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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
Well-written, quality historical young adult fiction is hard to find these days. All you can find now is dystopian, end-of-the-world, love triangle stories, a la The Hunger Games. Ruta Sepetys, author of Between Shades of Gray, brings us a well-written historical fiction novel with another hopeful heroine in Out of the Easy.
Josie's mother is a prostitute. As a result, Josie has lived on her own above the bookshop where she has worked since she was 12. Josie is intelligent, well-read, witty, and resourceful, but her mother's reputation--and her unsavory choice of boyfriend--follows her everywhere. Josie wants to go to college, especially after a kind gentleman visits the shop and assumes she is in college. Josie applies to Smith, a place where no one will know anything of her mother, and she can be "the good half" of who she is meant to be. But then the kind gentleman shows up dead, and her mother turns out to be linked to the murder, making life dangerous for Josie. Plus, Josie needs $2000 for tuition at Smith if she gets in, and after saving for years she only has $300. Will she be able to escape her mother and New Orleans?
The strength of this novel is the characters. Josie is unforgettable and keeps drawing you back into the book with her hopeful attitude toward the future. Wllie, the madam of the house where Josie's mother works, and Cokie, the house driver, are Josie's surrogate parents. Her friend Jesse is a mechanic who reminded me a bit of James Dean. Her co-worker Charlie is trying to keep his mentally ill father a secret. All of these band together to make a colorful collection of characters that keep you reading.
The story itself is a little weak. It was labeled s a mystery in my local library, and for the life of me I cannot figure out why. Where there unknowns that Josie was looking for? Definitely. Did she go out and try to solve them? Sort of. As in Between Shades of Gray, I was disappointed with the ending. While Between Shades of Gray ended too abruptly, I felt like not much was accomplished with the end of Out of the Easy, even though the story was I clearly over.
Josie's mother is a prostitute. As a result, Josie has lived on her own above the bookshop where she has worked since she was 12. Josie is intelligent, well-read, witty, and resourceful, but her mother's reputation--and her unsavory choice of boyfriend--follows her everywhere. Josie wants to go to college, especially after a kind gentleman visits the shop and assumes she is in college. Josie applies to Smith, a place where no one will know anything of her mother, and she can be "the good half" of who she is meant to be. But then the kind gentleman shows up dead, and her mother turns out to be linked to the murder, making life dangerous for Josie. Plus, Josie needs $2000 for tuition at Smith if she gets in, and after saving for years she only has $300. Will she be able to escape her mother and New Orleans?
The strength of this novel is the characters. Josie is unforgettable and keeps drawing you back into the book with her hopeful attitude toward the future. Wllie, the madam of the house where Josie's mother works, and Cokie, the house driver, are Josie's surrogate parents. Her friend Jesse is a mechanic who reminded me a bit of James Dean. Her co-worker Charlie is trying to keep his mentally ill father a secret. All of these band together to make a colorful collection of characters that keep you reading.
The story itself is a little weak. It was labeled s a mystery in my local library, and for the life of me I cannot figure out why. Where there unknowns that Josie was looking for? Definitely. Did she go out and try to solve them? Sort of. As in Between Shades of Gray, I was disappointed with the ending. While Between Shades of Gray ended too abruptly, I felt like not much was accomplished with the end of Out of the Easy, even though the story was I clearly over.
Patrick is the most precious character in this.
Can’t believe this is the same author who wrote Between Shades of Gray and Salt to Sea, two excellent books. While this book started out strong and the setting was interesting, I found the second half just plain boring.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love Ruta with every fiber of my being. Her prose is lovely and her plot is expertly crafted. She knows exactly where to cut a chapter and she has some one liners that really got me. I also loved how vibrant her characters were. My only qualm would be that I wished for a bit more closure for Patrick.
Really different from Between Shades of Gray but I really liked it!
For a book set largely in a brothel, it's surprisingly clean. Josie's our narrator, and she's got an interesting childhood experience to overcome. Her mom is a prostitute and we quickly find her an unlikeable character. The key event is a murder that gets the Quarter (New Orleans) riled up. Colorful characters, plenty of action. Good for grade 8+
Some people should just not be parents.
I love the way Josie Moraine takes care of herself, kind of like Roald Dahl's Matilda. She is forced to be the grownup and deal with fallout from the actions of her morally bankrupt prostitute mother.
The contrast between the restricted life available to women in the 1950s and Josie's strength of character is well-done. The class, race and gender lines are firmly drawn and the good are clearly separated from the bad.
I love the way Josie Moraine takes care of herself, kind of like Roald Dahl's Matilda. She is forced to be the grownup and deal with fallout from the actions of her morally bankrupt prostitute mother.
The contrast between the restricted life available to women in the 1950s and Josie's strength of character is well-done. The class, race and gender lines are firmly drawn and the good are clearly separated from the bad.
I saw so many reviews that said that this book was great at the beginning and lost steam halfway through, but I felt the complete opposite! I felt as though the plot was unbearably boring in the first 100 pages, but it quickly picked up the pace and by the end of the novel I loved every single one of the characters and was completely in love with the story line.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No