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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
I wanted to like this. The premise is excellent and the characters have potential, but overall this is meh. Everything feels very general and too easy. The author's writing style doesn't help either. I do think there are important moments, like Kit's family struggling with money, that would spark good conversations, but the writing never sings so these moments don't shine like they should.
I did finish it, I guess there's that.
Described a voice dripping with sarcasm, like the oil drips from her Mom's old car
Described a cup of coffee full of sugar, like drinking a cake.
"My name is bounced around the room like a tennis ball made of whispers"
& so many others I didn't bother two write down
Described a voice dripping with sarcasm, like the oil drips from her Mom's old car
Described a cup of coffee full of sugar, like drinking a cake.
"My name is bounced around the room like a tennis ball made of whispers"
& so many others I didn't bother two write down
A solid book overall but as a recent high school graduate I need to make some severe corrections about the college application/financial aid process.
-What kinds of colleges is this girl applying to???
So apparently the only colleges Kit applied to are Stanford, Yale, UPenn, Harvard, Marquette, and community college. Leaving out the community college, every college has an acceptance rate of less than 10% except Marquette, which has an acceptance rate of almost 90%. A couple questions about this:
Why would Kit assume not getting into the elite colleges meant she wouldn’t get into Marquette? I get that all that rejection would be disappointing, but this leads me into my second question.
Why did Kit apply to so many super elite colleges? Again, I understand that this was a part of her determination to live out her perfect life or whatever, but surely her guidance counselor told her about target schools, reach schools, and safety schools? And no evidence shows that she’s this super genius - sure, she’s probably smart if she’s taking calculus and AP classes, but the average smart kid cannot get into these elite schools. And she could have applied to more mid-level schools like Marquette and had a better chance of getting good financial aid (for example, public universities often have good financial aid scholarships).
- The whole ‘divorce means I get more financial aid’ line actually creates more problems than it solves
So I looked it up and Marquette does not require financial aid info from the non-custodial parent. BUT in order to apply for the scholarship she must have filled out the FAFSA (99% of college scholarships require you to do this, especially a full ride scholarship like the community college has). If she filled out the FAFSA already that means she had to put in her dad’s info. Which means she had to put down his income. Which means she knew what job he had which completely contradicts the part in the story where she is surprised by finding out he works on a kids’ show.
Of course it’s possible that she could have filed as having only one custodial parent and left her dad out of the picture. But if this was true she wouldn’t say leaving out her dads’ info would reduce her financial aid. Therefore the only possible solution is that she already had her dad’s info and therefore shouldn’t have been surprised about where he was working (plus with how little her dad probably makes it wouldn’t affect things that much). Also the FAFSA requires you to put the year of your parents’ divorce if you are claiming divorced parents and they might have seen something suspicious if they saw her parents got divorced the year before she went to college.
So basically: Kit wouldn’t have had to settle for community college if she would have made smart application choices, and the financial aid situation leaves a plot hole in the book.
Plus as a side note colleges still send out acceptance letters but not all colleges send out rejection letters. Nowadays colleges use emails for both acceptance and rejection.
-What kinds of colleges is this girl applying to???
So apparently the only colleges Kit applied to are Stanford, Yale, UPenn, Harvard, Marquette, and community college. Leaving out the community college, every college has an acceptance rate of less than 10% except Marquette, which has an acceptance rate of almost 90%. A couple questions about this:
Why would Kit assume not getting into the elite colleges meant she wouldn’t get into Marquette? I get that all that rejection would be disappointing, but this leads me into my second question.
Why did Kit apply to so many super elite colleges? Again, I understand that this was a part of her determination to live out her perfect life or whatever, but surely her guidance counselor told her about target schools, reach schools, and safety schools? And no evidence shows that she’s this super genius - sure, she’s probably smart if she’s taking calculus and AP classes, but the average smart kid cannot get into these elite schools. And she could have applied to more mid-level schools like Marquette and had a better chance of getting good financial aid (for example, public universities often have good financial aid scholarships).
- The whole ‘divorce means I get more financial aid’ line actually creates more problems than it solves
So I looked it up and Marquette does not require financial aid info from the non-custodial parent. BUT in order to apply for the scholarship she must have filled out the FAFSA (99% of college scholarships require you to do this, especially a full ride scholarship like the community college has). If she filled out the FAFSA already that means she had to put in her dad’s info. Which means she had to put down his income. Which means she knew what job he had which completely contradicts the part in the story where she is surprised by finding out he works on a kids’ show.
Of course it’s possible that she could have filed as having only one custodial parent and left her dad out of the picture. But if this was true she wouldn’t say leaving out her dads’ info would reduce her financial aid. Therefore the only possible solution is that she already had her dad’s info and therefore shouldn’t have been surprised about where he was working (plus with how little her dad probably makes it wouldn’t affect things that much). Also the FAFSA requires you to put the year of your parents’ divorce if you are claiming divorced parents and they might have seen something suspicious if they saw her parents got divorced the year before she went to college.
So basically: Kit wouldn’t have had to settle for community college if she would have made smart application choices, and the financial aid situation leaves a plot hole in the book.
Plus as a side note colleges still send out acceptance letters but not all colleges send out rejection letters. Nowadays colleges use emails for both acceptance and rejection.
Cute, inclusive. But a little anemic in its characterizations.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. Okay, this one grew on me. High school senior Kit has always had big plans. The problem is, they hinge on getting out of her Chicagoland town...and her family doesn’t exactly have money to spare. She has worked at the local Middle Ages reenactment restaurant managed by her uncle for years, but her wages as a serving wench just aren’t cutting it. Time and time again, she is shot down when she asks to work her way up to a knight, which pays way more. But the “company policy” is that only males can fight. She decides to take matters into her own hands, but is the gamble worth it? There’s also a love story, and it’s wonderful. With some teen drinking and smoking, I would recommend this for grades 7+.
Might be an unpopular opinion, but the history facts sprinkled throughout the story were actually one of my favorite parts.
*2,75/5⭐️ This book has great LGBTQ+ rep but that’s all I can say about the characters.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated