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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
Mia is definitely becoming more “grown up” in this book. She’s 15 and dealing with Michael being in college while she’s still attending AEHS as a sophomore and coping with the societal pressure that may come with dating a college boy. The student council shenanigans were pretty funny. Lily and her campaign managing kept me laughing to the audiobook.
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am a bit in a blank here - I can't really remember what this one is about. I mean, I read it like four days ago but things are getting blurry, reading them all in a sitting.
I can say I still love the universe and character Meg created, but man did I forget how annoying Mia's way of worrying excesively over small things is.
Also, Mia and Michael have a weird relationship - perhaps because we only get her side, perhaps because he is way older than her, but it seems like the character of Michael is really undefined.
I can say I still love the universe and character Meg created, but man did I forget how annoying Mia's way of worrying excesively over small things is.
Also, Mia and Michael have a weird relationship - perhaps because we only get her side, perhaps because he is way older than her, but it seems like the character of Michael is really undefined.
Mia's speech at the end of this book is really good, almost mature, considering her rambles throughout the book about how the biggest problem she'd ever face is whether her boyfriend wanted to DO IT or not.
Um, you know what I mean.
Um, you know what I mean.
Umm.... ???
Everything was fine until Michael (an adult college man) was pressing Mia (a 15 year old hs sophomore) to decide when she would be ready to have sex with him because he won't "wait forever"
Excuse me?
Everything was fine until Michael (an adult college man) was pressing Mia (a 15 year old hs sophomore) to decide when she would be ready to have sex with him because he won't "wait forever"
Excuse me?
Mia was kind of annoying me and so was Lily. I like it when Mia is with Micheal because he shuts her up properly. To where he is not annoying.
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
She's still a young teen and therefore a bit dramatic and sometimes annoying. but I forgot how believable the character development was!
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
tense
fast-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
WOW lot of thoughts. Okay. My stance is different from what I remember as a child, so that will be interesting to reflect. Initial thoughts: the whole presidential debate and Lilly's involvement reminds me so much of Gilmore Girls with Paris and Rory. I wonder if that's where Cabot got that idea. I mean, she does watch it, she makes plenty of references in here. But Lilly is a lot less cognizant of Mia's feelings than Paris is, which is wild since Paris and Rory are technically frenemies and Lilly and Mia are supposed to be best friends. I like Grandmere's involvement in this one, I think her teaming up with Lilly is always horrifying and has hilarious results. I'm very proud of Mia for not only sticking up for her English grade but also giving her speech at the debate. She's come a long way since the first book.
Alright. Michael. Sex. All that stuff. I remember Michael being really supportive of Mia's indecision and taking their time but. Wow. That feeling has Changed. I want to reiterate that I'm aroace. I just don't get sex (like the idea of it, but also the act lol). So my feelings are a lot different than Mia's or even Michael's, who are incredibly, incredibly straight. But I've always felt like sex is a big deal. And it doesn't have to be. For some people sex really is just an act; virginity is just a concept to them. But for people like Mia, virginity is a really huge thing. It's kind of like the prom: "losing" it is a big step towards what Mia constantly calls "self-actualization." It's a big event in a young person's life that helps them grow as a person. So her feelings towards sex is that it's a big deal and shouldn't be taken lightly.
And as much as Michael says that he's not pressuring her or wants to pressure her... I felt like he was pressuring her a bit. Cabot writes that he says tiredly, "so we ARE going to do it right?" Which felt... well, rude. Out of all of the characters in these books that completely ignore Mia's feelings, Michael is one of the rare ones that actually doesn't. But it felt like on this topic he didn't really do that. This could be my ace brain screaming at me but... I mean GOD every three months they'll get together and reevaluate when Mia's ready to have sex. That's what Cabot wrote! And she didn't write in a joking way! That's fucking pressure! To constantly have to reiterate whether or not you're ready every three months is a lot! Especially for Mia who just wants to make people happy and not have them be mad at her (since a lot of her actions always makes people mad at her for whatever reason). I just felt really bad for her in this book.
Alright. Some other thoughts: Doo Pak is um... His character just kind of reminded me of Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles where he's there to be funny and that's it. Hopefully we'll get to see a bit more of character in later books. He seems like a sweet guy! Also he thought that Mia is totally out of Michael's league and calls Michael "Mike" which made me laugh so kudos to him! But yeah... maybe a bit more fleshed out. Just kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
Quote time (with commentary a la Lilly/Mia):
"Just because I didn't think it was appropriate for my mother to take her six-week-old newborn on a peace march across the Brooklyn Bridge does not make me a baby-licker!!!"
"'She's always worried,' said Gretchen... 'She's Mia, remember?' All the feminists laughed uproariously at that, too. This made me feel bad. Like my mom's been talking about me behind my back."
"My mom said, 'Mia, this is a really bad time for you to have a breakdown. Our flight to Indiana leaves in two hours.'"
"You're positive you're going to be okay? Because I won't go to Versailles if you don't want me to."
Alright, those four quotes are about Mia's mom. I'd kind of held off talking about her mom just cause I didn't really pay her much attention but it's gotten to the point where I feel I should talk about her. Helen is... kind of a really shitty mom. Look, okay, she's not horrible. She's not even bad. It's just... in the beginning of the books, she doesn't even ask Mia if it's okay if she dates Mr. G. She just kinds of does it even though it obviously hurt Mia's feelings and made her feel weird. She did give her the journal, but she could've fostered more trust between them so Mia felt like she could go to her with her problems more. Mia's made a few remarks about how growing up, Helen was neglectful of paying bills and would cause them to lose electricity for a few days. That's not horrible. But it did cause Mia to feel like her life was a bit unstable and like it was her responsibility to take care of everyone and everything. That's why she's so worried about Rocky. She doesn't want him to go through the same things she went through. Her mom is really dismissive towards her feelings and her experiences. But it's not like she's horrible. She's only kind of shitty. She does tell Mia that she'll stay if she really wants her to, but also come on. Helen just told her that she was choosing the wrong day to have a breakdown. Of course Mia's not going to feel secure enough to have her stay. I think more than anything, Helen's just kind of forgetful and irresponsible and like the epitome of an early 2000s New York artist. She does love her family so, so much. And she does show that. But Mia has like no one in her corner most of the time. She's really just doing it all alone. She's super anxious and nobody really listens to her, and if they do listen to her, they tell her that she's overreacting- which yeah most of the time she is, but it's anxiety and it comes from a very real place. I don't know. Maybe I'm overreacting.
"Lana spent her summer at her family's house in East Hampton and Josh was in Southampton and the four miles between the two was just too much."
"'But Mia, you're pure and good of heart,' Boris pointed out to me. 'People who are pure and good of heart always beat out evil.'" I love Boris. He's such a nice friend.
"Good grief, you have an uncanny ability to turn everything into a country western song."
"Just like Dean married that other girl on Gilmore Girls." Wait does this mean that Mia's Team Dean? Oh God... I think she might be. I think that makes a lot of sense. Even though Michael is way more Jess than Dean, I think she genuinely is Team Dean. Wow. Yeah... I wonder what her feelings on Tristan were.
"I am totally lacking in the Do It gene." Me too!!
"So, in other words... in about ten to fifteen years, we're all going to die?"
"Basically."
"There is a Euler diagram appearing on my thigh where Lana hit me with that ball."
"This kind of self-conscious pseudo-zaniness has no place in serious expositional work." Okay. So. Yeah. I have a lot of thoughts about Ms. Martinez. I agree with her. Mia's writing samples from freshman year surprised me! They were very impersonal and included a lot of pop culture references! That's a big no no in the world of academia! I completely agree with Ms. Martinez! I think instead of repeatedly giving her red marks on her papers she should've talked with Mia and showed her how she could write more academically but overall yeah, I agree with her. I think that there is a fine line between impersonal and creative when it comes to papers. Not to say that Mia's voice should be compromised in her papers, I think her voice is very strong, but come on. It's a paper! Be more serious! Although, I will say, this note is very harsh. Mia's 15.
"Mr. Harding? A decent guy? My God, he threw a piece of chalk at Trisha Hayes's head today! Granted, I'd do the same if I thought I could get away with it. But still."
"Your act of ecoterrorism, concerning the dumping of ten thousand snails into the Bay of Genovia." Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this! Mia literally engages in ecoterrorism! Granted it was for the greater good and it worked out in the end but Jesus Christ, Mia!
"Calm down, PIT. Everything's going to be all right. My brother's not going to dump you for not Doing It with him. At least, not if he wants to keep his stupid dog alive." Oh my god. Look, Lilly is not great in this book either, but her threatening Michael for Mia's happiness made me smile.
"You would think people would want the smartest leader they could find, but instead, they seem perfectly content to elect total MORONS." Yeah... Lilly insulted Mia's intelligence once again. Come on girl.
"'Can I take a rain check on this whole thing?'
"'Absolutely,' Michael said, with a smile that was so sweet, it made me want to lean over to kiss him...
"Until he added, 'But just so you know, Mia, I'm not going to wait around forever.'" OH BROTHER GET A HOLD OF THIS GUY!
"Okay, only you, Mia, would call my brother a manly man." The guy owns Magic cards and is obsessed with anime, I have to agree with her, Mia.
"You aren't. I have a secret weapon."
"YOU'RE GOING TO SHOOT HER?????"
"It would never occur to Principal Gupta that Lana might have done anything wrong." This is so true!! Every time Mia is sent to Principal Gupta's office, she's always the one in the wrong even though Lana always, always instigates it! My heart goes out to you, Mia. I would've thrown a fucking bitch already.
"Give me anime, or give me death."
Alright. Michael. Sex. All that stuff. I remember Michael being really supportive of Mia's indecision and taking their time but. Wow. That feeling has Changed. I want to reiterate that I'm aroace. I just don't get sex (like the idea of it, but also the act lol). So my feelings are a lot different than Mia's or even Michael's, who are incredibly, incredibly straight. But I've always felt like sex is a big deal. And it doesn't have to be. For some people sex really is just an act; virginity is just a concept to them. But for people like Mia, virginity is a really huge thing. It's kind of like the prom: "losing" it is a big step towards what Mia constantly calls "self-actualization." It's a big event in a young person's life that helps them grow as a person. So her feelings towards sex is that it's a big deal and shouldn't be taken lightly.
And as much as Michael says that he's not pressuring her or wants to pressure her... I felt like he was pressuring her a bit. Cabot writes that he says tiredly, "so we ARE going to do it right?" Which felt... well, rude. Out of all of the characters in these books that completely ignore Mia's feelings, Michael is one of the rare ones that actually doesn't. But it felt like on this topic he didn't really do that. This could be my ace brain screaming at me but... I mean GOD every three months they'll get together and reevaluate when Mia's ready to have sex. That's what Cabot wrote! And she didn't write in a joking way! That's fucking pressure! To constantly have to reiterate whether or not you're ready every three months is a lot! Especially for Mia who just wants to make people happy and not have them be mad at her (since a lot of her actions always makes people mad at her for whatever reason). I just felt really bad for her in this book.
Alright. Some other thoughts: Doo Pak is um... His character just kind of reminded me of Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles where he's there to be funny and that's it. Hopefully we'll get to see a bit more of character in later books. He seems like a sweet guy! Also he thought that Mia is totally out of Michael's league and calls Michael "Mike" which made me laugh so kudos to him! But yeah... maybe a bit more fleshed out. Just kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
Quote time (with commentary a la Lilly/Mia):
"Just because I didn't think it was appropriate for my mother to take her six-week-old newborn on a peace march across the Brooklyn Bridge does not make me a baby-licker!!!"
"'She's always worried,' said Gretchen... 'She's Mia, remember?' All the feminists laughed uproariously at that, too. This made me feel bad. Like my mom's been talking about me behind my back."
"My mom said, 'Mia, this is a really bad time for you to have a breakdown. Our flight to Indiana leaves in two hours.'"
"You're positive you're going to be okay? Because I won't go to Versailles if you don't want me to."
Alright, those four quotes are about Mia's mom. I'd kind of held off talking about her mom just cause I didn't really pay her much attention but it's gotten to the point where I feel I should talk about her. Helen is... kind of a really shitty mom. Look, okay, she's not horrible. She's not even bad. It's just... in the beginning of the books, she doesn't even ask Mia if it's okay if she dates Mr. G. She just kinds of does it even though it obviously hurt Mia's feelings and made her feel weird. She did give her the journal, but she could've fostered more trust between them so Mia felt like she could go to her with her problems more. Mia's made a few remarks about how growing up, Helen was neglectful of paying bills and would cause them to lose electricity for a few days. That's not horrible. But it did cause Mia to feel like her life was a bit unstable and like it was her responsibility to take care of everyone and everything. That's why she's so worried about Rocky. She doesn't want him to go through the same things she went through. Her mom is really dismissive towards her feelings and her experiences. But it's not like she's horrible. She's only kind of shitty. She does tell Mia that she'll stay if she really wants her to, but also come on. Helen just told her that she was choosing the wrong day to have a breakdown. Of course Mia's not going to feel secure enough to have her stay. I think more than anything, Helen's just kind of forgetful and irresponsible and like the epitome of an early 2000s New York artist. She does love her family so, so much. And she does show that. But Mia has like no one in her corner most of the time. She's really just doing it all alone. She's super anxious and nobody really listens to her, and if they do listen to her, they tell her that she's overreacting- which yeah most of the time she is, but it's anxiety and it comes from a very real place. I don't know. Maybe I'm overreacting.
"Lana spent her summer at her family's house in East Hampton and Josh was in Southampton and the four miles between the two was just too much."
"'But Mia, you're pure and good of heart,' Boris pointed out to me. 'People who are pure and good of heart always beat out evil.'" I love Boris. He's such a nice friend.
"Good grief, you have an uncanny ability to turn everything into a country western song."
"Just like Dean married that other girl on Gilmore Girls." Wait does this mean that Mia's Team Dean? Oh God... I think she might be. I think that makes a lot of sense. Even though Michael is way more Jess than Dean, I think she genuinely is Team Dean. Wow. Yeah... I wonder what her feelings on Tristan were.
"I am totally lacking in the Do It gene." Me too!!
"So, in other words... in about ten to fifteen years, we're all going to die?"
"Basically."
"There is a Euler diagram appearing on my thigh where Lana hit me with that ball."
"This kind of self-conscious pseudo-zaniness has no place in serious expositional work." Okay. So. Yeah. I have a lot of thoughts about Ms. Martinez. I agree with her. Mia's writing samples from freshman year surprised me! They were very impersonal and included a lot of pop culture references! That's a big no no in the world of academia! I completely agree with Ms. Martinez! I think instead of repeatedly giving her red marks on her papers she should've talked with Mia and showed her how she could write more academically but overall yeah, I agree with her. I think that there is a fine line between impersonal and creative when it comes to papers. Not to say that Mia's voice should be compromised in her papers, I think her voice is very strong, but come on. It's a paper! Be more serious! Although, I will say, this note is very harsh. Mia's 15.
"Mr. Harding? A decent guy? My God, he threw a piece of chalk at Trisha Hayes's head today! Granted, I'd do the same if I thought I could get away with it. But still."
"Your act of ecoterrorism, concerning the dumping of ten thousand snails into the Bay of Genovia." Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this! Mia literally engages in ecoterrorism! Granted it was for the greater good and it worked out in the end but Jesus Christ, Mia!
"Calm down, PIT. Everything's going to be all right. My brother's not going to dump you for not Doing It with him. At least, not if he wants to keep his stupid dog alive." Oh my god. Look, Lilly is not great in this book either, but her threatening Michael for Mia's happiness made me smile.
"You would think people would want the smartest leader they could find, but instead, they seem perfectly content to elect total MORONS." Yeah... Lilly insulted Mia's intelligence once again. Come on girl.
"'Can I take a rain check on this whole thing?'
"'Absolutely,' Michael said, with a smile that was so sweet, it made me want to lean over to kiss him...
"Until he added, 'But just so you know, Mia, I'm not going to wait around forever.'" OH BROTHER GET A HOLD OF THIS GUY!
"Okay, only you, Mia, would call my brother a manly man." The guy owns Magic cards and is obsessed with anime, I have to agree with her, Mia.
"You aren't. I have a secret weapon."
"YOU'RE GOING TO SHOOT HER?????"
"It would never occur to Principal Gupta that Lana might have done anything wrong." This is so true!! Every time Mia is sent to Principal Gupta's office, she's always the one in the wrong even though Lana always, always instigates it! My heart goes out to you, Mia. I would've thrown a fucking bitch already.
"Give me anime, or give me death."