feels will fall back in love with him if only she can see just how well he is doing. Unfortunately, his family and friends aren't giving up any information about Nicki to him and he's left to fend for himself in winning his ex-wife back. When Pat meets Tiffany, a fellow unstable individual, he hatches a plan to get Nicki back and pick up the pieces of his life.
      What I loved about this movie is that it felt original. It didn't feel like the characters were transplants from other movies who were just taking on new roles for the sake of drama, everything had a point. I also loved Bradley Cooper (Pat) and Jennifer Lawrence (Tiffany) in this movie. They along with Chris Tucker played their roles flawlessly. Chris Tucker, who played Pat's best friend from rehab, Danny added the perfect touch of comedy throughout the movie. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who loves a good romantic-comedy. I also want to read the book, which was written by Mathew Quick.

My Favorite Music:
       This month, I committed a rarity for me, I bought a FULL CD from iTunes instead of just individual songs off an album. The CD I bought was Save Rock and Roll by Fall Out Boy. This CD is phenomenal! In total, there are eleven songs on the album with sounds that range from R&B like tracks all the way to rock. I definitely didn't feel as if the album was one note thanks to the versatility that I saw in the album track list. If I was forced to choose specific songs to play on repeat, I would have to say my absolute favorite songs are "The Phoenix," "Where Did the Party Go," The Mighty Fall," and "Just One Yesterday (feat. Foxes)." Even though the other songs are pure gold too, these four songs are my go-to walking soundtrack for getting to and from school on my early morning commutes.

My Favorite Television Show:
      This one was a bit of a no brainer since, I can't get enough of watching reality television regardless of how scripted it maybe. Since it's debut over four seasons ago, I have been in love with Style Networks' Jerseylicious. This show follows a group of New Jersey hairstylists and make-up artist along with their families. Each season the show centers for the most part around two or more individuals who are at odds with each other and the audience gets to watch the juicy drama that ensues. The show also follows the characters as they go about their daily work lives.
      For the most part, Jerseylicious is tame compared to other reality shows that focus on a set cast. The hairstylists and make-up artist aren't usually overly violent with the exception of maybe once/twice a season when an actual fist fight breaks out at random. The brunt of the drama takes place in gossip form that mirrors that of petty high schoolers so it is safe for people of all ages however, I would advise some parental control for individuals who are at an impressionable age. Yet, it should be noted that the cast do do good deeds such as, raising money and getting donations for Hurricane Sandy victims throughout New Jersey or putting together a coffee table book of different style icons from New Jersey's history. If you ever get a chance, I would highly recommend this show especially, for people who were once avid Jersey Shore fans.

Cheers!

The Power of Greed: Book Review On Aravind Adiga's Last Man In Tower

 The point of this review is more to dispense my troubled feelings about this book than to persuade or dissuade anyone from reading it. I felt something akin to word vomit as I wrote this review so please don't get upset if you find the occasional spoiler within this review. Most of my remarks come from personal feelings about the book and my reactions to my class discussion of this novels.

Cheers!


I gave Last Man In Tower by Aravind Adiga  four stars not because I was head over heels in love with it, but because it lead me to have profound thoughts about the condition of humanity. While this book was required reading for me for Graduate School, there were many times when I wanted to throw it clear across the room out of frustration and anger at the characters' actions.

The story's theme focuses around the duty that one has to his/her community. In this novel, Masterji, a retired Physics teacher living in a co-op in Vakola, Mumbai along with his neighbors are offered the chance to sell their shares in their old apartment building for close to $2,900,000. However, the catch is that the group must do so unanimously. For many in the co-op, the idea of having money and being able to move up in the world is enticing enough to sign without much of a hassle, but for Masterji, the idea of leaving a place where his deceased wife and daughter's last memory rest is unthinkable. Therefore, Masterji refuses to sign and rages a one man  opposition to the builder's proposal. ***SPOILER***Frustrated, his neighbors take matters into their own hands and kills him***SPOILER***

Here, is where my distaste for Adiga's novel sets in. For the whole of the novel, Masterji's neighbor's complained of this man's disregard for his community's wishes yet, everyone ultimately betrayed his wishes for greed. It was argued in my class that Masterji was in the wrong for his action's of refusing to agree to abandon his home and go along with the co-op's wishes however, in my opinion, this line of thinking seems twisted. For the first half of the novel, the individuals of the Vishram Society regarded themselves as "respectable" people and prided themselves on living as upstanding middle class Indians that were commited to doing what was right for their community however, as soon as money was presented to them, they each became greedy and intolerable characters who only thought of themselves exclusively. If the individuals in the society had had better reasons for their actions, I would have felt less trepidation at the characters' final actions, but these characters betrayed Masterji for dollar signs moreso than what they claimed was their chance at "happiness." To me, this greed in Adiga's characters hardened my belief that money really is the cause of all evil.

Not one character in the novel actually ventured to hear Masterji out when he said he wanted nothing from the builder. Since the other characters bathed in the anticipation of becoming rich, they assumed that all Masterji wanted was more money. Even this character's son rejected his father's will and focused more on the money than hearing his father out. This tunnel vision by the other characters sickened me and made reading this novel hard. I wanted to believe by the novel's end that one of them would take pity on Masterji and understand things from his point of view however, this act never surfaced.***SPOILER*** Even though one member of the co-op did get cold feet in the end, this character chose to regain his immorality by the novel's end.***SPOILER***

This being said, Adiga's story is well-crafted and worth a read regardless of it's raw portrayal of humanity. My only gripe besides anger at the characters' pettiness and greed is that in some places, the author overwhelmed the reader with too many details and back history/story. This verboseness had me struggling to keep myself invested in the overall action of the novel (I actually found the last 1/4 of the book to be the best part of the novel). Overall, I would recommend this book at least, as a way to have someone else to discuss the themes and topics in this novel with.

Book Publishing Screw Up

While re-deciding what books to read this week I encountered a funny publishing mistake.

For the last year, I have been dying to read All Roads Lead To Austen by Amy Elizabeth Smith. I finally broke down and ordered a copy from Thriftbooks.com over winter break as a Christmas present to myself. I didn't get around to actually having time to read the book until this week and was gung-ho to add it to my TBR pile for this weekend until I opened it up....

...It turns out that my copy starts at Chapter 3. At first I thought that this was totally normal and that this book was the type of book where the storyline circles back around. I thought this because the novel is a travel memoir that has been written about Smith's account of spending a year traveling and discussing Jane Austen books with different book groups in Latin America. Sadly, this is an ill conceived thought. According to Amazon First Looks, my book should have started some 30+ pages ago with the Author's Note.

Le sigh...I guess I'll have to write to the company I bought the book from and ask for another copy. I seriously can't wait to read this book. Anticipation is literally swelling inside me and putting me on a book high.

smh...Anticipation is the devil in disguise.

Ammendment to Teaser Tuesday #2

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was in the process of finishing my first year of graduate school and listed the book, Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier as one of this week's pleasure reads.  Unfortunately, I had to rethink this book choice due to it being one of three books in a trilogy. I have learned that once I start a book series of any kind I want to finish it right then and there (hence my frantic search for a copy of Scarlet by Marissa Meyer a month ago after I finished reading Cinder). Therefore, I have chosen to spice things up with two selections from the Chick Lit genre.

The first book is called Goddess For Hire by Sonia Singh. The book follows Maya Mehra who has just discovered that she is the reincarnation of the Hindu goddess Kali. Upon realizing this, she decides to rent her services out for hire with what looks like disastrous results. This book has everything I love in novels that have ties to Indian - match making aunts, Hindu mythology, and a tad bit of romance to tie it all together.

"He'd called once, since moving out, wanting to know if there was a Neiman Marcus in Santa Monica. Before I could inform him the closest was in Beverly Hills, he received another call and put me on hold...After three minutes I hung up."

My  next choice is Sassafrass, Cypress, & Indigo by Ntozake Shange. This book is about three sisters who's names are included in the book title. Each sister is an artists trying to find her way in the world. Sassafrass is the oldest and is a college educated poet who moves from Charleston, North Carolina to Los Angeles. Then, there is Cypress, the dancer, who is only described as "being on a mission to find a new way to move in the world." Finally, Indigo, the youngest is stuck in Charleston. Indigo is also described as a poet however, she is pinpointed as the sister who is "most open to seeing the magic in the world." This books sounds like it's going to be a very creative read for lack of a better word. I know that Shange is notorious for having written for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf and that she deals with very strict subject matter, but I hope this book is more upbeat than her more infamous novel/play.

"I'll eat pork if I want to; I'll paint both my lips red. I ain't goin' to heaven when I'm dead."

Hopefully, this is the LAST book change in my line-up for the week. Hope everybody is having an amazing week.

Cheers!

 

Birthday Book Haul!!!!!!!!

I picked up some amaaaazing books for my HUMONGOUS birthday book haul! They include:

1. 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter, which I've already done a book review on.

2. The Looking Glass Wars #1 by Frank Beddor

3. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

4. The Handmaiden's Tale by Margaret Atwood

5. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

6. In The Time of The Butterflies by Julia Alvirez

7. Kitchen by Banana Yochimoto

8. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kid

9. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

10. The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah

11. Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

12. Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

13. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

14. Girl In Translation by Jean Kwok

15. The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

16. Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese

17. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

18. The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Cruise

19. Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan

20. Flyy Girl by Omar Tyree

21. How To Buy A Love of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson

22. Coconut by Kopano Matlwa

23. Spilt Milk by  Kopano Matlwa

24. Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon 

25. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 

26. So Long A Letter by Mariama Bâ 

27. Nervous Condition by Tsitsi Dangarembga


OKAY!....I think I've got them all now! 

Teaser Tuesday #2

I'm currently in the process of wrapping up my first year of Graduate School (insert loud whoop here---> \^0^/) so I decided to go light in the reading department this week. Both of these books were picked up during my birthday book haul.

The first book I'm reading is going to be a book by Maria Semple entitled, Where'd You Go Bernadette. Semple's novel follows a teenage girl's hunt for her mother, Bernadette who has disappeared. Bernadette is described as being "notorious" and "agoraphobic." I've been looking forward to reading this book and have heard nothing, but good things about it. Hopefully, I'll enjoy it just as much as everyone else has.

"Here's something about Mom: she's bad with annoyances, but great in a crisis. If a waiter doesn't refill her water after she's asked three times, or she forgets her dark glasses when the sun comes out, look out!"

The second book is Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier, which is the first book in a trilogy entitled with the same name. This novel deals with time traveling and a secret society of individuals who jump through time. The main character, Gwen unexpectedly starts leaping through time without being trained and has to learn the finer points of time traveling on the fly. 

"He's not bad-looking," I went on. "And he's filthy rich too-if he's telling the truth about his family. It's just his habit of raising a perfumed lace hanky to his nose that doesn't exactly make me swoon."

Hope you all enjoy your reading materials. Until Friday...Cheers!

Going To The Edge Of Crazy: A Book Review On "32 Candles" by Ernessa T. Carter

I gave this book a solid 5 stars!!!

Ernessa T. Carter's book, 32 Candles kept me entertained from start to finish.

Davidia Jones is an outcast at her school and unloved by her mother. Growing up as a dark-skinned African-American girl in her southern Mississippi town, she learns to fold in on herself and become numb to others' taunts about her skin tone. Add to this the fact that Davidia refuses to speak at all, and it's a recipe for disaster. However, once she reaches high school, the unthinkable happens........she falls in love with James Farell, the newly arrived small-town football player and resident rich boy.

While James fails to acknowledge her presence, Davidia takes matters into her own hand and uses her Molly Ringwald-playbook to win James' love. Unfortunately, James's sisters have something else in mind and set off to make Davidia's life hell. Fleeing from her small town after a prank goes too far, Davidia hitchhikes to Los Angeles with a female trucker. Here she changes her name to Davie Jones and becomes a sultry lounge singer. Seventeen years later, James walks back into Davie's life and this time, she's ready.

Davidia/Davie's character is one of those characters that worm their way into the reader's heart and forces them to become invested in the character's story. Davidia's character is well constructed and feels authentic to the reader. Even when she exacts her revenge on the Farell family, the reader has sympathy for her and may even want to help her payback the rich snobs who caused Davidia pain in high school by bullying her.

The author's pacing for this story helps drive the story's action. This is helpful in building the story steadily to climax and keeps the reader interested. The storyline also felt well though out and was easy to relate to whether you were popular in high school or an outcast. While the novel does span over a time period of roughly twenty-eight years, the pacing of the story never has the reader feeling the urge to hit fast forward on Davidia's story.

Carter's novel is definitely one that I would recommend to anyone who wants a taste of revenge or who just loves a good novel about a girl coming of age in the 80's. However, I would caution that this book is meant for a mature audience since there are some heated scenes within the novel that may not be appropriate for a younger audience.

Cheers!

Book Review For Me by Yuaziiqann

I currently finished reading Me by Yuaziiqann. This author offered me a copy of his novel for an honest review. No monetary funds were taken for this review.

I gave this book 4 stars.

This novel starts off with the main character, Aaron getting shot. As he waits for the bullet to find him, he takes the reader back to the beginning of his life and recounts his journey from living in Ghana with his abusive father to his journey to New York with his mother.

The narrative follows Aaron as a child up til his dismal end living as a psuedo-homeless man on the streets of New York. The pacing of the story in the beginning is good and Aaron's story seems promising. Yet, by the middle of the novel, the story takes a dip and the character starts to wax poetic about his existence in the universe as an individual and God's overall existence. While Aaron's fascination with this topic is understandable since his mother dies, the character becomes increasingly unlikeable from this point on.

Nevertheless, the novel is not boring by any account. The author's usage of secondary characters is interesting and helps give the novel more depth. Chris and Zach who are Aaron's best friends provide humor and comic relief in parts of the novel that may have otherwise become tedious.  However, the sexual relationship that forms between these two strikes me as odd. From my vantage point as the reader, it seemed as if the character's actions aren't warranted due to Zach being pegged by the author as totally in love with his girlfriend, Annie and Chris being a complete womanizer. Therefore, the characters' actions come off feeling contrived to me. Another character that was interesting was the character of Princess, a homeless drug addict who Aaron befriends and ends up committing a triple murder with. Princess's role within the novel is thoroughly believable and well thought out. Her character solidifies Aaron's lost of innocence and helps bring sincerity to the main character's lifestyle as a homeless wanderer.

While this book is completely well written and at parts thought-provoking, it wasn't necessarily my personal cup of tea. However, I would recommend that readers who enjoy urban fiction or coming of age stories that are more geared toward adult readers give this book a try.

Teaser Tuesday #1

This week I'm going to try something new. I recently decided to start doing Teaser Tuesday which is a really cool thing where you post a snippet of the books your currently reading or about to start reading onto your blog or twitter. The snippet should be about one to two sentences long chosen at random from the book you choose. It's important that you remember not to give away any spoilers to your readers tho.

Okay, so...my first book is a book that I'm reviewing for a new up and coming author named, Yuaziiqann. His novel is entitled Me. The novel follows Aaron, a young boy who is an immigrant from Ghana as he is reflecting on his life after he is shot. I've previously started this book, but had to put it down to do my homework. The review for this book should be ready by the end of this week. 
 

"You know I would have if I could, but there was no time. No time and no money, a deadly combination."

 

My second reading book is, Aravind Adiga's Last Man in Tower. This book is another requirement for my Global Literature class. It's a novel about, a group of tenets in a run down apartment building in India. The novel looks at the groups fight against the corporation that tries to take over their apartment building to rebuild. 

 

"He held up his fist; in the weak light of the candle it cast a shadow on the wall. The earth, in infinite space."

Finally, my last book choice I'm choosing a book that I've wanted to read for a while entitled, 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter. The book is coming or age type story about Davie Jones, an "ugly duckling" who grows into a swan and tries to win over her crush from high school. 

 

 "Later, I would review those three days of my life and feel such profound relief and gratitude that I had survived them with my body and soul intact."

Whelp, that's it til Friday! 

Cheers!

Anna & The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins Book Review

This book was finished on April 13, 2013.

I gave this book 4 stars.

After reading Lola & The Boy Next Door, I was a little skeptical about the hype surrounding Stephanie Perkins' novels. However, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised in reading Anna & The French Kiss.

Anna is a rising senior from Atlanta, Georgia who's father sends her off to spend her last year in high school at the American School of Paris. Crazy as it sounds, Anna is UPSET that her father would do something as wonderful as give her an all expensive paid YEAR in Paris! So grudgingly, she enters her final year of high school in a distant land where she doesn't speak the language. However, once Anna is there, she meets a group of amazing friends and starts off a year full of new beginnings. There's just one problem....she ends up falling for a boy who is taken.


While Anna's' character is somewhat cliche, her storyline isn't overly unbearable. Perkins adds depth to the storyline by pairing Anna's trials and tribulations with different viewings of cinema or books that the character studies in school or goes to see in her free time. I really enjoyed this maneuver by Perkins because unlike in Lola's story, Anna's dream of becoming a film critic are acted on subtly instead of drastically. This allowed me to not feel overpowered by the extraness of Anna's character. The interweaving of movie knowledge within Anna's story also gave me something to draw comparison's to in Anna and St. Clair's (i.e., her French crush) encounters.

In addition to this, I enjoyed the fact that Perkins' novel was set in the romantic atmosphere of Paris, but she didn't try to beat readers over the head with too much romance too quick. She spoonfeeds her readers Anna and St. Clair's story in a way that isn't tedious or too overbearing. ***SPOILER*** Yet, I was a little peeved that one of Anna and St. Clair's other friends was hurt in the process of the two becoming a couple. I would've preferred if Perkins didn't insert an extra girl for Anna to have to compete with within her own circle of friends to date St. Clair. This just seemed extra brutal in terms of the standard rules of friendship do's and dont's.***SPOILER***

This being said, while this book isn't fully original in plot or theme, I did truly enjoy it. I would definitely reread and recommend this book to others. I'm seriously really looking forward to Isla & The Happy Ever After to come out in September after reading this novel.

Dreams of Murder: A Book Review of "The Nightmare Affair" by Mindee Arnett

I gave this book 5 stars!!!!

This book was absolutely amazzzzzzzzing! I happened across The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett on Amira from AmirasBookReviews on YouTube during her list of anticipated books of 2013. During her synopsis of the book, I heard one of my favorite words for describing any book....MAGIC! That's right! This book stars a magical cast of characters who are students at a magical boarding school (think Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins not, Harry Potter) and looking for clues to solve who's behind the murders at their school. 

Fortunately, Arnett doesn't take the normal character route of other YA writers and instead makes her main character, Dusty a nightmare. Not nightmare as in a whiny, obnoxious character but, nightmare as in a magical character who feeds off others' dreams to obtain her magical powers. The story starts off with Dusty breaking into her crush, Eli's room to "feed." While doing so, she notices vast differences in Eli's dreams. For starters, Eli's dreams are in color and he's dreaming of a murder. Thus begins one of the best paranormal/fantasy books I've read since I finished Hawkins' series.

Arnett takes readers on a journey to find out who is killing the Keepers, a group of three magical beings one from fairykind, darkind (i.e., nightmares, demons, etc.), and witchkind. These Keepers are protecting some secret within the story. To solve this mystery, Dusty has to pair up with Eli allowing the two to become a dree-seer pair, a duo who help each other see into the future through dreaming.These two along with Dusty's best friend, Serene, a siren become junior detectives pursuing the killer using all types of wacky tricks to stay ahead of the murderer and their teachers who have warned them to stay put.

With this book, I didn't feel as if the author was reaching or even using recycled cliches to tell the story. Arnett's characters felt fresh. The story line drives you to keep reading even when you think you know who the killer maybe. Dusty's character is also relatable in the fact that, even though readers may not have magical powers, they may have experienced feeling like an outsider before, a feeling that Dusty often feels. I would definitely recommend this book to anybody who loves a good "who done it?" series or who just loves fantasy fiction.

Playing Dress Up: A Book Review On "Lola & The Boy Next Door" by Stephanie Perkins

I gave this book 3 stars.

You know those books who get raved about by everybody in all of Booktopia and you tell yourself, "I'm going to read this book because it must be fan-tastic if everybody else loves it so much?"....Whelp,  Lola & The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins falls under that category for me.

I chose to read this book before its companion because well, Anna & The French Kiss was checked out at my local library and this was all they had at the time. I went into the book all drummed up and ready to sing its praises afterwards. However,...I was faced with disappointment.

While this book isn't bad, it's not technically good either. The characters in this story seemed to me to be ones that were harvested from other YA Fiction and placed smack-dab in the middle of Perkins' novel. For instance, Lola is a somewhat contrived character who is labeled as the fashionable/artsy daughter of a same-sex male couple. The couple adopted Lola from one of the dad's drug addicted sister when she was younger and wasn't ready to raise a child.

Perkins also gives Lola the somewhat obvious aspiration to become a costume designer and formulates Lola's character to dress up as different "characters" throughout the novel to mark herself as an individual while also showing her creative side. Keeping with this "individual rebel" act, Lola's boyfriend, Max is delegated the role of the 20-somethin year old rocker who treats everyone else like crap besides Lola (or so it seems in the beginning). From here, we get the return of Cricket, the goofy/smart boy from next door who Lola was previously involved with and the usual sparks start to fly.

 Major Things That Bothered Me About The Book:

1. To me,  Lola and Cricket's courtship falls flat and the characters also comes off as a tad mismatched. Cricket's character seems so juvenile while, Lola seems to be this worldly girl who captures everyone's attention.

2. Lola's refusal to acknowledge her feelings for Cricket sends her in a relentless circle dance. She goes from not wanting to say how she feels. To hiding her actual feelings from Max and Cricket. Then, when she finally gets to the point where she can't hide her feelings  anymore, Lola has to confront Max and he breaks her heart and leaves her in ultra-goth mode (which, she vehemently denies being in).

3. By the novel's end, the only thing left to do is to "tidy up" and write a final romance sequence for Lola and Cricket......but wait!.....Perkins decides to go the extra mile and spice things up by giving Lola a final chance to showcase her clothing designs in the form of Calliope, Cricket's twin sister who happens to be a figure skater. This chance for Lola to showcase her talent seemed so random in the midst of the story's ending but, it does give readers the chance to see Lola's versatility in fashion. Suffice to say, Perkins has Lola rescue the day and then, sends both Cricket and Lola on their blissful way to a ball-like ending with Lola wearing a gown inspired by Marie Antoinette's fashion and Cricket looking dapper in a regular suit.

Even though I would label this book as a typical YA love story, my biggest gripe with the story was that it didn't feel authentic. I felt as if I'd read the conversations between Lola and Cricket before and seen the "boy loves girl but, girl's with another guy" storyline before. Even Lola's zany outfits just seemed to be pilfered from other books with similar plots. I'm still looking forward to reading Anna & The French Kiss and even Isla & The Happily Ever After but, this book didn't exactly work me into a frenzy. Yet, If you're looking for a light, quirky read I'd suggest this book.

Cheers.