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A review by remusreads
52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody
5.0
I was genuinely pleasantly surprised by this book - I had bought it a few years ago and it somehow ended up put at the back of my bookshelves which meant I couldn't see it, nor remember I had it! But I decided to go through my shelves recently and rid of any books that I'm no longer interested in and I stumbled upon this! This one made the "keep" list and went onto my "I'll read it eventually" pile, but it ended up being pushed forward after I re-read the premise and found myself intrigued... But I definitely didn't have high hopes at the time!
I truthfully thought that this book would be childish, irritating and very cliche - but it ended up being none of the above and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is, essentially, a story about a silly, spoiled girl getting her comeuppance and being taught the values of respect; and it is done in a way which is tactful, interesting and impressive.
Lexi is taught some very valuable lessons throughout the span of this book - from how to respect those that are working class (I also really loved the portrayal of the jobs that she had to do - never where they depicted in a demeaning or offensive way; she always saw the better of the jobs after getting used to them), to how to respect money.
The character development is a really strong element and something that I highly valued as watching Lexi turn from a spoiled brat to a mature adult was something I was impressed by because throughout the novel you could see the events slowly beginning to change her and make her into a better person. I personally favoured the contrasts between the start of the book to the end wherein she would say "I will never do that job!" To where she says "I want to do that job!" I feel like she gained a lot of personality and this added so much to the story as a whole. I started off not liking Lexi, which was the purpose, to being smitten with her character because of who she became and how far she had travelled to become her.
A lot also has to be said for her fathers character development - I entered the novel with a very negative picture painted of her father, but left with an illuminating image of a man who does truly care but has lost his way through grief. I found the family element to be a fantastic addition, also, and I truly loved the way it was played out and was woven carefully into the story as opposed to be spontaneously thrown in. I loved the family aspect wholeheartedly (even with her extended family of butlers and lawyers) and found it to be another factor which helped this story be thoroughly well rounded and interesting.
I found the friendships entangled within this novel to be one of my favourite aspects - her friendship with Rolando was a particular favourite and I really wish we could've seen more of Rolando throughout the span of the novel as I feel he was a really well written, pivotal character. And he was ridiculously sweet! He made my heart well and truly melt.
I also really liked the addition of the love interest - I am a sucker for hate progressing to love and this was written perfectly and executed brilliantly; and they were so utterly cute together! I feel that Luke added to the story in a really positive way without making himself be the reason that she turned herself and her actions around. Typically in YA fiction, the main character will turn themselves around in order to please their potential love interest but I can't say I really felt that happening much here - it was more focussed on her wanting to do it for herself, which was a really important factor that I really enjoyed. Whilst Luke was a main character, the story didn't shift to be about him and not every single problem was solved because of him. She found her own way in her life and Luke was just along for the journey, which is a unique factor that I am thankful for.
Overall this was a fun, easy, quick read with humour, drama, excitement and love packed throughout to make a fabulous combination which came together to craft a brilliant book. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I think the author did an exceptional job of taking a simple plot and making it something rather brilliant! There is the right proportion of sadness to happiness with this one without it being too dramatic or too overbearing, and I think it makes for a perfect contemporary story.
There was very little I didn't enjoy about this book, and anything that might've irked me whilst reading hasn't stuck with me and so my rating for this is a firm five stars! What I expected to be a dud book turned out to be one of my favourites of the year so far, and I 100% recommend this to anyone who wishes to read a lighthearted, funny contemporary about a spoilt girl learning what it's really like to live in the "real world".
I truthfully thought that this book would be childish, irritating and very cliche - but it ended up being none of the above and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is, essentially, a story about a silly, spoiled girl getting her comeuppance and being taught the values of respect; and it is done in a way which is tactful, interesting and impressive.
Lexi is taught some very valuable lessons throughout the span of this book - from how to respect those that are working class (I also really loved the portrayal of the jobs that she had to do - never where they depicted in a demeaning or offensive way; she always saw the better of the jobs after getting used to them), to how to respect money.
The character development is a really strong element and something that I highly valued as watching Lexi turn from a spoiled brat to a mature adult was something I was impressed by because throughout the novel you could see the events slowly beginning to change her and make her into a better person. I personally favoured the contrasts between the start of the book to the end wherein she would say "I will never do that job!" To where she says "I want to do that job!" I feel like she gained a lot of personality and this added so much to the story as a whole. I started off not liking Lexi, which was the purpose, to being smitten with her character because of who she became and how far she had travelled to become her.
A lot also has to be said for her fathers character development - I entered the novel with a very negative picture painted of her father, but left with an illuminating image of a man who does truly care but has lost his way through grief. I found the family element to be a fantastic addition, also, and I truly loved the way it was played out and was woven carefully into the story as opposed to be spontaneously thrown in. I loved the family aspect wholeheartedly (even with her extended family of butlers and lawyers) and found it to be another factor which helped this story be thoroughly well rounded and interesting.
I found the friendships entangled within this novel to be one of my favourite aspects - her friendship with Rolando was a particular favourite and I really wish we could've seen more of Rolando throughout the span of the novel as I feel he was a really well written, pivotal character. And he was ridiculously sweet! He made my heart well and truly melt.
I also really liked the addition of the love interest - I am a sucker for hate progressing to love and this was written perfectly and executed brilliantly; and they were so utterly cute together! I feel that Luke added to the story in a really positive way without making himself be the reason that she turned herself and her actions around. Typically in YA fiction, the main character will turn themselves around in order to please their potential love interest but I can't say I really felt that happening much here - it was more focussed on her wanting to do it for herself, which was a really important factor that I really enjoyed. Whilst Luke was a main character, the story didn't shift to be about him and not every single problem was solved because of him. She found her own way in her life and Luke was just along for the journey, which is a unique factor that I am thankful for.
Overall this was a fun, easy, quick read with humour, drama, excitement and love packed throughout to make a fabulous combination which came together to craft a brilliant book. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I think the author did an exceptional job of taking a simple plot and making it something rather brilliant! There is the right proportion of sadness to happiness with this one without it being too dramatic or too overbearing, and I think it makes for a perfect contemporary story.
There was very little I didn't enjoy about this book, and anything that might've irked me whilst reading hasn't stuck with me and so my rating for this is a firm five stars! What I expected to be a dud book turned out to be one of my favourites of the year so far, and I 100% recommend this to anyone who wishes to read a lighthearted, funny contemporary about a spoilt girl learning what it's really like to live in the "real world".