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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this novel a lot. Loved the characters and storylines
First strike: The stilted, unnatural dialogue throughout the whole book. Second strike: I liked the message of climate change throughout the book, but by then end it was just pushing the theme at every opportunity and didn’t seem organic. Third strike: The unnecessary final challenge in the last two pages of the book.
Benignly pleasant. As an LA native, I enjoyed references to places and freeways I know. I also enjoyed the food descriptions. On the other hand, the dialogue was stilted enough to be distracting, and I never got especially attached to any of the characters. The 14-year-old boy questioning his sexuality seems more like an 8 year old than a moody teenager based on what he says and does. I would recommend this to my LA friends with a caveat that the people and storyline are a little cartoonish, but not to people with no connection to LA.
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Terminal illness
Loved the tour through L.A. The food, landmarks, neighborhoods: they were all described so well and gave respect to the richness of L.A. It was a quick read because I was interested in learning about each character and how they would resolve their issues. Smart, fun, interesting read.
The best part was that the author wove climate change throughout the story and how it's affecting southern CA. We need to see more of this being included in novels. I also appreciated the mentions of CA native plants, that the characters cared about the wildlife, and their concern about the wildfires we experience here. The characters, however, were hard to like and their drama was cheesy at best. I found myself rushing through the book to try to get it over with.