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gracer 's review for:

Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine
3.75
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was not what I expected. I should have known from the exclamation points.

It's nothing like the broad-horizoned, adventure-filled escapade I imagined. It's almost sarcastic. Out protagonist is filled with adventure-chasing ambitions upon reading Treasure Island, yes, but not in the way expected - her choices are more self-sabotaging than world-opening, and her attitude doesn't help. She's hard to like, if you read this too earnestly, so you have to take it for what it is: an ironic look at what it can be to be BOLD and INDEPENDENT and HORN-BLOWING (I'm forgetting one). Be careful how you set yourself free... you might actually be locking yourself in. (It's hard to be independent in our society; if you don't have a job, you end up relying on your boyfriend or your parents.)

High points are the parrot and the ending, which somehow I did not see coming. 
(okay, so I'm not surprised I didn't see the stabbing part coming, but the intervention seemed obvious, once I realized that's what was going on.)
The voice and writing throughout is great, pitch perfect for the story that's being told. And it's pleasantly short. 

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