Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The Reece Malcolm List

The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding
4/5 stars
Entangled Publishing, 2013
305 pages
YA Contemporary

Source: Library

For some reason, when I first saw this title, I recoiled, thinking it was like Sean Griswold's Head and not interested in at all (not sure why as I adore SGH and highly recommend it. My brain is weird sometimes.) Then I saw Estelle at Rather Be Reading's review, which highlighted its musical theater details. Then I read further and discovered that Reece Malcolm is actually the narrator's long-estranged mother and all of a sudden, I wanted this book.

I'm really glad I came around because I had so much fun reading this book especially being immersed in the musical theater life (main character Devan gets to act in Merrily We Roll Along) and exploring the complicated relationship between Devan and her mother as they try to become family. Less enthralling was some of Devan's personality and the teenage love dramas, which I'll get to in a sec.

A quick summary is that we follow Devan who is going to live with her best-selling author mother after the death of her father; she never knew the woman and has a lot of apprehension about the experience. Though Reece is prickly, her boyfriend Brad is amazing and soon Devan is enrolled in a performing arts school and thriving despite still wondering about her place in the family and why hasn't her mother contacted her before now? Can Devan crack the Reece Malcolm code?

The good is abundant in this book. Firstly it was heaven for this musical theater nerd (especially defining my personality in high school despite being pretty tone-deaf) to have so many references-I would have taken even more but I don't know if that would have been isolating to people who aren't as familiar with musicals.

My favoritest part though was getting to meet Brad, boyfriend to Reece and almost superhumanly patient and warm. He makes things easy and is a welcoming presence even when Reece can't quite connect with Devan. There are also two boyfriend options for Devan and I liked how she got to have some fun instead of immediately settling down with the one but I didn't feel like either was that great of an option. Thinking back, I liked pretty much all of the adult characters a lot (like Reece's best friend Kate and the musical teacher Mr. Deans) but not so much the teenagers, who seemed shallowly drawn despite being very important to Devan.

For the most part I liked Devan's voice as she conversationally carries us through the story. I did find some of her personality quirks frustrating. The main one was her habit of constantly apologizing and angsting over her mother. Now these are completely understandable within the context of her personal history. Her father and stepmother were not good parents who did not welcome Devan so it makes complete sense for her to feel awkward and apologetic about being dropped into her mother's life. Still I found it a little over the top and annoying although thankfully as Devan settles into her new life, she stops apologizing all the time. So it's actually an example of character growth but it still bothered me.

The other thing I found annoying was Devan's back and forth relationship with her crush Sai, who is dating another girl for most of the book. I don't want to be one of those adults who complains about teenagers acting like teenagers but I'm pretty sure I didn't act like that when I was a teenager (thank God I no longer am!) I won't spend time elaborating on this point as I think these complaints were both very personal based on my own experiences.

Well, this ended up being pretty long, which is usually a negative sign for me but is actual positive here. There was just so much to think about and I'm really glad I finally picked this one up! Recommended for fans of musical theater/performing stories as well as lovers of funny contemporary.

Other Opinions:
Book Labyrinth
Jen Ryland/YA Romantics
Just Sitting Thar
Rather Be Reading
Stuck In Books

18 comments:

  1. Even though I was not a musical theater nerd, I really enjoyed this story! Fun, well-written and just cute.

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    1. I wondered if it would be too niche but glad to hear that it isn't-it was just the contemporary I wanted to read!

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  2. I am SO glad you liked this one! Thanks for including my review. I bought this for a non-YA reader who is a big musical theater fan and she liked it, and then I decided to give it a whirl on my mom who is like... a mom who likes mother/daughter relationships and she loved it too. So this book has cross appeal!

    I hear you one some of the annoyances. The "romance" was probably my least favorite part of the book, but that's ok. Not everything is going to be perfect. So looking forward to reading more of Amy's writing!

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    1. Your review was so influential to getting me to pick this up. The romance was definitely my least favorite part but the other elements were so good!

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  3. This one is sitting on my shelf, but I haven't read it yet. I'll definitely have to get around to it soon! Great review!

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    1. Definitely pick it up-it's a nice light read for anytime.

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  4. It being long I don't really would bother, cause I love the theater and performing arts. I will have to see if I can find this one. Great review.

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  5. I REALLY want to read this one... the cover completely drew me in! I love theatre as well, so this one sounds PERFECT :D but it sounds a little annoying that she goes after a guy who already is dating someone :/ Well, anyway, great review! Can't wait to find a copy of this one :)

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    1. The guy wasn't dating someone when they first met-it happens pretty early in the novel though but she already liked him. The theater parts are so good!

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  6. Although I tend to dislike books about theater, this one does sound too cute to pass up! The apologizing thing does sound like it could be a bit frustrating, but if it shows how much she has grown as a character in the end so that would be okay. Glad you enjoyed this!

    Alise @ Readers in Wonderland

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    1. You don't like books about theater? Oh, that's one of my favorite plot lines. She really does grow as a character, which was SO satisfying to read.

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  7. I thought this sounded really good so I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! It sounds like a good summer read for me actually, too bad I can't fit it in before summers over. :(

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  8. Whoa, awesome adult characters? Sold! :P

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    1. I loved the adult characters so much-they were really good with all kinds of different personalities to enliven the book.

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  9. Hmmm, maybe you were afraid it would be TOO similar, and thus not original? Lol. Pretty funny though. Sai seems to be the biggest drawback of the book. He's just not a very nice guy, but I did think it was all realistically done. I know I had crushes on some jerks in high school. X_X

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    1. I have no idea what was going on in my crazy head! Sai just pissed me off so much though I can identify with picking someone who isn't that good for you-I just hope she meets a better quality of guy in college!

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