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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed the Bookish Life of Nina Hill so my expectations were probably a little high for this one so I was left a bit disappointed.
3.5 ⭐️
3.5 ⭐️
I was pleasantly surprised with this one. I really liked Nina Hill and expected a similar story for this one, but a mother/daughter growth story worked and really made me happy to read.
Jessica is an overworked single mother who's been balancing her daughter and her job but letting her job win. Emily reminded me a lot of myself; an in-between person who isn't fully sure what she's capable of doing but also wants the space to figure it out for herself. Jessica is involved in Emily's life despite Emily's want for her to move away from that space and the tension between them and their relationship is palatable from the beginning.
As they journey to different colleges on this weekend tour of the East Coast, not only do Jessica and Emily find out more about themselves, but they find out more about each other. It's obvious that Jessica and Emily didn't have that Lorelai/Rory bond. In fact, it seemed on the verge of blowing up with every snarky comment or eye roll.
But I loved the gradual growth between them. Frankly, I was expecting there to be some bigger adventure that would take Jessica and Emily's experiences to get out of, but it didn't turn out this way. It was a breezy and funny coming-of-age story (and I'm talking about coming-of-age for everyone) and Jessica and Emily do end up with a better relationship at the end.
I was a little annoyed that Jessica and Emily had this rapport that seemed on the brink of tearing, but then you would read their inner thoughts (because the book is written in dual POV) and want for them to just say what they're feeling. However, having been a teenager with a tough relationship with their mom, I understood why there were less said than felt.
I wasn't a fan of all the stuff happening around Jessica and Emily. For example, a school admissions scandal. I'm assuming Abbi Waxman is bringing this up because of the scandals that happened in 2019 with a very prominent school in LA and Abbi being from LA probably wanted to talk about it. The way it was set up felt a bit abrupt and pulled from nowhere. I wished there was a bit more context at the beginning of the novel (and perhaps something Emily is hiding more from Jessica) to bring that scandal into full view by the end. However, there was some interesting things that came out of that part of the book, which I really liked especially the parts discussing how important college is to kids and their parents.
Overall, this was a fun read and reading it on audiobook with the two POVs was excellent. There was a lot of emotions that the narrator put into her characters and it showed when you listen, so highly recommend it if you can get a copy of the audiobook somewhere.
I received a copy of this book from Berkley. My opinions have not been influenced by the publisher or the author.
Jessica is an overworked single mother who's been balancing her daughter and her job but letting her job win. Emily reminded me a lot of myself; an in-between person who isn't fully sure what she's capable of doing but also wants the space to figure it out for herself. Jessica is involved in Emily's life despite Emily's want for her to move away from that space and the tension between them and their relationship is palatable from the beginning.
As they journey to different colleges on this weekend tour of the East Coast, not only do Jessica and Emily find out more about themselves, but they find out more about each other. It's obvious that Jessica and Emily didn't have that Lorelai/Rory bond. In fact, it seemed on the verge of blowing up with every snarky comment or eye roll.
But I loved the gradual growth between them. Frankly, I was expecting there to be some bigger adventure that would take Jessica and Emily's experiences to get out of, but it didn't turn out this way. It was a breezy and funny coming-of-age story (and I'm talking about coming-of-age for everyone) and Jessica and Emily do end up with a better relationship at the end.
I was a little annoyed that Jessica and Emily had this rapport that seemed on the brink of tearing, but then you would read their inner thoughts (because the book is written in dual POV) and want for them to just say what they're feeling. However, having been a teenager with a tough relationship with their mom, I understood why there were less said than felt.
I wasn't a fan of all the stuff happening around Jessica and Emily. For example, a school admissions scandal. I'm assuming Abbi Waxman is bringing this up because of the scandals that happened in 2019 with a very prominent school in LA and Abbi being from LA probably wanted to talk about it. The way it was set up felt a bit abrupt and pulled from nowhere. I wished there was a bit more context at the beginning of the novel (and perhaps something Emily is hiding more from Jessica) to bring that scandal into full view by the end. However, there was some interesting things that came out of that part of the book, which I really liked especially the parts discussing how important college is to kids and their parents.
Overall, this was a fun read and reading it on audiobook with the two POVs was excellent. There was a lot of emotions that the narrator put into her characters and it showed when you listen, so highly recommend it if you can get a copy of the audiobook somewhere.
I received a copy of this book from Berkley. My opinions have not been influenced by the publisher or the author.
Loved it except one thing...
So who on the tour was going to be getting the stolen papers??????? Why did you do this to us????
So who on the tour was going to be getting the stolen papers??????? Why did you do this to us????
That was a super fast and fun read and I liked it. Of course everything wrapped up neatly but for the type of book, I thought it was good. The mother/teen relationship and looking at colleges hit super close to home for me right now but again, I liked it.
This would have been a good beach read. Instead, I read it during a huge snow storm.
Emily and her mother Jessica are going on an arranged tour of colleges in the East (they live in California) so Emily can think about where she wants to go and what she wants to do with her life. They both come with baggage, Jessica has made a stand at work and possibly won't have a job to come back to and Emily is caught up in a cheating scandal at school. This book takes place over a week but the backstories are so skillfully filled in you feel like you really know Jessica and Emily. There's the usual mother/daughter drama but there's also a lot of laughs. I loved the ending, it was just perfect.
A mother and daughter spend a week on a college tour trip. If I could relate, I might have enjoyed this more. I did love the rant on college applications and parents at the end though.
I absolutely loved this book. Sure, I'm a 40-something lawyer dealing with teens, so that resonates. But mostly, I adore Waxman's writing style. So many clever turns of phrase. I highlighted so much more than usual.