3/5 stars
Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2012
290 pages
YA Contemporary Romance Travel
Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ah, what high hopes I had for this! The early reviews I read gave me the overwhelming thought that I would love it. There's a nerdy uptight girl who clashes with a free-spirited boy who tries to loosen her up all while exploring the gorgeous historical city of London. I figured I'd identify with the main character and swoon for the guy.
Well I did click with Julia initially. She has great plans for enjoying this trip to London especially because of the special meaning it has for her parents. Although her father is now deceased, she anticipates feeling connected with him again by seeing the places that were so special to them. But as the book wore on, I thought Julia got kind of the raw end of the stick. The aforementioned "free-spirited boy", named Jason, is kind of a jerk. I found him unbelievably annoying. I hated how he (and others around her) were pushing her to be more like him. Yes, she was a little uptight and didn't need to schedule everything so strictly but I didn't want her to be more like him. I wanted him to be more like her-demonstrating respect, not freaking out their chaperone (and they really should have had several chaperones) by running around a foreign city, and just generally not doing whatever stupid thing pops into their head. So Jason didn't work for me.
There was also an event that might have been a surprise so I'm not going to spoil it but which was quite obvious to me (the phone thing was kind of ridiculous-would the school really buy that many phones for these students?). I don't have much else to say because this is a very character-driven novel. Since Julia and Jason were unappealing to me, it soured me on the whole novel. However readers who love London-set novels will surely enjoy that aspect as I did.
Cover: I really love this cover-I think it's SO pretty.
Ah, you and I are back on the same page again. I just finished this last night. I agree about Jason. I just didn't get his appeal.
ReplyDeleteAwe bummer, I'm sorry you didn't like this one more. It pleases me to read someone who is in favor of not always making someone change too much. I'm a very organized, schedule driven OCD like person. I get very depressed since everyone is always saying everything is my problem and I'm the one who should change. I try and make small changes and lighten up, problem is I'm never going to 100% spontaneous. Being organized and such makes me happy, I should be allowed to be who I want to be and not always be forced to change.
ReplyDeleteGreat review. I may just have to pick this one up just so I can see if I relate to Julia or not.
Dang, this one is coming up on my TBR this weekend! I hope I like it, but I don't think I will if you didn't. We were on the same page with Flutter. I thought this was going to be a light sweet novel. Oh well, guess they can't all be good.
ReplyDeleteHeather
Yours isn't the first not-so-glowing review I've seen of this one recently — it's a shame it didn't live up to that cute, colorful cover! :( I have the feeling I'd dislike Jason too, he sounds like a bit of an idiot. I might pick this one up from the library at some point but it's not going to be at the top of my to-read list. Thanks for the honest review :)
ReplyDeleteBugger, I thought the cover was gorgeous as well, but if the characters don't appeal - they just don't appeal!
ReplyDelete- Jessica @ Book Sake
I was really hoping this would be a fun travel romance. It is always a deal breaker for me when I don't like the characters.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your review. I was wondering about this one, I might give me this a try. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteI think the things about Jason would drive me crazy too. There's nothing wrong with a little structure. The cover really is great, though.
ReplyDelete