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A review by obsidian_blue
Christa Comes Out of Her Shell by Abbi Waxman
1.0
Please note that I received this via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
Trigger warning: Sexual assault scene
Geez this was not good. I don't know what to say. I have either loved or felt okayish about most of Waxman's books and this is just very bizarre. I didn't like any of the characters, the book went on forever, and the whole plot (or whatever we want to call it) was a hot mess after a while. I think I was supposed to be like, love or something will lead the way. Instead I wondered why Christa didn't just peace out of the madness of her family or someone actually get mad about things and act like a human being with real emotions.
"Christa Comes Out of Her Shell" follows Christa Liddle. She's part of the famous Liddle family and has been dealing with the celebrity of her family and her missing father. Until one day her father, Jasper, is no longer missing. Christa returns home and finds her sisters have changed, and the guy she always had a crush on, seems to have a crush on her too.
Eh. Christa. She was interesting at first. But I got bored by her and the family drama. I was hoping for some Nina with Christa, and we got none of that. There's a reveal that didn't really work for me. I thought it wasn't well done. Just kind of thrown at readers to be like yes, this was the issue all along with Christa. I really wanted to see Christa get mad, something. Heck the whole book was her being passive by threatening to leave every five seconds. And also being under the sway of her father. It was just....I don't know. I think if Christa had been a teenager, this would have worked better. But at the age she was, her sisters were, and her mother. It just felt very off.
The flow was pretty bad. The book jumps back and forth between Christa and social media posts. And I think at one point we see emails going back and forth.
The setting of Los Angeles seems like a hot mess. I can't see the world we live in being super totes okay with the reveal we get in this book. I think Hollywood sucks, but even I think this was a bridge too far.
The ending. Eh. It didn't read as believable.
Trigger warning: Sexual assault scene
Geez this was not good. I don't know what to say. I have either loved or felt okayish about most of Waxman's books and this is just very bizarre. I didn't like any of the characters, the book went on forever, and the whole plot (or whatever we want to call it) was a hot mess after a while. I think I was supposed to be like, love or something will lead the way. Instead I wondered why Christa didn't just peace out of the madness of her family or someone actually get mad about things and act like a human being with real emotions.
"Christa Comes Out of Her Shell" follows Christa Liddle. She's part of the famous Liddle family and has been dealing with the celebrity of her family and her missing father. Until one day her father, Jasper, is no longer missing. Christa returns home and finds her sisters have changed, and the guy she always had a crush on, seems to have a crush on her too.
Eh. Christa. She was interesting at first. But I got bored by her and the family drama. I was hoping for some Nina with Christa, and we got none of that. There's a reveal that didn't really work for me. I thought it wasn't well done. Just kind of thrown at readers to be like yes, this was the issue all along with Christa. I really wanted to see Christa get mad, something. Heck the whole book was her being passive by threatening to leave every five seconds. And also being under the sway of her father. It was just....I don't know. I think if Christa had been a teenager, this would have worked better. But at the age she was, her sisters were, and her mother. It just felt very off.
The flow was pretty bad. The book jumps back and forth between Christa and social media posts. And I think at one point we see emails going back and forth.
The setting of Los Angeles seems like a hot mess. I can't see the world we live in being super totes okay with the reveal we get in this book. I think Hollywood sucks, but even I think this was a bridge too far.
The ending. Eh. It didn't read as believable.