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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sammy Espinoza, a struggling journalist, is given one last chance to save her job. Her plan is to gain exclusive access to Max Ryan, a former rock star, who is rumored to be secretly recording his first solo album. Sammy has history with Max - they spent an incredible night together right before his big break. Sammy sees this as an opportunity to redeem herself professionally and to seek payback for Max's ghosting.
But there's a catch: Max lives in Ridley Falls, Washington, a place where Sammy has unresolved family issues and a mountain of questions. Despite her reservations, Sammy heads back to Ridley Falls to confront her past and to get her hands on Max's music.
As Sammy spends more time with Max, she realizes that there's more to his story than she ever could have imagined. As their relationship deepens, Sammy is faced with a difficult decision: should she use Max and his music for her own gain, or should she put her own ambitions aside and help Max fulfill his dream?
Sammy Espinoza's Final Book Review is a poignant and humorous story about redemption, forgiveness, and the power of music.
***********************MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD*********************
When I read the final sentence of this book I gratefully received as an ARC, my first thought was “late bloomer comes of age”. At first, I was slightly annoyed with Sammy Espinoza– in her thirties, learning lessons she should have learned in her earlier years– and as the story progressed, I realized I couldn’t be more wrong about her.
Sammy, raised by a young and immature woman whose narcissism kept her from being the mother Sammy needed, spent her childhood putting on layers of tough skin to take the punches life threw at her. Consistently made to play second fiddle in her mother’s life, she bounced around her mother’s friend’s homes and elsewhere while her mom prioritized the men of the moment. She hardened and fell into her safe space, which was music.
As an adult, Sammy makes a number of excuses for her mother’s absences that come to a head towards the end of the book. Before we get to that particular moment, however, there are plenty of gooey, romantic scenes between her and old flame Max, a familial reconciliation with her birth father’s mother Paloma, and growth with her closest friend, Willa. That’s all to say that this is a book that’s as full of life being lived with a soundtrack attached to it that screams coming-of-age.
Ultimately, this story is really for the people who spent their childhood having to be the adults in their own lives while the adults who were supposed to be raising them spent their time growing up. What I loved most about it was that it was masked as this cute romance book, but it ended up being so much more than that. Tehlor Kay Mejia knocked it out of the park with her creation of Sammy and giving a voice to people like her. I hope that Sammy’s story resonates with late bloomers everywhere when they read this fresh and moving book.
But there's a catch: Max lives in Ridley Falls, Washington, a place where Sammy has unresolved family issues and a mountain of questions. Despite her reservations, Sammy heads back to Ridley Falls to confront her past and to get her hands on Max's music.
As Sammy spends more time with Max, she realizes that there's more to his story than she ever could have imagined. As their relationship deepens, Sammy is faced with a difficult decision: should she use Max and his music for her own gain, or should she put her own ambitions aside and help Max fulfill his dream?
Sammy Espinoza's Final Book Review is a poignant and humorous story about redemption, forgiveness, and the power of music.
***********************MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD*********************
When I read the final sentence of this book I gratefully received as an ARC, my first thought was “late bloomer comes of age”. At first, I was slightly annoyed with Sammy Espinoza– in her thirties, learning lessons she should have learned in her earlier years– and as the story progressed, I realized I couldn’t be more wrong about her.
Sammy, raised by a young and immature woman whose narcissism kept her from being the mother Sammy needed, spent her childhood putting on layers of tough skin to take the punches life threw at her. Consistently made to play second fiddle in her mother’s life, she bounced around her mother’s friend’s homes and elsewhere while her mom prioritized the men of the moment. She hardened and fell into her safe space, which was music.
As an adult, Sammy makes a number of excuses for her mother’s absences that come to a head towards the end of the book. Before we get to that particular moment, however, there are plenty of gooey, romantic scenes between her and old flame Max, a familial reconciliation with her birth father’s mother Paloma, and growth with her closest friend, Willa. That’s all to say that this is a book that’s as full of life being lived with a soundtrack attached to it that screams coming-of-age.
Ultimately, this story is really for the people who spent their childhood having to be the adults in their own lives while the adults who were supposed to be raising them spent their time growing up. What I loved most about it was that it was masked as this cute romance book, but it ended up being so much more than that. Tehlor Kay Mejia knocked it out of the park with her creation of Sammy and giving a voice to people like her. I hope that Sammy’s story resonates with late bloomers everywhere when they read this fresh and moving book.
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
This book was full of lies and terrible choices and refusals to communicate, and also characters who you want really good things for (i would like a prequel with her best friends, please!). If you, like me, read quickly and thought this would be a queer relationship at the center of the book, know that there is plenty of queerness but the LI is a heterosexual.
I am giving this 3.5 stars rounded up mostly bc i would really have liked more emotional growth between age 18 and the adulthood in the book--therapy! relationships that changed the characters! personal reflection!--rather than all happening in the course of the story, but it was a fun read with some emotional parts.
This was a NetGalley ARC and this review is unbiased.
I am giving this 3.5 stars rounded up mostly bc i would really have liked more emotional growth between age 18 and the adulthood in the book--therapy! relationships that changed the characters! personal reflection!--rather than all happening in the course of the story, but it was a fun read with some emotional parts.
This was a NetGalley ARC and this review is unbiased.
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was full of lies and terrible choices and refusals to communicate, and also characters who you want really good things for (i would like a prequel with her best friends, please!). If you, like me, read quickly and thought this would be a queer relationship at the center of the book, know that there is plenty of queerness but the LI is a heterosexual.
I am giving this 3.5 stars rounded up mostly bc i would really have liked more emotional growth between age 18 and the adulthood in the book--therapy! relationships that changed the characters! personal reflection!--rather than all happening in the course of the story, but it was a fun read with some emotional parts.
This was a NetGalley ARC and this review is unbiased.
I am giving this 3.5 stars rounded up mostly bc i would really have liked more emotional growth between age 18 and the adulthood in the book--therapy! relationships that changed the characters! personal reflection!--rather than all happening in the course of the story, but it was a fun read with some emotional parts.
This was a NetGalley ARC and this review is unbiased.
It was just ok. I wanted to like it and was invested early on, but both of them were kind of toxic and had poor communication skills. I was more invested in Sammy’s relationship with Paloma. Her friends were pretty one-dimensional. Felt like it was doing a lot and in return didn’t do enough.
Heartbreaking, sweet and reflective. This book could and should have been a cliche, but instead it felt fresh and engaging. I loved the characters for all their flaws and enjoyed the time I spent in their world. From found family to healing what’s holding us back, this book takes you apart and puts you back together again.