Goodreads Summary:
Take an administrative snafu, a bad breakup, and “The Hot-Tub Incident,” and you’ve got two thoroughly unprepared sophomores on a semester abroad. For American party girl Tasha, an escape to Oxford may be a chance to ditch her fame as a tabloid temptress, but wading Uggs-deep in feminist theory is not her idea of a break. Meanwhile, the British half of the exchange, studious Emily, nurses an aching heart amid the bikinis and beer pong of U.C. Santa Barbara. With an anthropologist’s eye for detail and a true ear for teen-speak, Abby McDonald crafts a funny, fast-paced, poignant look at survival, sisterhood, and the surprising ways we discover our true selves.
Review:
Folks, this is what I call good Realist Young Adult Contemporary Fiction. Phew… that was a long title but I want you to know what this book is all about. The first novel I read by Abby McDonald was Getting Over Garrett Delaney and it is one of my favorite novels to date. I’m pretty sure most of you know that by now. I believe this book was the first book she wrote for YA (Don’t quote me on that, I haven’t researched all of her completed works yet) and it was almost as Good as GOGD. This book was a little slow and almost a bit blah in the first one hundred pages, but after that, I remembered why Abby McDonald has become one of my favorite authors of this time. I’m a little tired of books that are too hard on my emotions and this book did connect me emotionally to the story but it did not rip me to shreds. Thank you Abby McDonald for taking care of my feelings.
This is a must read for everyone. Well, if you like YA or realist books that is. 🙂
Caution: This book is marked as Age 14 and up. It does not contain mature content but people openly talk about having sex in the book but they never describe sex at all. Just a warning to parents.
Rating: 4/5
Rating System:
1/5: I hated it.
2/5: It had some redeeming qualities but overall, not a good book.
3/5: I liked it (A fun read).
4/5: I really like it, but something was missing.
5/5: I love it! It’s as close to perfection as it can get!
The Talking Bookworm 