You Look Different in Real Life by Jennifer Castle
3/5 stars
HarperTeen, 2013
368 pages
YA Contemporary
Scheduled to release June 4
Source: Received an e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I remember seeing Castle's debut work, The Beginning of After, when it released but never quite being able to squeeze it into my review schedule although I remember interested in reading it. Thus I made it a priority to check out her newest release in a timely fashion.
For starters, the premise is quite cool. At the age of six, five kids were chosen for a documentary. A follow-up film was created when they were eleven, causing significant fallout. Now the kids are sixteen and the documentarians are trying to cajole them into a third film with mounting pressure from the people funding them. Of course, after ten years, a lot has changed for the kids who are no longer friends, who barely speak and who have a lot of secrets.
The first thing I noticed about the book was how main character Justine held back elements of their story, leaving me feeling pretty confused and frustrated. I like knowing things and I don't really like waiting. Eventually most of my questions were answered but I disliked how drawn out things were up to then.
The second thing I noticed was the diversity of the characters: the five kids were chosen for their different personalities and backgrounds and that carries through the entire book. Justine misses the bright and witty self who won over audiences in the first two films; Nate has remade himself into the golden boy; Felix is jealous of Nate's easy charm; Keira's mom abandoned the film in the interim; and Rory's diagnosis on the autism spectrum has cost her the friendship of Justine. These are just one side of the characters and I mostly enjoyed getting to know them although they (mostly Justine as the narrator) also annoyed me many times. She just felt so sorry for herself instead of actually doing anything.
The highlight of the book was a long string of chapters toward the end when the five must come together to help one of their own-this is over the course of one epic night in the city and it shows a tremendous amount of character growth with all five having something major happen to them or realizing something important. I just felt that the beginning was a bit slow and not entirely necessary before we got to this good stuff.
Cover: I think this girl looks like Aubrey Plaza (April on "Parks and Recreation). This pleases me and helps make up for the huge font over face, which is not my favorite kind of cover.
Other Opinions:
Anna Reads
Book Labyrinth
The Allure of Books
Haha, I like knowing things as well! This sort of storytelling can be done just right, but sometimes it's just highly annoying. And a whiny MC isn't really my thing either...
ReplyDeleteBut the premise does sound really interesting! I'm kinda sad it didn't live up to its full potential for you.
If the author is withholding information, it must be very clever and well-written and this book just didn't meet my standard for that.
DeleteI liked the character diversity as well!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely one of the most diverse casts I've seen in a while-wish there was even more of the other characters!
DeleteHa ha, that is what I was told when I used to do online-dating :-)
ReplyDeleteYou look like Aubrey Plaza? That's cool to know and is how I will picture you now!
DeleteThis sounds interesting, but I wasn't a huge fan of her first work. I'm interested in the character diversity, though. Might be worth a read, plus I love the premise! Awesome review, girly! (:
ReplyDeleteI do want to go back and try her first book-I'm such a sucker for contemporary!
DeleteI read and enjoyed The Beginning of After and I think this book looks great. It's frustrating when a book doesn't explain everything though. I will definitely pick it up to check for myself!
ReplyDelete-Taylor @ Reading is the Thing
I'm excited to compare this to her first work-it looks good.
DeleteInteresting premise. I'm curious as to how the documentary ends up. I do like that the characters are diverse and there is so much character growth! Always what I look for and enjoy! I might have to give this one a try!
ReplyDeleteIt was cool thinking about the documentary over the years-definitely something I would not want to have done. I hope you like this book more if you give it a try.
DeleteI have this one on my shelf but I'm not sure I'll manage to read it this month (or next) I have been very curious and enjoying contemporary books so I kind of want to. The 3 stars concerns me a bit and I'm not sure if I want to give it a try if it's not REALLY good (since I have so many to read right now). I'm definitely going to read this at some point though, it definitely interests me!
ReplyDeleteWell if contemporary is working for you, this might be a good read. I was not really in the mood for contemporary and I think that contributed to my dissatisfaction.
DeleteI think it's a good sign that you did like this one! I remember wanting to read the author's debut novel as well, but it got a bit buried somewhere on my "will read...one of these days" list. So awesome that you liked this one - I'm really curious about it! It's good that despite the slow beginning, it didn't peter out. :) Nice review that has me genuinely curious about this one!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had liked it a bit more but I still want to check out the first one too.
DeleteI definitely enjoyed this one, although I get what you mean about how it was holding back on details and everything... it would have been cool to know more stuff about the past beforehand.
ReplyDeleteI feel like we could have known a lot more about the kids from the documentary without spoiling any surprises-it would have let the reader feel closer to them.
DeleteI liked this author's other book, The Beginning of After, but for some reason I thought this book was about kids on reality TV and decided not to read it.
ReplyDeleteNow that I get what it's about, I still may request it at the library.
Jen @ YA Romantics
Glad to know that you liked her first book-since we usually agree, it gives me hope for trying it too.
DeleteI hadn't seen this one around. I like the premise a lot, but sounds like I'd get pretty annoyed with the MC. I don't like waiting to find things out sometimes either, especially if the narrator knows and keeps it quiet for reasons that don't seem believable enough.
ReplyDeleteI found Justine a bit on the annoying side but I know others have clicked with her. She has had some tough experiences...
DeleteI love the premise for this one, even though I barely read contemporary. It promises a very interesting read and I like it when there's more than the average two characters for the main cast. I'm curious on how their relationships and personalities will work when together.
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope you check it out then! It wasn't my favorite contemporary but if it appeals to people who don't usually read it, then I'm a fan!
DeleteI've seen this book around a lot, but had no idea what it was about. Thanks for a great review that really made me think it might be something to read. And at least I know who to recommend it to now.
ReplyDeleteGlad to have helped-hope you do decide to check it out and review it. I'd love to see your thoughts!
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