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A review by itstesaa
Turning by Joy L. Smith
3.0
For some reason I thought this would be like "Tiny Pretty Things".
I have this pet peeve where I don't read what books are about before picking them up. So just like that, I didn't have even the slightest idea as to what the plot of this book would be.
I was quickly disappointed with finding out she actually won't be dancing in the book at all but that's a mistake on my part, nothing to do with the book.
There's some things about this book that I really didn't like:
) The way Genie speaks to her mother
My balkan self doesn't approve of this honestly. If there's anything growing up in a balkan country will teach you, it's that the only people that you should have more respect for than for your parents are your grandparents. So to see Genie speak the way she was speaking to her mother made me dislike her character. I'm not saying I completely despise her, I'm just saying that that was one of the things that made me dislike her
) For the majority of the book, I felt like nothing was happening. And when something did happen, it was at the forty pages til the end mark. We followed Genie through countless arguments with her mother, Nolan, and Hannah. That was mostly it. Besides meeting Kyle, nothing seemed positive, and it didn't look like she was welcoming of positive thoughts in the first place. Just the overall bitterness of her character I didn't get on very well with.
) I did not like how unaddressed the accident was throughout the story. Not unaddressed in the way that it wasn't talked about, but in a way where it felt like the scene depicting it should've come way earlier in the story, considering the fact that it is mentioned all the time. It almost seemed like we were supposed to know what happened when we didn't, and at points, that made me confused.
This is what I liked about it:
) Kyle. Kylito. I absolutely love him. He deserves the whole world, and deserved better than to get beaten by Nolan. And, unpopular opinion, but I don't think Genie deserves him
) The ending with the little girl Leilani, and "Magic" turning out perfectly was really wholesome, made me really happy that at least something good happened.
Overall, this was an okay read for me, only thing is, it took me so long to actually finish it, maybe because I was a little bored, maybe because I have a habit of dragging things out a lot. But either way, if you like coming of age stories, touching on important issues like toxic relationships, I feel like this would be a good read for you
I have this pet peeve where I don't read what books are about before picking them up. So just like that, I didn't have even the slightest idea as to what the plot of this book would be.
I was quickly disappointed with finding out she actually won't be dancing in the book at all but that's a mistake on my part, nothing to do with the book.
There's some things about this book that I really didn't like:
) The way Genie speaks to her mother
My balkan self doesn't approve of this honestly. If there's anything growing up in a balkan country will teach you, it's that the only people that you should have more respect for than for your parents are your grandparents. So to see Genie speak the way she was speaking to her mother made me dislike her character. I'm not saying I completely despise her, I'm just saying that that was one of the things that made me dislike her
) For the majority of the book, I felt like nothing was happening. And when something did happen, it was at the forty pages til the end mark. We followed Genie through countless arguments with her mother, Nolan, and Hannah. That was mostly it. Besides meeting Kyle, nothing seemed positive, and it didn't look like she was welcoming of positive thoughts in the first place. Just the overall bitterness of her character I didn't get on very well with.
) I did not like how unaddressed the accident was throughout the story. Not unaddressed in the way that it wasn't talked about, but in a way where it felt like the scene depicting it should've come way earlier in the story, considering the fact that it is mentioned all the time. It almost seemed like we were supposed to know what happened when we didn't, and at points, that made me confused.
This is what I liked about it:
) Kyle. Kylito. I absolutely love him. He deserves the whole world, and deserved better than to get beaten by Nolan. And, unpopular opinion, but I don't think Genie deserves him
) The ending with the little girl Leilani, and "Magic" turning out perfectly was really wholesome, made me really happy that at least something good happened.
Overall, this was an okay read for me, only thing is, it took me so long to actually finish it, maybe because I was a little bored, maybe because I have a habit of dragging things out a lot. But either way, if you like coming of age stories, touching on important issues like toxic relationships, I feel like this would be a good read for you