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A review by aimeesbookishlife
Just Visiting by Dahlia Adler
2.0
This book wasn't horrible, but it wasn't that good either. I like character-driven books so I'm not usually phased by a lack of plot, but this book was lacking in both plot and unique characters. It was hard to tell which character was 'speaking' because both narrative voices were really similar. The slow reveal of each character's backstory left me confused and having to flip back through several chapters to remind myself what the previous piece of the puzzle was - for instance Victoria casually mentions Ashley in a later chapter and I had no clue who Ashley was.
It could have been a really sweet coming-of-age story about two friends, but I just didn't feel invested in the characters and their friendship was confusing. One minute they seemed like BFFs for life, with a real deep love for each other, but they kept so many secrets from each other that their apparent close friendship was completely undermined. Also, I don't understand how they managed to keep those secrets over the years that they had known each other. They met in 10th grade and are now High School juniors (which some basic googling tells me is the same as 12th grade) so it's hard to believe that, in two years of friendship, Reagan never bothered to ask why Victoria left her old school, or that Victoria never overheard people gossiping about Reagan's past - especially as it was apparently the talk of the town.
The book did have some good points though, such as an honest depiction of female sexuality and a very frank discussion of contraception. Also, unusually for most YAs, Victoria's parents, particularly her mum, was very present in the book and was actually involved in her daughter's life, but without being a helicopter parent. I also thought it was refreshing to have two female MCs and lots of boy drama without having a love triangle - there is a subtle hint of one () but it quickly emerges that it's a misunderstanding.
But unfortunately the good points weren't quite enough for me. In addition, the story ends abruptly with an epilogue that ties up about a dozen loose ends at the same time in a way that didn't feel very satisfactory.
It could have been a really sweet coming-of-age story about two friends, but I just didn't feel invested in the characters and their friendship was confusing. One minute they seemed like BFFs for life, with a real deep love for each other, but they kept so many secrets from each other that their apparent close friendship was completely undermined. Also, I don't understand how they managed to keep those secrets over the years that they had known each other. They met in 10th grade and are now High School juniors (which some basic googling tells me is the same as 12th grade) so it's hard to believe that, in two years of friendship, Reagan never bothered to ask why Victoria left her old school, or that Victoria never overheard people gossiping about Reagan's past - especially as it was apparently the talk of the town.
The book did have some good points though, such as an honest depiction of female sexuality and a very frank discussion of contraception. Also, unusually for most YAs, Victoria's parents, particularly her mum, was very present in the book and was actually involved in her daughter's life, but without being a helicopter parent. I also thought it was refreshing to have two female MCs and lots of boy drama without having a love triangle - there is a subtle hint of one (
Spoiler
Freckles likes Victoria but she thinks he likes ReaganBut unfortunately the good points weren't quite enough for me. In addition, the story ends abruptly with an epilogue that ties up about a dozen loose ends at the same time in a way that didn't feel very satisfactory.