Reviews - Christa Comes Out of Her Shell

You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

302 reviews for:

Christa Comes Out of Her Shell

Abbi Waxman

3.65 AVERAGE

lisajpizza's review

3.75

emotional funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

stephtol's review

3.0

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

sadie_reads_alatte's review

5.0

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

The first novel I ever read by Abbi Waxman, "The Bookish Life Of Nina Hill," I gave four stars. Four instead of five, because I loved the characters and the story so much that I devoured it, then was devastated it was over and decided to be a little petty about it.
I have since read every book she has published, and have felt the same about every single one. I truly love the characters she writes!
Christa, her snails, Nate, all the Liddle Ladies, I loved everyone in this book... well, maybe not Jasper. "Fuck you, Jasper."
This story had such an energy to it, even when addressing some hard stuff, it almost buzzed. And the scene with a carousel?? Perfect!
If you have never read anything by Abbi Waxman, please, please do yourself the favor and fix that as soon as possible.

kyemmpem's review

4.0

emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

This is one of those authors I’ll read whenever she has a new book out. She’s just really fun!

eezurek's review

4.5

funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sneezy_5000's review

4.0

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

I enjoyed the story but I spent a good part of the time thinking that there was going to be a twist and the main love interest would end up being someone else.... Nevertheless it is a very unique and fun story

jaelvictoria26's review

3.0

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

meredithamadee's review

3.5

medium-paced

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Yall, im so disappointed because Abbi is a favorite of mine! This one just fell so unfortunately flat :( I usually love Waxman’s writing for its wit and the way she writes about families. This one was much more focused on the romance and it felt VERY cringey (open door scenes and explicit talk which I don’t always mind but it felt so out of place here) The characters felt super inconsistent and the plot just kinda flopped. I still recommend Waxman’s novels but I would skip this one. I enjoyed the beginning and the conflict that was set up with the main characters father “coming back from the dead.” I do feel like this introduced a lot of conflict in the family that felt interesting but it then veered more into the romance which I just didn’t think was necessary.

Content Warnings

turning_pages_with_steph's review against another edition

4.25

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

serendipitysbooks's review

3.25

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Christa is a marine biologist happily studying sea snails on a small isolated island in the Indian Ocean. But then she receives a message that her famous father, who was declared dead following a plane crash when she was a young child, is, in fact, very much alive and seeking to reconnect. This forces her to return to LA where she must also contend with some awkward interactions with her mother and older sisters with whom she has a complicated relationship, renewed memories of a traumatic event from her past, and a totally unexpected attraction to a childhood acquaintance. I'm not sure if this is not one of Waxman's better works or whether I've changed as a reader. Possibly a bit of both but more of the latter, I suspect. Whatever the reason, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I'd hoped and expected. The witty, wry, slightly snarky style, especially in the dialogue, was still there, and Christa was a little quirky and anxious, relatable and loveable, just the sort of heroine Waxman specialises in. The book had a strong connection to the natural world, which I appreciated, and the multi media elements and the footnotes were definite hits. Where this book lost me, I think, was the lack of subtlety and nuance in many of the characters and plot points. Anything connected to Jasper's agent and publicist was just far too over the top, too ridiculous a caricature for my personal taste. I was happy to read something light but didn't want to roll my eyes as often as I did. I recognise that humour is a very personal thing, and this book will undoubtedly work for many readers. Alas, it wasn't a hit for me.

Content Warnings

More...