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marieintheraw's review against another edition
4.0
I've never seen Pretty in Pink, which this has been compared to, but I did really enjoy this book. Sometimes you just are in the mood for a coming-of-age story.
sharperthoughts's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
njreadsandwrites's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a few times to read this book. 3 to be exact. Over the past year, YA has become a hit or miss for me. Eventually, I was emerged in the life of the Sanchez family, and I must say that it was okay. A normal YA semi-hard hitting contemporary with a lot of questionable decisions.
It explored the pressures of being in a place you don’t belong. I liked the realistic and flawed characters. Shedding light on the pretending and facades of perfection in society and how people who are less than, judge the rich as being out of touch with reality , as if they cannot remember anything other than their wealth.
Moises was definitely my favorite character. Despite his judgments, he stayed true to himself at all times, without having to switch roles around anyone. Also, he rides for his community and is not afraid to do what has to be done at any given moment.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed Jasmine’s character. She highlights what happens when a young girl has been dreams, and is continually being taken advantage of. From the industry to others who convinces broken girls they love them, for everything other than love. I wish more was written about that, but it was just a side plot that wasn’t fully developed.
The book started at an overly slow pace, and then moved quickly through the important scenes of the plot. i hated Margot and her entire family because they were so blind and ignorant to everything around them trying to keep their own secrets and perfect images. It was so bad that she went out a find a friend just like them, Camille, and her pretentious and controlling nature.
Lastly, the last page pissed me off deeply. I don’t have words to describe how I felt about the ending of the book, and if I wasn’t so invested, I would give this book 2.5.
Would you finish a book if the plot was lacking, yet you were invested in the characters? Drop your answers or a pink heart in the comments below, or on any of my social medias.
Love, peace, and dope reading!
-NJ
It explored the pressures of being in a place you don’t belong. I liked the realistic and flawed characters. Shedding light on the pretending and facades of perfection in society and how people who are less than, judge the rich as being out of touch with reality , as if they cannot remember anything other than their wealth.
Moises was definitely my favorite character. Despite his judgments, he stayed true to himself at all times, without having to switch roles around anyone. Also, he rides for his community and is not afraid to do what has to be done at any given moment.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed Jasmine’s character. She highlights what happens when a young girl has been dreams, and is continually being taken advantage of. From the industry to others who convinces broken girls they love them, for everything other than love. I wish more was written about that, but it was just a side plot that wasn’t fully developed.
The book started at an overly slow pace, and then moved quickly through the important scenes of the plot. i hated Margot and her entire family because they were so blind and ignorant to everything around them trying to keep their own secrets and perfect images. It was so bad that she went out a find a friend just like them, Camille, and her pretentious and controlling nature.
Lastly, the last page pissed me off deeply. I don’t have words to describe how I felt about the ending of the book, and if I wasn’t so invested, I would give this book 2.5.
Would you finish a book if the plot was lacking, yet you were invested in the characters? Drop your answers or a pink heart in the comments below, or on any of my social medias.
Love, peace, and dope reading!
-NJ
nicolemhewitt's review against another edition
5.0
This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Margot has remade herself so that she can fit in at her boarding school. She feels like she has to follow the lead of the popular (and rich) girls, and that has led her to make some incredibly poor decisions. When she steals her father’s credit card and charges $600 worth of clothes to it, she’s forced to spend the summer working at her father’s store to pay him back. While she’s there, her two worlds collide and she can’t seem to get them to mesh. She falls for a boy named Moises—a community activist who’s trying to prevent families from getting kicked out of their building, but she struggles with admitting her feelings for a boy who she knows her friends at school wouldn’t approve of. She feels disconnected from her best friend who has moved on without her (just as Margot has moved on), and her family and the family business both seem to be floundering—and she finds out that her family is actually falling apart in more ways than she ever imagined.
This book centers on identity. How Margot struggles to be the girl everyone else expects her to be. Her friends at school, her parents, her old neighborhood friends, the boy she wants to impress, the boy she’s slowly falling for: She can’t seem to live up to any of their expectations, and she can’t find herself in all the mess. While I wasn’t a fan of many of Margot’s decisions, I felt for her in her struggle to bring both sides of her life together and find the real Margot—and be true to her.
While I don’t think that the messages in this book are earth-shattering, Margot’s unique perspective gives food for thought and introduces us to a few heavier topics (sex, drug use, etc) without making the book feel like “heavy” book. I didn’t always love Margot, but I felt like she grew by the end of the book, and I learned from her. I give this one 3.5/5 stars.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
Margot has remade herself so that she can fit in at her boarding school. She feels like she has to follow the lead of the popular (and rich) girls, and that has led her to make some incredibly poor decisions. When she steals her father’s credit card and charges $600 worth of clothes to it, she’s forced to spend the summer working at her father’s store to pay him back. While she’s there, her two worlds collide and she can’t seem to get them to mesh. She falls for a boy named Moises—a community activist who’s trying to prevent families from getting kicked out of their building, but she struggles with admitting her feelings for a boy who she knows her friends at school wouldn’t approve of. She feels disconnected from her best friend who has moved on without her (just as Margot has moved on), and her family and the family business both seem to be floundering—and she finds out that her family is actually falling apart in more ways than she ever imagined.
This book centers on identity. How Margot struggles to be the girl everyone else expects her to be. Her friends at school, her parents, her old neighborhood friends, the boy she wants to impress, the boy she’s slowly falling for: She can’t seem to live up to any of their expectations, and she can’t find herself in all the mess. While I wasn’t a fan of many of Margot’s decisions, I felt for her in her struggle to bring both sides of her life together and find the real Margot—and be true to her.
While I don’t think that the messages in this book are earth-shattering, Margot’s unique perspective gives food for thought and introduces us to a few heavier topics (sex, drug use, etc) without making the book feel like “heavy” book. I didn’t always love Margot, but I felt like she grew by the end of the book, and I learned from her. I give this one 3.5/5 stars.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
sparklethenpop's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn't sure about this book at first but she nails the teenage voice.
lisathepoetlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
Smart, surprising, a refreshing addition to the coming of age story in American literature.
jwinchell's review against another edition
5.0
I love troubled, unreliable narrators who get gut-checked by life and relationships and learn to own their unique identities and honor the difficulties and benefits of navigating various worlds. Margot is insufferable in her flagging efforts to hide and change herself to fit in. If that sounds like a cheesy, overdone trope--trust me, here it absolutely is not. And if it sounds boring to boast that Margot learns to live her life honestly by not hiding flaws & pain and connecting with people wholeheartedly--trust me when I say there's plenty of drama and romance to satisfy most lovers of realistic YA fiction.
booksirl's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jdemarest's review against another edition
5.0
Lilliam painted such a clear picture of her characters; they are all so distinct and well-formed in my mind, and I think that’s a real strength of this book. I was a little put off by Margot’s character development though. While the pacing was generally spot on in terms of plot points, I felt that all of Margot’s growth happened rapidly and at once toward the end of the book. I think it would have come across as significantly more organic had that development been either spread out a little more, or had the connection between the big event and the character growth been made clearer. (If that makes any sense at all.) I’m all for showing and not telling, but I think I would have liked a slower “show” or a bit more “tell.”