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A review by literaryprincess
Aix Marks the Spot by S.E. Anderson
2.0
ARC provided by Netgalley for review.
Aix Marks The Spot is a semi-road trip scavenger hunt romance following Jaime, an American teen who spends an adventurous, romantic summer in her grandmother’s hometown in France.
The travel story is the highlight of this book. Following Jaime along on her journey as she discovers the culture and landscape of France is such a fun adventure. The lush descriptions of landmarks, food, and experiences that Jaime and her new friend and love interest Valentin go through make this book a fun summer read for people wanting a mental vacation to a fun destination.
Unfortunately, the rest of the story falls flat for me.
Our protagonist’s main conflict is that she doesn’t speak French, much to the chagrin of her grandmother. About half of this book’s conversations are in French and only some are given translation or context, so I’m just as lost and confused as our protagonist; it really takes away from a reader’s comprehension of the story as a whole. There are so many conversations happening in (gratuitous, at times) untranslated French where we gain nothing but confusion and a lack of comprehension.
Jamie herself is a very self-loathing protagonist, and because she perceives the whole world as being against her and lets that control most of her actions throughout the story, it’s hard to root for her.
I had hope for Valentin to give her a sense of belonging and trust in this foreign landscape, and though we do get hints of their chemistry at times, for a majority of the story he seems almost lifeless.
I can’t connect with our main characters at all at all; their emotions change at the flip of a switch (or a flip of a page, more appropriately) and their motivation and feelings are all over the place. One moment they have mutual romantic feelings, the next, one of them wants to bail on their scavenger hunt adventure, the next, they never want to speak to each other again, and in the next paragraph they’re back to bated breaths and blushing.
I can say, however, that if you are looking for a quick-paced, easy YA romance, Aix Marks the Spot is a decent read for someone exploring the genre.
Aix Marks The Spot is a semi-road trip scavenger hunt romance following Jaime, an American teen who spends an adventurous, romantic summer in her grandmother’s hometown in France.
The travel story is the highlight of this book. Following Jaime along on her journey as she discovers the culture and landscape of France is such a fun adventure. The lush descriptions of landmarks, food, and experiences that Jaime and her new friend and love interest Valentin go through make this book a fun summer read for people wanting a mental vacation to a fun destination.
Unfortunately, the rest of the story falls flat for me.
Our protagonist’s main conflict is that she doesn’t speak French, much to the chagrin of her grandmother. About half of this book’s conversations are in French and only some are given translation or context, so I’m just as lost and confused as our protagonist; it really takes away from a reader’s comprehension of the story as a whole. There are so many conversations happening in (gratuitous, at times) untranslated French where we gain nothing but confusion and a lack of comprehension.
Jamie herself is a very self-loathing protagonist, and because she perceives the whole world as being against her and lets that control most of her actions throughout the story, it’s hard to root for her.
I had hope for Valentin to give her a sense of belonging and trust in this foreign landscape, and though we do get hints of their chemistry at times, for a majority of the story he seems almost lifeless.
I can’t connect with our main characters at all at all; their emotions change at the flip of a switch (or a flip of a page, more appropriately) and their motivation and feelings are all over the place. One moment they have mutual romantic feelings, the next, one of them wants to bail on their scavenger hunt adventure, the next, they never want to speak to each other again, and in the next paragraph they’re back to bated breaths and blushing.
I can say, however, that if you are looking for a quick-paced, easy YA romance, Aix Marks the Spot is a decent read for someone exploring the genre.