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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
3.5 stars? It's rare that we get YA about freshman in college, so I was super excited to dive into this. It was adorable and compulsively readable. I found Danielle relatable from the first page, and Porter was all sorts of swoony. I also really appreciated the solid, drama-free friendship between Danielle and Zoe. A solid debut.
Potentially more RTC.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
Potentially more RTC.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
While I enjoyed the beginning, it lost its way a bit towards the end.
Nice conclusion.
Three and a half stars
Nice conclusion.
Three and a half stars
Ok. We know that I am a sucker for an interesting cover and it was the cover of The Big F that initially caught my eye. And since I am trying (unsuccessfully) to downsize my collection of YA books by donating them to the school library in which I work I decided to bump The Big F to the top of the list.
I am so glad that I did. The Big F is a book that surpasses the cover. Maggie Ann Martin’s story focuses on Danielle, a young girl who has had her future set out since before she could remember. She will be going to a specific college (as picked by her psychic mum) and she is going to do fantastic while she is there. However, fate isn’t set in stone and sadly Danielle doesn’t get into college. She failed. The Big F is a story about growing up and adjusting our life plans to the plans that life has for you instead.
My favourite part of this story was the relationship that Danielle had with her mother. It was so complex and difficult and Maggie Ann Martin absolutely nailed the breakdown of communication without wrapping it up in a neat bow. She made it seem real.
The Big F is a book that is firmly placed in that awkward category – when your protagonist is not quite an adult yet but they are no longer a child. Maggie Ann Martin cleverly displays just how hard it is for someone to be hanging in that precarious age balance.
The Big F by Maggie Ann Martin is available now.
For more information regarding Maggie Ann Martin (@maggersann) please visit www.maggieannmartin.com.
For more information regarding Swoon Reads (@SwoonReads) please visit www.swoonreads.com.
I am so glad that I did. The Big F is a book that surpasses the cover. Maggie Ann Martin’s story focuses on Danielle, a young girl who has had her future set out since before she could remember. She will be going to a specific college (as picked by her psychic mum) and she is going to do fantastic while she is there. However, fate isn’t set in stone and sadly Danielle doesn’t get into college. She failed. The Big F is a story about growing up and adjusting our life plans to the plans that life has for you instead.
My favourite part of this story was the relationship that Danielle had with her mother. It was so complex and difficult and Maggie Ann Martin absolutely nailed the breakdown of communication without wrapping it up in a neat bow. She made it seem real.
The Big F is a book that is firmly placed in that awkward category – when your protagonist is not quite an adult yet but they are no longer a child. Maggie Ann Martin cleverly displays just how hard it is for someone to be hanging in that precarious age balance.
The Big F by Maggie Ann Martin is available now.
For more information regarding Maggie Ann Martin (@maggersann) please visit www.maggieannmartin.com.
For more information regarding Swoon Reads (@SwoonReads) please visit www.swoonreads.com.
DNF @ 69%
I just wasn’t interested. I didn’t care for any of the characters, which were very surface-level. I felt like the writing was juvenile, like the main character was 13 instead of the college-age she was supposed to be. Very basic tropes and a ‘this happened and then that happened’ way of writing.
I was hoping for a more in-debt discussion about the fact that failing a class or going in a different direction than what is expected is totally okay. But the story was more of a teenage drama than anything else.
It just wasn’t for me. Maybe if you’re 14/15 years old and your not looking for something profound, but instead something light, then by all means go for it. But it wasn’t my thing.
I just wasn’t interested. I didn’t care for any of the characters, which were very surface-level. I felt like the writing was juvenile, like the main character was 13 instead of the college-age she was supposed to be. Very basic tropes and a ‘this happened and then that happened’ way of writing.
I was hoping for a more in-debt discussion about the fact that failing a class or going in a different direction than what is expected is totally okay. But the story was more of a teenage drama than anything else.
It just wasn’t for me. Maybe if you’re 14/15 years old and your not looking for something profound, but instead something light, then by all means go for it. But it wasn’t my thing.
Won the ARC through Goodreads. Unimpressive. I couldn't connect to the characters at all, and the main character read like a high school freshman, not a college one. Quite a few inaccuracies threw me out of the book. 1.5 stars.
These were my notes while reading the book. I hope they make sense:
Danielle, the MC, recently found out she'd been rejected by her (and her mom's) dream university and she's hiding the news from her family as she deals with it herself. For a YA book, I think the premise is original and relatable to readers.
Danielle, the MC, recently found out she'd been rejected by her (and her mom's) dream university and she's hiding the news from her family as she deals with it herself. For a YA book, I think the premise is original and relatable to readers.
I am biased because Maggie is a dear friend, but I really loved this book. I found it relatable and different. It's a great debut YA novel and I would definitely recommend it!
This review and more can be found at The Heart of a Book Blogger.
The Big F is Maggie Ann Martin’s debut novel with Swoon Reads. I love this imprint, and The Big F was not a disappointment! I was expecting something different, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised by this story.
Danielle messed up big time. She was all set to attend Ohio State until she failed her high school AP Lit class. Instead of letting her mother, the college psychic, know and use her connections to get Danielle reaccepted, she keeps it a secret well into summer. When her debacle is revealed, she must earn her parents’ trust back. Luckily, Danielle has a plan. She’s going to enroll at the local community college, take a literature class that will make up for her failed class, and get a job. What she wasn’t planning on was reconnecting with her old neighbor and childhood crush, Luke.
I really enjoyed being inside Danielle’s head. I thought she was a well-developed character and I loved watching her learn to own her mistakes and take on the responsibility to fix them herself. It was great seeing her figure out her passion and how that differed from her mother’s plan. I also appreciated the friendship Danielle had with her best friend, Zoe. It really did feel like they were best friends who hung out with each other on a regular basis and supported each other. I would’ve liked to seen more about Zoe, though! I have questions about her background, and I hope Maggie plans to write her story one day.
What I was not expecting was for this book to turn into a love triangle. I guessed I assumed from the synopsis that Danielle was going to flirt and work towards a relationship with Luke. However, they started dating within the first couple of chapters. I liked that this wasn’t drawn out, but I felt like we didn’t really get to know him at all. We were introduced to Porter, Danielle’s coworker and Luke’s roommate, and really got to know him well. I really loved the friendship that developed between the two of them and how Porter encouraged Danielle to follow her passions.
Overall, The Big F surprised me in the best way possible and I ended up really enjoying it.
*This ARC was provided to me by the publisher through Xpresso Book Tours and NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.*
The Big F is Maggie Ann Martin’s debut novel with Swoon Reads. I love this imprint, and The Big F was not a disappointment! I was expecting something different, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised by this story.
Danielle messed up big time. She was all set to attend Ohio State until she failed her high school AP Lit class. Instead of letting her mother, the college psychic, know and use her connections to get Danielle reaccepted, she keeps it a secret well into summer. When her debacle is revealed, she must earn her parents’ trust back. Luckily, Danielle has a plan. She’s going to enroll at the local community college, take a literature class that will make up for her failed class, and get a job. What she wasn’t planning on was reconnecting with her old neighbor and childhood crush, Luke.
I really enjoyed being inside Danielle’s head. I thought she was a well-developed character and I loved watching her learn to own her mistakes and take on the responsibility to fix them herself. It was great seeing her figure out her passion and how that differed from her mother’s plan. I also appreciated the friendship Danielle had with her best friend, Zoe. It really did feel like they were best friends who hung out with each other on a regular basis and supported each other. I would’ve liked to seen more about Zoe, though! I have questions about her background, and I hope Maggie plans to write her story one day.
What I was not expecting was for this book to turn into a love triangle. I guessed I assumed from the synopsis that Danielle was going to flirt and work towards a relationship with Luke. However, they started dating within the first couple of chapters. I liked that this wasn’t drawn out, but I felt like we didn’t really get to know him at all. We were introduced to Porter, Danielle’s coworker and Luke’s roommate, and really got to know him well. I really loved the friendship that developed between the two of them and how Porter encouraged Danielle to follow her passions.
Overall, The Big F surprised me in the best way possible and I ended up really enjoying it.
*This ARC was provided to me by the publisher through Xpresso Book Tours and NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.*