Wednesday, October 2, 2013

ARC Review: The Vow

The Vow by Jessica Martinez
4/5 stars
Simon Pulse, 2013
424 pages
YA Contemporary
Scheduled to release October 15

Source: Received an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review through Edelweiss.

I have read Martinez's Virtuosity so was excited to see this new book by her especially with its very different premise. Annie and Mo have long been best friends, both having felt ostracized from their normal peers. Annie in the shadow of the kidnapping and death of her popular older sister and Mo as a Muslim-Jordanian boy in a post-9/11 Kentucky. Neither quite fits in but they get each other. Until the devastating news that Mo must return to Jordan with his family as his father's work visa ends. Together they hatch the crazy plan to get married so that Mo can get a visa and stay here. Should be easy-peasy, right? Not so of course as both face difficulties with their families and eventually the toll of putting up the front of this fake happy marriage starts to get to them.

There were a lot of things I liked about this book such as the alternating narration between Annie and Mo and how the last sentence of one's section would be echoed in the first of the next. This really tied the story together and kept me turning the pages. Though there are a lot of subplots, I didn't feel like the book was overstuffed; however I don't think everything was handled as well as it could have been as will be discussed below. I would also like to applaud Martinez for diversity and the guts to take on a really different kind of story. I've honestly never read anything in YA about teenage marriage for a green card (and I've read a lot of YA in the past four years.) I've also not read many books about Muslims in America, definitely an underrepresented group (we need more books with this diversity, please!)

Less successful was the depictions of the families, both of which are shattered even before the marriage plot is hatched and only further splinters as the pressures mount. I'm a reader who likes resolution and this book does not provide a sufficient amount for me. Especially of interest to me was the case of Annie's parents who, eight years later, overwhelmingly suffocate Annie with their desire to know where she is at all times without displaying any interest in really knowing her as a person. They are pissed when she gets married with their racist side especially coming out. And that's basically it. Does Annie manage to reconcile with them? I don't know-Martinez does not share. Similarly Mo's family makes a few brief appearances through video chat once they return to Jordan but the full consequences of their separation are not really explored. It left me wanting a lot more. Also leaving me wanting more was the relationship between Annie and Mo, which has always been platonic. By the end though there are hints of it becoming something more. Hints only, mind you and I interpret the ending in one way but they never really talk those feelings out.

I was also a bit skeptical about their knowledge regarding fraudulent immigrant marriages, as in they didn't know much. I mean, have they not seen "The Proposal"??? I understand they're young and not thinking entirely rationally but the idea that the federal government closely examines marriages between citizens and foreigners hoping for a visa/green card to ascertain validity is a pretty basic one and I was mad at them for not being prepared for that contingency. I was also disgusted with the racism on display while recognizing that it's probably pretty accurate and even muted for this time. As mentioned above, Mo is a Muslim from Jordan and while not devout, he does match the appearance many people might have of Muslims and he receives a great deal of racist remarks and looks because of that. Luckily the text in no way condones that and represents Mo as just an ordinary person because that's what he is.

Overall: I feel like my negatives ended up being longer than my positives but I still really liked the writing and the concept for this a lot. The entire execution was maybe not strong enough to make a deep and lasting impression on me but I think this is a book worth checking out especially if you're a contemporary fan who doesn't need a lot of romance and also if you want to support diversity in books.

14 comments:

  1. It is great to see more diversity in books. I wish it didn't have quite so many flaws. It would be nice if the family relationships were developed more, especially with Mo's family back in Jordan. I have this for review so I'm sure I'll read it eventually but it isn't very high on my priority list. It sounded really good when I requested it but the reviews I've read have certainly been mixed.

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    1. I liked the plot and writing so much but the characters! Oh the characters were not to my taste at all.

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  2. Great review :) Thank you for being honest about your feelings for this book. <3 (Though I still don't understand how you can rate it four stars when you have so much negative to say about it, hih) It does sound like an interesting book, though not a book for me :) Glad you enjoyed it!
    <3

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    1. I enjoyed reading this a lot and feel comfortable recommending it to others so 4 seems fair.

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  3. I did love Virtuosity so I'd be willing to give this one a chance, even though some of those negatives made my hackles rise.

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    1. I bet you want to see how this author's writing has grown and developed since that first book-I didn't love Virtuosity either so you may interpret these things differently anyway.

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  4. This is interesting because my review today talks about not being happy with the resolution!

    But this sounds like a good read to me when I'm craving something different. And YA definitely needs more Muslims.

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    1. I really wish it had been more resolved-that's just the kind of reader I am!

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  5. Hm. We didn't read VIRTUOSITY, but we did hear good things about it, and the subject of this book interests us. Funny enough, there's another book (THE BOY ON THE BRIDGE, or something like that) about a similar subject, but with a fairly different take. It's by Natalie Standiford, we think. We'd like to check that out one too.

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    1. I definitely liked this one more than The Boy on the Bridge (read in September) because both partners seemed equally committed to the marriage even if they weren't in love whereas TBotB felt like a Soviet trying to do anything to get out of the USSR.

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  6. This concept is definitely fascinating! I like the diversity aspects, and though I've heard of the idea of someone marrying for their green card. I've not read a book about it, especially in YA. HOwever, I already know that the lack of resolution would throw me off big time! For that, I don't think I could even attempt this one. Thanks for the honest review!

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    1. I think it's a concept that could prove very fruitful for a writer and I could see the NA category especially exploring it. I'm just a reader who really likes resolution-I think others have been satisfied with the conclusion.

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  7. Interesting. As a movie, this concept is usually romantic comedy (The Proposal and also Green Card) but it sounds like this is a more serious story And unresolved endings drive me crazy. I'm fine with open-endedness, but not just ambiguity.

    I have this and am looking forward to it!

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    1. There are light moments but for the most part, it's played seriously. Looking forward to your review of this one-I always value seeing your thoughts.

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