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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
mysterious
medium-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 had completely forgotten how beautiful Ruta Sepetys' writing is. I read her first book "Between Shades of Grey" three years ago. That story has stuck with me ever since. It has haunted me to this day. I guess that that's just how she writes! Sepetys writes beautiful stories that haunt the reader long after they finish the book. This story will definitely stick with me. I loved every single thing about it. I loved the setting, I loved the characters and how witty all of them were, and how different they were. I just loved this book. The struggles that the young protagonist had to deal with were very realistic, and touching. When I first heard about the book, I knew that Josie's mother would be a prostitute, but I never thought that she would be a bitch. Just being honest! I could go on and on about Josie's strength and character development. I could write a whole novel on this book. All of the plot twists were extremely unexpected as well. Patrick being gay, Louise stealing all of Josie's valuables and money, Josie having to pay for her mother's 5,000 debt to the mob, Willie's death, Charlie's death, it was all unexpected. I always seem to finish my books at night, so by the time I write this review, it's very late, and I can't think straight, but I did want to write my review while it was still fresh in my brain. The last thing that I want to talk about is Jesse. I LOVED Jesse from the moment he was introduced. I completely fell in love with the character, and I am VERY happy with the ending.
Briefly said: This book was just fantastic.
“They got everything money can buy, their bank accounts are fat, but they ain't happy. They ain't ever gonna be happy. You know why? They soul broke. And money can't fix that, no sir.”
It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer.
She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.
With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.
Josie's had a pretty estranged life. She's grown up with no father figure and even though her mother's always there, she's grown up without a mother figure as well. Because she is possibly the worst mother in 1950's New Orleans. Maybe even the worst person, in general. Now Josie seventeen turning eighteen and she's turned up as a pretty strong headed and upright girl, considering circumstances. She strives to get out of "the big easy" and go to a prestigious school up east but her efforts are constantly demolished by series of events. And when mysterious deaths, multitudes of tragedies, and several "what the fucks", it gets harder and harder for Josie to keep a level head as there's only so much a human being can take.
Mkay.
I really. really. fucking liked Josie.
Josie's a bad ass and she's three thousand times the character I am. She's hardworking, knows what she wants and. exactly. what she doesn't want. She is sympathetic towards people even when they don't deserve it. She genuinely shy about her looks. She doesn't act stupid about her appearance, calling herself ugly and questioning why boys look at her. No, she's bashful and demure about the way she carries herself and how much value she puts on appearances. She's hopeful and she is humble which are things more people need nowadays. And she is just a beautiful person in the most subtle and discreet way. In the setting of New Orleans-- well. Plainly. this is where.
Shit happens.
And I'm still trying to understand how Josie kept her cool and did not literally shoot everyone in the knee caps. Because. -___- I would have done that.
If I was robbed, humiliated, gossiped about, lied to, manipulated, betrayed-- I would have thrown all my fucks out the window and just ran over everyone's toes with a car.
So props to Josie.
And now, lets talk about the love interests (hint at the plurality)
Patrick
Imma discuss Patrick Marlowe first to just get him out of the way. It's not that he's not an important character, because he most definitely is, but Sepetys was obvious in her writing to portray Patrick perfectly as the boy-next-door type who, sadly for lots, obviously was not going to end up with the main character. Patrick was nice. He was a great friend to Josie, a character with so many laugh-out-loud moments with even more genuine and love-able moments. However, it was obvious that the best friend he was to Josie, only went as far as being the best friend. I don't want to spoil anything, but I'm just going to say that things didn't work out with him and Josie because he was a bad person or just a bland love interest. Josie didn't ever think that Patrick just wasn't good enough for her and that's why they didn't end up together even though they optimally made sense and were so seemingly perfect for one another. The real reason why it didn't work out-- well you'll have to read the book for that, and man oh man, it just makes you want to love Patrick even more, and just stroke his hair and smile at him. because he's really such a genuinely awesome character.
Then there's Jesse
Lord. Jesse Thierry. What a hunk. What a fictionalized hunk.
Jesse doesn't become a larger character in Out of the Easy until about the last half of the novel when you actually realize that this character's role is going somewhere and there was an obvious reason why Ruta Sepetys sprinkled Jesse's involvement with Josie here and there- literally forcing the readers to think of Jesse in the back of their minds as they read the main story line.
Jesse on outward appearances is your typical bad boy. He sports the jeans, the dark hair, the flawless face and strikingly handsome/rugged features. He drives a motorcycle. He's a mechanic and is at the moment fixing up his own car. And he's pure lady killer as no girl's good enough for him.
However in truth. Jesse lives and takes care of his grandparents, doesn't flirt around with girls because he's got eyes for only one :'3 , works by selling flowers and arrangements from a cart, and is just out-and-out, positively, cute. as. fuck.
“You like me, Josie Moraine. You just don't know it yet.”
"It was Jesse. Again. He came by every day and yelled up to my window... He continued to yell... louder and louder alternating between high voices, low voices, and even singing it. "shut up!" someone called from a nearby window... He was so infuriating. i marched to the window and threw back the curtains. A crowd had gathered around Jesse on the street, and they all cheered as I appeared."
Overall- this book is such an honest and genuine read. The plot doesn't race by, but instead it's slow and climatic, taking it's time as you fall in love with the characters and or your anxiety peaks with the billions of unanswered questions. Historical fiction is not something I read every day. It isn't that I don't like it, but I've just never searched it out because I was dying to read it. The recent batch of books that I picked from the library, I picked solely because the place was about to close and I had ten minutes to get books to read over Christmas break- and I was desperate. In this novel I laughed continuously, smiled endearingly, and even clutched my heart like the puss puss that I am. I also remember being continuously frustrated in the best way- frustrated at Josie's strength and courage because I never would have been able to handle situations like her and frustrated at the situations that happened to her like her soulless mother being a soulless mother and Ruta Sepetys developing characters that I instantly fell in love with and then just as quickly, killing them off, again in the best hearted way, ripping my heart and soul in two.
“What do you do with all this bank, Josie? Be a lot easier if you just lifted your skirt.”
“The only reason I’d lift my skirt is to pull out my pistol and plug you in the head.”
I recommend this book to everyone.
Happy reading folks.
(Ps. These pictures are what I imagined while reading this novel, except instead of the modern clothes. Imagine them wearing 1950's style sweater vests, khakis, and white blazers)
“They got everything money can buy, their bank accounts are fat, but they ain't happy. They ain't ever gonna be happy. You know why? They soul broke. And money can't fix that, no sir.”
It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer.
She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.
With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.
Josie's had a pretty estranged life. She's grown up with no father figure and even though her mother's always there, she's grown up without a mother figure as well. Because she is possibly the worst mother in 1950's New Orleans. Maybe even the worst person, in general. Now Josie seventeen turning eighteen and she's turned up as a pretty strong headed and upright girl, considering circumstances. She strives to get out of "the big easy" and go to a prestigious school up east but her efforts are constantly demolished by series of events. And when mysterious deaths, multitudes of tragedies, and several "what the fucks", it gets harder and harder for Josie to keep a level head as there's only so much a human being can take.
Mkay.
I really. really. fucking liked Josie.
Josie's a bad ass and she's three thousand times the character I am. She's hardworking, knows what she wants and. exactly. what she doesn't want. She is sympathetic towards people even when they don't deserve it. She genuinely shy about her looks. She doesn't act stupid about her appearance, calling herself ugly and questioning why boys look at her. No, she's bashful and demure about the way she carries herself and how much value she puts on appearances. She's hopeful and she is humble which are things more people need nowadays. And she is just a beautiful person in the most subtle and discreet way. In the setting of New Orleans-- well. Plainly. this is where.
Shit happens.
And I'm still trying to understand how Josie kept her cool and did not literally shoot everyone in the knee caps. Because. -___- I would have done that.
If I was robbed, humiliated, gossiped about, lied to, manipulated, betrayed-- I would have thrown all my fucks out the window and just ran over everyone's toes with a car.
So props to Josie.
And now, lets talk about the love interests (hint at the plurality)
Patrick
Imma discuss Patrick Marlowe first to just get him out of the way. It's not that he's not an important character, because he most definitely is, but Sepetys was obvious in her writing to portray Patrick perfectly as the boy-next-door type who, sadly for lots, obviously was not going to end up with the main character. Patrick was nice. He was a great friend to Josie, a character with so many laugh-out-loud moments with even more genuine and love-able moments. However, it was obvious that the best friend he was to Josie, only went as far as being the best friend. I don't want to spoil anything, but I'm just going to say that things didn't work out with him and Josie because he was a bad person or just a bland love interest. Josie didn't ever think that Patrick just wasn't good enough for her and that's why they didn't end up together even though they optimally made sense and were so seemingly perfect for one another. The real reason why it didn't work out-- well you'll have to read the book for that, and man oh man, it just makes you want to love Patrick even more, and just stroke his hair and smile at him. because he's really such a genuinely awesome character.
Then there's Jesse
Lord. Jesse Thierry. What a hunk. What a fictionalized hunk.
Jesse doesn't become a larger character in Out of the Easy until about the last half of the novel when you actually realize that this character's role is going somewhere and there was an obvious reason why Ruta Sepetys sprinkled Jesse's involvement with Josie here and there- literally forcing the readers to think of Jesse in the back of their minds as they read the main story line.
Jesse on outward appearances is your typical bad boy. He sports the jeans, the dark hair, the flawless face and strikingly handsome/rugged features. He drives a motorcycle. He's a mechanic and is at the moment fixing up his own car. And he's pure lady killer as no girl's good enough for him.
However in truth. Jesse lives and takes care of his grandparents, doesn't flirt around with girls because he's got eyes for only one :'3 , works by selling flowers and arrangements from a cart, and is just out-and-out, positively, cute. as. fuck.
“You like me, Josie Moraine. You just don't know it yet.”
"It was Jesse. Again. He came by every day and yelled up to my window... He continued to yell... louder and louder alternating between high voices, low voices, and even singing it. "shut up!" someone called from a nearby window... He was so infuriating. i marched to the window and threw back the curtains. A crowd had gathered around Jesse on the street, and they all cheered as I appeared."
Overall- this book is such an honest and genuine read. The plot doesn't race by, but instead it's slow and climatic, taking it's time as you fall in love with the characters and or your anxiety peaks with the billions of unanswered questions. Historical fiction is not something I read every day. It isn't that I don't like it, but I've just never searched it out because I was dying to read it. The recent batch of books that I picked from the library, I picked solely because the place was about to close and I had ten minutes to get books to read over Christmas break- and I was desperate. In this novel I laughed continuously, smiled endearingly, and even clutched my heart like the puss puss that I am. I also remember being continuously frustrated in the best way- frustrated at Josie's strength and courage because I never would have been able to handle situations like her and frustrated at the situations that happened to her like her soulless mother being a soulless mother and Ruta Sepetys developing characters that I instantly fell in love with and then just as quickly, killing them off, again in the best hearted way, ripping my heart and soul in two.
“What do you do with all this bank, Josie? Be a lot easier if you just lifted your skirt.”
“The only reason I’d lift my skirt is to pull out my pistol and plug you in the head.”
I recommend this book to everyone.
Happy reading folks.
(Ps. These pictures are what I imagined while reading this novel, except instead of the modern clothes. Imagine them wearing 1950's style sweater vests, khakis, and white blazers)
I would read this book, a thousand times, over and over again! The story line is so relatable. It feels as if you're hearing this from your grandparents while you're sitting on the porch in the summer heat instead of flipping through pages.
About half way through this book I found myself thinking that while I was certainly enjoying the story, I wasn't going to love this book more than the other two novels I have read by Sepetys. But man of man was I ever wrong. By the end I was absolutely blown away. There was a moment in the later part of the book when I just sat in stunned silence. I put the book down and had to give my heart time to heal from the blow. But what I truly appreciate is that despite all of the horrible, just abysmal things that this book addresses - there is still hope in the narrative. And that is an unbelievable thing of beauty. Ruta Septeys writes masterpieces and I have unequivocally become a fan of everything she does.
Ruta Sepetys is quickly becoming a favorite author for me. Her ability to take history and make it totally readable and relatable is nothing short of wondrous! This book might be one of my favorite of hers. I totally fell in love with the MC, Josie, along with so many of the other characters. The setting, characters and story were all so wonderful! This would make a great book group discussion!
5 solid stars!
5 solid stars!
Josie is the daughter of a prostitute in 1950s New Orleans. While she has done her best to separate herself from that lifestyle by not following in her mother's footsteps, she is still very much involved in the lives of the madam and other prostitutes, even working as their house cleaner. While working at her other job at a bookstore, she meets a young woman that attends Smith college in Massachusetts and they become instantly best friends after one conversation. It felt very forced and unrealistic. Josie then decides she wants to attend Smith, again after a very brief conversation about the school. It is repeatedly mentioned that Josie is extremely intelligent and everyone just assumes she'll get into such a prestigious school. However, her actions throughout the book don't back up what is said of her, as she constantly proves just how naive she is when faced with situations. For a young woman with her upbringing, I'd have expected her to be far more street smart and able to navigate the situations she faces throughout the book.
There is also zero resolution to whether or not she eventually attends Smith. The final chapter alludes to her moving, but this is absolutely no guarantee she will get into the school. I wanted to see her have a happy ending so forced myself to finish reading, only to be left disappointed.
Just because a character is in the YA age range does not mean the book is appropriate for a YA demographic. I would feel very uncomfortable allowing a teenager to read about the goings on at a brothel. There is also content about the criminal activity within New Orleans that felt a bit old for the intended audience.
There is also zero resolution to whether or not she eventually attends Smith. The final chapter alludes to her moving, but this is absolutely no guarantee she will get into the school. I wanted to see her have a happy ending so forced myself to finish reading, only to be left disappointed.
Just because a character is in the YA age range does not mean the book is appropriate for a YA demographic. I would feel very uncomfortable allowing a teenager to read about the goings on at a brothel. There is also content about the criminal activity within New Orleans that felt a bit old for the intended audience.
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Abandonment
aahhh i absolutely LOVE this book
it's one of those books where you just can't stop thinking about it
so gripping and just a really good story and idc i like willie and cokie and OMG JESSIE and i laughed so much when i found out about patrick coz i had a feeling...
but yeah it's just a really good book set in New Orleans and i mean Josie's mum is a prostitute. nice. she loves reading and just READ THIS BOOK.
also i dare you to NOT fall in love with jessie...coz i just *sigh*
there was this one part which i read on the train and i was just smiling all the way home coz CUTENESS OVERLOAD.
if you like historical fiction then read this. =)
it's just one of those really good books that you just want to devour in one go but also savour...
Happy Reading! =D
it's one of those books where you just can't stop thinking about it
so gripping and just a really good story and idc i like willie and cokie and OMG JESSIE and i laughed so much when i found out about patrick coz i had a feeling...
but yeah it's just a really good book set in New Orleans and i mean Josie's mum is a prostitute. nice. she loves reading and just READ THIS BOOK.
also i dare you to NOT fall in love with jessie...coz i just *sigh*
there was this one part which i read on the train and i was just smiling all the way home coz CUTENESS OVERLOAD.
if you like historical fiction then read this. =)
it's just one of those really good books that you just want to devour in one go but also savour...
Happy Reading! =D