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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Sydney has just turned sixteen, and she typically lives in Seattle with her grandmother, Edwina. Sydney is off to San Francisco to spend the summer with her movie star mother, Lila Shore. She's picked up by her mom's boyfriend de jour in his very expensive sports car. As the summer progresses Sydney begins to see herself and others through her newfound maturity. Her mom is neglectful and self-centered, the people at the nude beach reveal more than their skin as Syd imagines the lives they've led and names the "regulars" in her own mind, the construction worker who leers and jeers at her from the home-in-progress next door, and so many others.
The story is a mystery we know from the beginning if we recognize the clues. Each chapter starts with a piece of evidence, the chapter header, linked to Sydney's story. A crime will occur, and little by little the reader knows and feels the foreshadowing. Instead of a whodunnit, it's more of a what's-going-to-happen-to-whom? For fans of Caletti, they will recognize the deft way that she teases out the ending from the beginning much like in her acclaimed book A Heart in a Body in the World. The intimate first person narrative will engage readers who enjoy Nina LaCour and similar stories that get in the head of the narrator.
The story is a mystery we know from the beginning if we recognize the clues. Each chapter starts with a piece of evidence, the chapter header, linked to Sydney's story. A crime will occur, and little by little the reader knows and feels the foreshadowing. Instead of a whodunnit, it's more of a what's-going-to-happen-to-whom? For fans of Caletti, they will recognize the deft way that she teases out the ending from the beginning much like in her acclaimed book A Heart in a Body in the World. The intimate first person narrative will engage readers who enjoy Nina LaCour and similar stories that get in the head of the narrator.
finally getting my review up for this 2+ months later. oof!
tw: abuse
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a brief synopsis. this book follows a girl named sydney who is going to live with her mom in the summer in california. her mom is a famous actress and the book comes off innocent but the summer becomes a time she will never forget.
okay. this book talks about a theme that i found very under discussed in ya books and that's the shift when you are no longer seen as a girl and is seen as a woman. While reading sydney's POV, she talks about how she was outside and saw a guy in his 30s checking her out. I don't think books talk about how girls become preyed upon during their teen years. You become more aware of what you are wearing, how men are looking for you, and it becomes worse when we think about how underage girls are seen as being older because of their appearance. She seems to want to be 16 and live in that moment but it's hard when you can't enjoy your innocence. On her sixteenth birthday, her mom protects her from older men. she confront shane, i believe the neighbor, and tells him to stop harassing her. his excuse was he thought she was in college... that gives you an excuse as someone that is not in college to prey on a young girl....
she is staying with her mom and her boyfriend, jake. jake was a character in the absolute worst way. sydney was already in a new place and she wasn't getting the attention she wanted from her mom and had jake be protective of her in a creepy way. she hung out with max, her dog, a lot because at least she had a friend. it was hinted while reading that jake was involved in some shady business and some of the convos with jake were just creepy like how he had art discussing how picasso had a 26 year old wife and how that is not creepy. he loved the age gap in art. really put in perspective how age gaps in romance is seen as ~goals~ instead of ew. jake gets mad when nicco is making out with her. jake was awful.
the discussion about 'ladies' man."' It was interesting how critical the phrase of ladies man was. It was even said that it should just be called creeps. I find it interesting how if woman are dating lots of men there is critical language like whore, slut etc. while men dating lots of woman is seen as endearing and impressive.
whenever her best friend from home, meredith, came. yikes. i was proud that meredith realized the situation was bad. she noticed that lila was being abused. meredith was SCARED. then, sydney leaves meredith with a strange boy alone and thought it was normal, like no... then later, meredith and sydney come home to lilia and jake yelling at each other. meredith left immediately after that and it was sad that when sydney called her grandmother to help get her out, she said it would 'blow over.' meredith leaves early and even tries to get sydney out because she knew something bad was going to happen. it made me realize how sydney was never protected and thought she was trapped while meredith had people that cared.
the ending. jake ends up dead. sydney takes the fall for her mom. it got ruled a justifiable homicide. she was manipulated that summer and her mom did not care for her the way that she needed to be cared for. overall, this book is one that i will never forget. how young girls are not protected. how young girls are seen as being grown up even when they are not. how young girls are alone in a world where we are taken advantage of. i encourage everyone to read this book.
tw: abuse
--------------------------
a brief synopsis. this book follows a girl named sydney who is going to live with her mom in the summer in california. her mom is a famous actress and the book comes off innocent but the summer becomes a time she will never forget.
okay. this book talks about a theme that i found very under discussed in ya books and that's the shift when you are no longer seen as a girl and is seen as a woman. While reading sydney's POV, she talks about how she was outside and saw a guy in his 30s checking her out. I don't think books talk about how girls become preyed upon during their teen years. You become more aware of what you are wearing, how men are looking for you, and it becomes worse when we think about how underage girls are seen as being older because of their appearance. She seems to want to be 16 and live in that moment but it's hard when you can't enjoy your innocence. On her sixteenth birthday, her mom protects her from older men. she confront shane, i believe the neighbor, and tells him to stop harassing her. his excuse was he thought she was in college... that gives you an excuse as someone that is not in college to prey on a young girl....
she is staying with her mom and her boyfriend, jake. jake was a character in the absolute worst way. sydney was already in a new place and she wasn't getting the attention she wanted from her mom and had jake be protective of her in a creepy way. she hung out with max, her dog, a lot because at least she had a friend. it was hinted while reading that jake was involved in some shady business and some of the convos with jake were just creepy like how he had art discussing how picasso had a 26 year old wife and how that is not creepy. he loved the age gap in art. really put in perspective how age gaps in romance is seen as ~goals~ instead of ew. jake gets mad when nicco is making out with her. jake was awful.
the discussion about 'ladies' man."' It was interesting how critical the phrase of ladies man was. It was even said that it should just be called creeps. I find it interesting how if woman are dating lots of men there is critical language like whore, slut etc. while men dating lots of woman is seen as endearing and impressive.
whenever her best friend from home, meredith, came. yikes. i was proud that meredith realized the situation was bad. she noticed that lila was being abused. meredith was SCARED. then, sydney leaves meredith with a strange boy alone and thought it was normal, like no... then later, meredith and sydney come home to lilia and jake yelling at each other. meredith left immediately after that and it was sad that when sydney called her grandmother to help get her out, she said it would 'blow over.' meredith leaves early and even tries to get sydney out because she knew something bad was going to happen. it made me realize how sydney was never protected and thought she was trapped while meredith had people that cared.
the ending. jake ends up dead. sydney takes the fall for her mom. it got ruled a justifiable homicide. she was manipulated that summer and her mom did not care for her the way that she needed to be cared for. overall, this book is one that i will never forget. how young girls are not protected. how young girls are seen as being grown up even when they are not. how young girls are alone in a world where we are taken advantage of. i encourage everyone to read this book.
2.5 stars - just okay; also disturbing but unfortunately reflects reality.
This was a strong story about an expendable child growing up in her famous mother's shadow without the support of either parent. When she goes to spend the obligatory summer with mom the year she turns 16, her mother is in yet another abusive relationship with an unlikable controlling man. Sydney is more aware than ever of being viewed through a male gaze of having a mother entirely dependent on that kind of attention and filled with a sense of foreboding about bad things to come.
A very satisfying coming of age story with a very likable girl at its center.
A very satisfying coming of age story with a very likable girl at its center.
Sydney wished that she could just spend the summer in in Seattle, the place she called home with her Edwina and her friends. Instead she reluctantly goes to spend the summer with her mother, Lila Shore-yes, that Lila Shore-the beautiful, self absorbed actress Lila Shore. Except it’s not Lila that picks her up from the airport but her new boyfriend Jake. Syd has a funny feeling about him and rightfully so, as he displays his bizarre art collection openly in their home. Syd avoids Jake and his growing temper and falls head over heels with Nico, a local, instead and it’s everything that she’s ever wanted, to be wanted by a boy like her mother, the object used by many different men before and well after Sydney’s father. Sydney can’t ignore the storm brewing around her forever though, can she stop it before it consumes her?
(There’s also a cute dog too!)
Thanks to Libro.fm’s Advanced Listening Copy program for Educators and Librarians for this free audiobook in exchange for a review.
(There’s also a cute dog too!)
Thanks to Libro.fm’s Advanced Listening Copy program for Educators and Librarians for this free audiobook in exchange for a review.
All the adults in this book suck so much. Except maybe Leslie. But even then - why did your 17-year-old son feel the need to move out? She sucks too.
Also not a fan of the weird foreshadowing used throughout.
Also not a fan of the weird foreshadowing used throughout.
DNF. Could tell where this story was going and didn't want to go there.
Got this book in a giveaway, so thanks to the publishers first. Sydney Reilly spends the summer that she turns 16 with her actress mother in San Francisco. Narrating, Sydney makes it clear the danger of her situation of living with her mom and mom’s abusive boyfriend who is involved in shady business practices. She also begins to notice how men watch and objectify her. She’s telling her story retrospectively so she makes comments about red flags she missed about her situation. It feels heavy handed and too obvious but considering the context of a 16 yo who is really experiencing sexual harassment for the first time and is angry about how these instances of interactions have contributed to her trauma from an event that occurs at the end of the book. The book does a good job building suspense as it culminates into the event. You feel as unsafe as Sydney. Some parts feel obvious when speaking about the blatant sexism that still exists in our society but maybe it’s needed since people don’t believe that it still happens. Overall, I liked it and I devoured the book because I just had to know what happens.
Trash.
I think that the premise of this book sounded really intriguing, however, it was a dud. I feel like the climax of this book should have happened much sooner. I feel like whole book built up to something that didn’t make sense. I wanted to hate the boyfriend of the mom more than I did…… but the lead up to him being a creep… never really happened for me. I just think that it was a let down.
I think that the premise of this book sounded really intriguing, however, it was a dud. I feel like the climax of this book should have happened much sooner. I feel like whole book built up to something that didn’t make sense. I wanted to hate the boyfriend of the mom more than I did…… but the lead up to him being a creep… never really happened for me. I just think that it was a let down.