Carpe Diem

Nov 11, 2011 Angie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: good-uns, ya

I ran across CARPE DIEM around four years ago in the Feiwel & Friends catalog. They had the excellent good sense to reprint the wonderful President's Daughter series by Ellen Emerson White, and I wondered what other YA titles they had on the docket at the time. My eye was drawn to this cover right off the bat, and I still think it's just perfect for the book. I love the slightly faded parchment look of it. With the silhouette and the hair and the style it could be anything really. In this ca...more I ran across CARPE DIEM around four years ago in the Feiwel & Friends catalog. They had the excellent good sense to reprint the wonderful President's Daughter series by Ellen Emerson White, and I wondered what other YA titles they had on the docket at the time. My eye was drawn to this cover right off the bat, and I still think it's just perfect for the book. I love the slightly faded parchment look of it. With the silhouette and the hair and the style it could be anything really. In this case, it's a contemporary novel about a girl who goes on the trip of a lifetime and who's priorities are rearranged a bit as a result. I never hear very much about the book around the blogosphere and I wonder if it just sort of flitted and floated its way by or if others picked it up for its pretty outsides and enjoyed the insides as much as I did. I haven't seen anything else from Autumn Cornwell after this debut, but I would certainly be interested in more from her.

Vassar Spore's parents just went ahead and named their only daughter after one of the most prestigious women's colleges in the country. Unsurprisingly, she grows up a goal-oriented perfectionist intent on winning a Pulitzer Prize and marrying an MIT grad. Yawn. In steps Vassar's bohemian grandma who demands she spend the summer with her backpacking across Southeast Asia. Blackmailed to within an inch of their lives, Vassar's parents give in and off she goes to a region of the world she never thought she'd see. And it's all bugs and dirt and complications from there on out. She encounters a myriad of people and pests from different walks of life and vastly different outlooks from her own. And the girl who thought she was so open-minded and so adaptable discovers she has just a few more things to learn about life before she heads off to college to save the world.

Okay. So I think we can all agree that this plot line could have easily slipped into the predictable too-serious-girl finds there's more to life than book learning . . . but somehow it just . . . doesn't. I kept waiting to succumb to that familiar jaded feeling and it never came. And even though I did predict one key surprise correctly, Cornwell absolutely won me over with her genuine love for her character and the region of the world she was exploring. You could tell the author had traveled herself (and loved it) as there's just that certain kind of wanderlust and experience with being immersed in something wholly other that's difficult to manufacture. It was here in spades and I was suffused with memories of living abroad growing up and studying abroad later in college. Precious memories, every one. This wonderful sense of adventure lent the story a freshness I wholly enjoyed. Vassar's voice is a strong one, one that changes and grows over time, which I always appreciate. Lastly, if none of this has induced you to read the book, all I have to say is you might want to meet the handsome young man Vassar encounters on her sojourn. Because Hanks the Malaysian Cowboy Bodyguard alone is enough reason to read the book. "Hanks plural, not singular." Man, I love that cowboy.(less)

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Oct 31, 2008 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Young girls or women seeking an innocent adventure story

Recommended to Beth by: Autumn Cornwell

This is a young adult novel, but I picked it up because I'm friends with the author. It was an adventure story that I couldn't put down-- this is definitely a book that would have been a favorite of mine if it had been around when I was growing up.

Autumn herself has traveled all over Southeast Asia, so the details of the herione's adventures are incredible vivid and captivating. In fact, though the story itself is fiction, I know much of the story is based on actual events that Autumn encounter...more

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May 29, 2008 Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is so funny. Every page seems to have at least one thing to laugh about. But unlike most ridiculous teenage humors it really has a good theme. Vassar, the girl who is named after a prestigious college is trying to acheive a 5.3 or some ridiculously high GPA. Then in steps her grandma who makes her go on a trip with her in SE Asia for the entire summer. Suddenly the 5.3 isn't as attainable and she is forced to write a novel to earn AP-AP English credit. Her trip makes her realize that h...more

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Dec 24, 2008 Claire rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: 12 and up

Shelves: high-school-and-beyond, a-7th-and-8th-grade-middle-school-t

We meet innocently smug 16 year old Vassar Spore firmly entrenched in her routines that will ensure her acceptance to Vassar (hence the name- who could deny her with that moniker hangin' 'round her neck?) a PhD and Pulitzer...her life is planned, planned, planned by her well meaning parents, mom, a life coach and dad the efficiency expert.
Obviously they are set up for a fall, enter Grandma Gerd an unencumbered free spirit who has been living in Asia. Seeing the rut that Vassar is in she maneuve...more

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Mar 04, 2011 Deb rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young, adult, coming, of, age

This enjoyable story goes from moments of hilarity to moments of terror as it follows a young women on her journey of self-discovery through Southeast Asia. Vassar Spoor is just as preppy as her name sounds--encouraged by her parents to set goals and aim for the top she has a life plan that includes becoming valedictorian of her prep school, attending Vassar, and marrying a doctor. But she doesn't count on her Grandma Gerd sending her a plane ticket so that she can spend the summer trekking thro...more This enjoyable story goes from moments of hilarity to moments of terror as it follows a young women on her journey of self-discovery through Southeast Asia. Vassar Spoor is just as preppy as her name sounds--encouraged by her parents to set goals and aim for the top she has a life plan that includes becoming valedictorian of her prep school, attending Vassar, and marrying a doctor. But she doesn't count on her Grandma Gerd sending her a plane ticket so that she can spend the summer trekking through Southeast Asia with her. Mysteriously Vassar's parents decide she should go--after it appears Grandma Gerd has blackmailed them with a family secret. Suddenly Vassar is thrust into a world of high humidity, strange bathroom habits, Malaysian cowboys, un-trustworthy relatives, and 'the big secret'. She manages to survive it all, learns to 'LIM'--live in the moment, and learns a lot about herself--including "the big secret", which concerns her very identity.[return]I highly enjoyed this romp of a story, Vassar's adventures are truly over the top in hilarity and danger. Having traveled to Southeast Asia I also delighted in the many aspects of the setting and culture that I recognized--the author did a wonderful job of describing the unique locale. At least I never found myself mooning a bunch of Asians after a bathroom mishap on a boat, but I can see it happening! Some of the antics of the grandmother and the danger she put Vassar in made me really angry, and while she miraculously survives the lightheartedness trivializes some of the very real dangers of travelling in this part of the world--or with a grandmother who will steal and cheat to get her way. Vassar's courage and ability to overcome lost contact lenses, hostile natives, and the terrors of the jungle were amazing. I would highly recommend this book to anyone! The audio version is wonderful, by the way, the narrator captured each characters voice with the right nuance and kept up with the fast pace of this adventurous story well.(less)

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Oct 21, 2009 Prairie Star rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: star-reader-contest-2009-2010, truman-award-2009-2010

Vassar, named after the ivy league women’s college is a typical type A personality. Focused and driven to obtain her goals. She has very impressive goals, all meticulously planned and plotted down to the day, month and year. Her parents, an efficiency expert and a life coach, cocoon her from the real world, insisting that academics must be her focus until she finishes her P.h.D. Vassar is content with the plan. The only snag in her life is beating out her former best friend for the honor of vale...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Cassy rated it 3 of 5 stars

The beginning is two stars, and the end is four stars. The average is three stars for the whole book.

I thought I would like this book a lot better. Heck, I thought I would be able to relate to Vassar Spore, the overachiever who gets an attitude change. I'm an overachiever; I am often super stressed about my 'success'. But Vassar isn't like that. That pretentious girl has it all together, because of her planning of course. So we end up with someone super annoying. That could have been on purpose,...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Nathalie S rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a fun, quick to read book. Vassar (Yes, just like THAT Vassar) Spore is a super overachiever high school student with super involved and overachiever parents. They are all a bit uptight but they obviously love each other and are a happy family. Then...da-dum-dum...uber free spirit Grandma Gerd BLACKMAILS Vassar's parents to send Vassar to spend the summer with her in Asia. Vassar thinks her chances at being valedictorian and beating long-time opponent, annoying Wendy Stupacker (former b...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Karin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen-writer, teenagers, high-school, realistic, self-discovery, mystery, families, academic-pressure, college, mother-daughter-relationships, mothers, father-daughter-relationships, fathers, grandchildren, grandmothers, travel, borrowed-from-the-library, relationships, relationship-problems, writers, writing

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Sep 15, 2012 Znic added it

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May 31, 2012 Antara Verma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Carpe Diem
Book Review

Carpe Diem is a fiction based novel by Autumn Cornwell.

Vassar is a 16 year old over achieving girl with uniformed parents and an extremely organized life. Her life revolves around perfecting her latin and getting into the girls college she was named after, Vassar. That was the only way she knew how to live. Until her grandmother Gertrude calls her parents, blackmailing them to let out an old family secret if they don’t commit Vassar to back pack through South East Asia. Eve...more

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May 24, 2012 Karen (Book Light Graveyard) rated it 3 of 5 stars

I secretly have a thing for books about travel—probably because I’ve never been outside the country and thus have to live vicariously. And this book brings it. Seriously. Vassar and her grandma are backpacking through Southeast Asia—a journey not for the faint of heart. And the author doesn’t sugarcoat anything (at least, I don’t think she does—after all, I have no experience in the matter). Through Vassar you get to see the awesome and beautiful things about the countries she visits, as well as...more I secretly have a thing for books about travel—probably because I’ve never been outside the country and thus have to live vicariously. And this book brings it. Seriously. Vassar and her grandma are backpacking through Southeast Asia—a journey not for the faint of heart. And the author doesn’t sugarcoat anything (at least, I don’t think she does—after all, I have no experience in the matter). Through Vassar you get to see the awesome and beautiful things about the countries she visits, as well as the grimy and not-so-ideal aspects. You see the good, the bad, and the ugly, for sure.

Vassar herself is generally likeable. She’s a little too Type A for my taste, but her learning to loosen up is a big part of the story, so I can’t fault her for it. And I respected that she had a fairly good attitude about the whole situation. I have to admit my attitude would probably be much worse than hers if I was the one dragged out of my life by a grandma I didn’t know on a trip I didn’t want to go on. I think the only thing I can’t forgive Vassar for is her superior attitude. She was so holier-than-thou about everything. So let’s just say I was really happy when she got knocked down a peg.

The romance in the book was really refreshing. Hanks is definitely NOT your typical YA boy. I mean, he’s a short Malaysian cowboy-wannabe. But man, did I love him. He gets Vassar out of her bubble and is just generally an awesome person.

The only real hang up I have with the book is the big secret about Vassar’s life that finally gets revealed. It weirded me out, and I couldn’t get past that. I won’t spoil it for you, but I’ll just say that I definitely wasn’t expecting it, and I admire Vassar for handling the information WAY better than I ever would’ve.

Overall, this was a fun and enjoyable travel book. If you like 13 Little Blue Envelopes, you’ll probably like this one, as it’s along similar lines. And now, I really can’t decide if this book makes me want to go to Southeast Asia or stay as far away from it as possible…

Book Light Graveyard (less)

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Nov 11, 2011 Cemara Dinda (Me and the Bookshelf Life) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Vassar Spore. 16 years old. 5.3 GPA. Named after a very prestigious women's college by her parents. She's got everything planned for her life, and I do mean everything. She vows to spend her summer improving her academics by attending a bunch of classes. But just when she's about to embark her classes, she receives a birthday package from her grandma in Southeast Asia. What's in the package? A plane ticket to Singapore and a birthday note from her Grandma Gerd. Grandma Gerd offers an "all-expens...more Vassar Spore. 16 years old. 5.3 GPA. Named after a very prestigious women's college by her parents. She's got everything planned for her life, and I do mean everything. She vows to spend her summer improving her academics by attending a bunch of classes. But just when she's about to embark her classes, she receives a birthday package from her grandma in Southeast Asia. What's in the package? A plane ticket to Singapore and a birthday note from her Grandma Gerd. Grandma Gerd offers an "all-expense paid summer vacation backpacking through Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos". Hows' that for a change of plans? And of course her parents had an instinctive reaction by turning down the offer. How could she miss her AP English classes, or Advanced Advanced English classes and many others? Then Grandma Gerd phoned and her parents tried to keep Vassar away from hearing their conversation. Yet, Vassar managed to grasp some odd words from the conversation and it all somehow led to The Big Secret. Then her parents gave in to the offer and Vassar was convinced that Grandma Gerd had said something to them to make them give in.

Vassar's curious about this Big Secret and her brainy friends help her try to figure it out, but they just can't. And her parents were determined not to let Vassar find out the truth. So Vassar went on the trip complete with her 10 suitcases, and she's very well equipped let me tell you that. Both Grandma Gerd and Vassar went on a very adventurous trip. And Grandma being a very eccentric, free spirit, live-in-the moment kind of person and Vassar being...well, not. It definitely adds something to the book.

I love the adventure and humor in Carpe Diem. And I have gone to some of the places she went to in Cambodia and Malaysia. I like how Autumn Cornwell described the scenery of the countries in the book, and it was almost a deja-vu for me. From the crowded atmosphere of a local restaurant in Malaysia and to the feel of the heat at the temples of Angkor in Cambodia. I love traveling and reading this book made me want to go out into the world, and find the adventurous side of me. Nothing in her life has prepared Vassar for the things she experienced in the book. She met this Malaysian cowboy personality, Hanks. He really tested her nerves, although his delightful ways got to her as the story progresses. He's basically her guardian during her trip I really love Hanks in the story, even though he also annoyed me in the beginning of the book. The humor found in the story is so outstanding, I find myself laughing out loud at them. Vassar encounters some difficulties during the trip and she deals with them in such hilarious ways. She faces some extremely embarrassing situations, such as, the squat toilets.

The book was full of interesting places, humor but I think this book was really about how Vassar changes and grows as a person throughout the story. I love seeing her gradual change and she emerges as a better person when the book ended. This book had a great pace, it was delightful, it was sweet, it was funny and I couldn't put it down. A fantastic read!
(less)

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Nov 04, 2010 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I just read the book Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell. In the book, the main character Vassar goes on a journey of self discovery. The way she discovers where she came from and how to have fun really keeps you reading. If don't like action thrilled or fantasy books you will love this book. This book is chill but keeps you reading because it is humorous and interesting.

I loved this book, her life in asia never has a dull moment, she gets her ear licked my and old man and almost gets arrested. I can...more I just read the book Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell. In the book, the main character Vassar goes on a journey of self discovery. The way she discovers where she came from and how to have fun really keeps you reading. If don't like action thrilled or fantasy books you will love this book. This book is chill but keeps you reading because it is humorous and interesting.

I loved this book, her life in asia never has a dull moment, she gets her ear licked my and old man and almost gets arrested. I can relate to this book because I understand what it is like to have crazy family members, like her grandma Gerd.

In the book, a girl Vassar who is very involved in school and is very close to being valedictorian is forced to go backpacking though Southeast Asia with her grandma and leave behind her studies and her plans. While grandma Gerd is convincing Vassar’s parents to let her go to Asia, Vassar learns that her parents are keeping a secret from her and don’t want her to know so bad that the let grandma Gerd take her backpacking through Southeast Asia. Vassar’s grandmother gives Vassar a letter every week which will eventually spell out “the big secret”. Vassar refused to stop school so she convinced her principal to let her write a novel about her travels and experiences in Asia as credit to pass the class. She send her friends a chapter a day. Her live in Asia is so crazy and fun, unlike Vassar’s usual life, Vassar’s friend think the novel is made up. She writes about how she met a malaysian cowboy, had an old man lick her ear, how she almost got arrested, her journey to figure out “the big secret” and how crazy her grandmother is. When Vassar, Grandma Gerd, and Hanks (the malaysian cowboy) travel they have to stay in random peoples houses and they had good lick and stayed with really nice people until the last house they stayed at. Vassar slept the wrong way so they made her stay in this room where a little girl spat in her face and she wasn’t allowed to eat hardly anything. She was the only one out of her travel group at that house and Hanks and Gerd didn’t know she was there so they could not save her, she is all alone. Who will save her?

The author, Autumn Cornwell is described as a travel junkie and she has explored twenty two countries and is working on exploring some more. She likes to travel so much so she writes about it. She writes chill books with a mix of comedy and love. This book has sadly won no awards but in my opinion it should. I would recommend this book to anyone.(less)

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Jun 30, 2009 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, star-reader-award-2009-2010, waw-truman-award-nominees-2009-2010

Vassar, named after the ivy league women’s college is a typical type A personality. Focused and driven to obtain her goals. She has very impressive goals, all meticulously planned and plotted down to the day, month and year. Her parents, an efficiency expert and a life coach, cocoon her from the real world, insisting that academics must be her focus until she finishes her P.h.D. Vassar is content with the plan. The only snag in her life is beating out her former best friend for the honor of vale...more

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Sep 03, 2009 Summer rated it 2 of 5 stars

Wow. Ya, wow. What a blank brained book.

Don't get me wrong here. Carpe Diem is a great philosophical statement. But I think it has been more artfully stated in media such as the Dead Poet's Society with Robin Williams. If you haven't seen that movie by the way, do. It's also more impactful in those stories.

Vassar has practically been engeniered to succeed. She's named after a prep school for Pete's sake! Any gap in her plans and she will not win the Nobel Peice Prize. That really equals death i...more Wow. Ya, wow. What a blank brained book.

Don't get me wrong here. Carpe Diem is a great philosophical statement. But I think it has been more artfully stated in media such as the Dead Poet's Society with Robin Williams. If you haven't seen that movie by the way, do. It's also more impactful in those stories.

Vassar has practically been engeniered to succeed. She's named after a prep school for Pete's sake! Any gap in her plans and she will not win the Nobel Peice Prize. That really equals death in my book. So what happens when crazy Grandma Gertrude comes around and blackmails Vassar's parents and forces her to come to Asia with her where she falls for a wanna be Montana cowboy, get's in trouble with the Cambodian police, and gets trapped in an Opium village. What!!! Yes, an Opium village. I won't even tell you has she gets her first kiss. Soooooo yew. This is among the few crazy things that happens to Vassar Spore as she roughs it in third world countries as her artsie grandmother searches for inspiration for a massive collage depicting, ya guessed it, Asia! Um... ya.

I did NOT believe in the characters. I did not believe in the plot. I didn't believe in anything really about this book. But that wasn't really the point. It was obscenely silly and crazy and blatant.

I really did like the descriptions of Asia though. They seemed real enough out of the whole thing.

I don't really have much to say about this book really. It's silly and doesn't have great writing. I did appreciate the twist at the end of the books though. I really did like the cover if that counts for anything but I guess it really doesn't since the books about non conformity and I judged it by looks. I don't really know what that says about anything. One of the things this book did do for me was act like a pace maker. It gave me a little jolt of Carpe Diem, dragged up from the memory of Dead Poet's Society. If your looking for something silly, light, and quick, this is the book for you but not for me. ha ha. nevermind.(less)

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Jun 14, 2009 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, 2009, fiction, cover-love

Vassar Spore is sixteen, an only child of driven and over-achieving parents, and determined to be valedictorian of the Seattle Academy for Academic Excellence, go to Vassar College (her namesake), get a PhD, win the Pulitzer, and more. In fact, at the encouragement of her parents, she's got her entire life planned out and she loves it that way.

Then, a month after her sixteenth birthday, her birthday present from eccentric Grandma Gerd arrives: a plane ticket to Malaysia. Grandma wants Vassar to...more Vassar Spore is sixteen, an only child of driven and over-achieving parents, and determined to be valedictorian of the Seattle Academy for Academic Excellence, go to Vassar College (her namesake), get a PhD, win the Pulitzer, and more. In fact, at the encouragement of her parents, she's got her entire life planned out and she loves it that way.

Then, a month after her sixteenth birthday, her birthday present from eccentric Grandma Gerd arrives: a plane ticket to Malaysia. Grandma wants Vassar to come to her in Southeast Asia for the summer and help her collect found art for a big collage she's working on. It includes travelling to Cambodia and Laos. Vassar isn't thrilled. She has her entire summer planned out with extra credit courses in order to beat her ex-best friend Wendy Stupacker to valedictorian. But Grandma Gerd knows something Vassar doesn't, and has no compunction blackmailing her parents about it.

Vassar and her friends can't puzzle out The Big Secret, which has given her mother a breakdown and upset her father's carefully ordered existence. They come up with a plan to help Vassar get her AAP English credit by writing a novel of her trip, and give her 100 Latin quotes to take with her, one for each day. And so Vassar and her ten well-organised suitcases arrive in Asia, where she meets an Asian cowboy called Hanks, nearly falls into the toilets, gets food poisoning and has a run-in with the Cambodian police. It's one hell of a summer holiday, and that's just the start.

I bought this for the gorgeous cover, and I don't regret a penny of it. Carpe Diem (Seize the Day) is a wonderful, wonderful book and I would recommend it to absolutely anyone.

The start is a little slow, but once Vassar gets to Asia the story picks up and flies off. Vassar and her parents can be a bit nauseating, so removing Vassar from their vicinity really helps.

Narrated by Vassar, it's full of out-right comical humour and more subtle irony. While the characters aren't cliché-free, there's something fresh and delightful about them. The same is true of the plot - some things are entirely predictable, formulaic even, and I'm quite smug that I guess The Big Secret from the beginning and figured out Part 2 of the Secret before it was revealed; and yet, the incidents that happen aren't predictable, and the way Vassar tells it even the things that you do expect to happen, take on a new light.

Take the toilet humour, for instance. There are three or so distinct incidences where Vassar encounters difficulty, and each are hilarious without being stupid. Hanks is partly the cause - he's an absolutely delightful character, subtle underneath his cowboy persona, who teases Vassar in such a way that I couldn't stop myself laughing. I just loved him.

You get very "in the moment" with this book, and things that could otherwise have been infantile and cheesy become hilarious and endearing. Part of it comes from the fact that many of the incidents - including the ear-nibbler and getting stuck on the toilet and the hostage situation - actually happened to the author during her own trips. Vassar's friends, reading the chapters of her novel as she emails them home, think it's all coming from her imagination, but it seems the best stories are the real ones, as unreal as they seem to be.

I easily became emotionally invested in Vassar and her story, and loved the flow of the prose and the steady pacing. It's funny, charming and sweet and at the same time critiques forward-planning at the expense of what Grandma Gerd calls LIM: Living in the Moment. As Vassar realises, she's so busy planning her future and her next step, that she never stops to appreciate the here and now. (less)

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Mar 17, 2013 Kate Langtry rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourites, special

This book used to be my very favourite when I was about Vassar´s age. And, guess what, it still is! I read it again just to check wether or not I would still love it because it´s been years but I think I actually loved it even more. The character developement of Vassar is really believable and I really loved to see her change. She is one of my favourite YA heroines of all times and I didn´t find her whiny or arrogant at all. She is a bit smug but she doesn´t even realise how much it bothers peop...more This book used to be my very favourite when I was about Vassar´s age. And, guess what, it still is! I read it again just to check wether or not I would still love it because it´s been years but I think I actually loved it even more. The character developement of Vassar is really believable and I really loved to see her change. She is one of my favourite YA heroines of all times and I didn´t find her whiny or arrogant at all. She is a bit smug but she doesn´t even realise how much it bothers people around her. I don´t say Vassar is a very nice person, but she was lovable and she seemed real to me.

My favourite character was her grandma Gerd though. Yay for the bohemian artist grandmother! Some of the things she did to Vassar seemed a bit unfair to me but in the end I really liked her. I loved that not only Vassar is changed by her trip to Asia but her grandmother is too. They influence each other in a very believable way. I also loved Hanks with his Cowboy-talk and dreams of becoming a rancher. This is a very character-driven novel and I loved all of these original unique characters. The way they interact with one another was just amazing, I loved the dialouge.

And then there were the descriptions of Asia. Although I´m of Asian descent myself, I have never been to any Asian countries so I can´t say wether or not the descriptions are authentic, but I liked them very much. The story was great too and I loved how Autumn Cornwell didn´t skip the ugly parts of travelling to foreign countries. I loved Vassar´s little travel accidents and I liked the balance between the nice experiences and the bad ones.

Autumn Cornwell has said in an interview that she based a lot of the situations on her own travel experiences and if I didn´t know this, I might have thought this was way over the top. But even if it was, it´s all really good fun and entertaining but at the same time heartwarming and just a feel-good read. There are no boring parts and I love how the message of this book is really "Carpe Diem" - "Seize the day". It´s a very lovely read for everyone interested in books about travelling, Asia and everyone who loves great unique characters.

Sadly, Autumn Cornwell has not published any other novels. I would love to read more from her. (less)

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Feb 18, 2010 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adoption, coming-of-age, identity, relationships, romance, vacations, ya-fiction

Over-acheiver, type A, perfectionist, Vassar Spore has her entire life planned through completion of her PhD, even though she is only a 16-year-old high school student. Her parents plan, prod, and persuade her to do only her best. Then, a surprise request comes from an unlikely source...her mostly-absent, globe-trotting Grandma Gerd. She wants Vassar to meet her in Southeast Asia for the summer and L.I.M.-"Live in the Moment". Never accustomed to such flights of fancy, Vassar is sure her parents...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Stephanie A. rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-ya, girl-protagonists, international-setting

This is a hard one to rate. As far as the objective quality of the book? I'd say it was a 4-star piece, easy. There was high quality writing built on a solid structure, and I'd love to try another book from this author, so I managed to make myself give it a second star. But I had an overwhelmingly negative reaction to this one.

Essentially: I love Vassar with every fiber of my heart and soul (she is the idealized and perfect version of me I'd like to be), and as a result I spent most of the book...more

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May 20, 2012 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really really enjoyed reading this book. I am giving it 4.5 stars. Its not quit up there with my five star books, partly because I didn't like it for the first third of the book. Mostly because the main character bugged me up until she had her change of heart and outlook on life. The first of the book is a little over the top, although it did make it funny. I laughed at how anal and type A the whole spore family was. I think that it could have been a stylistic thing, but the last half of the b...more

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Jun 23, 2011 Johnp rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Sorry - I could not get into this one. Vassar Spore is an ultra-control girl. She plans her life down to the minute - including short-term and long-term life goals ("Win Pulitizer"). She's working toward achieving valedictorian, when her family gets a call from Grandma Gerd, asking that Vasar join her in a brief summer trip across Southeast Asia. Vassar's parents (also control freaks) agree - and Vassar thinks it's some sort of blackmail. What follows is something like the Odd Couple meets Bruce...more

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Mar 09, 2009 Mary rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

Sixteen year old over-achiever Vassar (yep, that really is her name)has her entire life planned - be the valedictorian of her graduating class, attend Vassar and then a yet-to-be-determined Ivy League graduate school, win the Pulitzer prize, marry a blonde surgeon, have 2.5 children, etc. etc. That is, she has this grand plan until her artist/grandmother sends her tickets to spend the summer with her in Southeast Asia and blackmails Vassar's parents into forcing her to go on the trip. This total...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Kerith rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

SPOILER AHEAD but it deserves it. I was intrigued by this book because the main character spends most of it in Southeast Asia, and that looked worth reading. I was immediately put off in the first or second chapter when Vassar describes her dad as "Poor Dad, not only is he adopted but..." as if being adopted is some awful state and one should be ashamed of it. Vassar is then sent to Southeast Asia because her "grandmother" blackmails her parents into allowing it, thus introducing a Big Secret. A...more

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Mar 23, 2011 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-lit

I would actually give this book around a 4.5 rating because I did find it entertaining, and touching at times, for a young adult novel. I chose this book from a selection given in my english grammar instruction class and was skeptical upon reading the first few chapters. While it flowed in the subject matter, I couldn't really relate to Vassar because her attitude was not one that I had been around often enough to appreciate, positively or negatively. But once she was in Malaysia I became hooked...more

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Nov 03, 2010 Books4m rated it 5 of 5 stars

Carpe Diem is a perfect book for armchair travel. That mysterious ability that some books have to take you with them as they travel the world. Vasser has grown up with rules and plans and perfect structure. She's even named after the college of her parents dreams, but this summer she's about to find out you cant plan everything. Her grandmother sends her tickets to southeast asia, to spend the summer accompany her artist grandmother around cambodia loas, and malasyia, Vassar's parents immediatly...more

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Jun 19, 2009 The Dreamer Reader rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Good: The characters were cool. You got your hippie internationally traveling Grandma, your Asian cowboy love interest, your over-bearing all-or-nothing parents, you super smart (but different) friends, and your over-acheiver main character.

Vassar got into really interesting situations. Even though they did not make me laugh out funny, but they did make me smile.

Umm... I can't really think of anymore good thinks to say about this book.

The Bad: Vassar really got on my nerves. In my opinion...more The Good: The characters were cool. You got your hippie internationally traveling Grandma, your Asian cowboy love interest, your over-bearing all-or-nothing parents, you super smart (but different) friends, and your over-acheiver main character.

Vassar got into really interesting situations. Even though they did not make me laugh out funny, but they did make me smile.

Umm... I can't really think of anymore good thinks to say about this book.

The Bad: Vassar really got on my nerves. In my opinion, I felt that she was too much of a smartass to be relateable. Although she does mature eventually, we were already 2/3 into the book before we saw that change! I just wanted to smack herso bad.

Not only is she a smart aleck, the girl bought food sanatizer from someone off the street (that is just retarded), brought 10 jumbo bags with her ON A TREK (you'd think someone that smart would know what a trek is), and just complained about the heat on almost every single freaking page (of course it hot, it's Asia in the summer!).

Don't get me wrong, I love character growth as much as the next person, but Vassar is just out of my empathetic range. I just can't find her relateable.

Another thing, almost all the reviews were saying how wonderful the descriptions of the scenery were... Really? Sorry, but I just don't see it. Maybe it's because I'm Asian and I already knew about the cultures there, but I thought most of them really boring and I wished the author could've toned it down a bit. Sometimes, when I wanted more misadventures in traveling, I got descriptions of a temple.

Also, "The Big Secret" was really predictable. I didn't guess exactly what it was, but I got the main idea early on in the book. And that is no fun at all when you can guess the big mystery that early.

Overall: I thought this was going to be a fast-paced, exciting read with relateable characters who just leap off the page. That was not what I got. IN my opinion, Carpe Diem was very boring and it just frustrated me so much because it could've- no, should've been so much better!(less)

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Jul 11, 2008 Savanna rated it 5 of 5 stars

The most purely fun book I've read since middle school. It's a young-adult book, sure, but it is also the definition of pleasure reading. It reminded me of all the happy, adventurous, uncomplicated pleasures the world contains. And it made me even more excited to travel in Asia!

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Mar 21, 2013 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, set-in-asia, read-in-2013

A fun and unexpected read that I ended up enjoying. Vassar, the main character, was book smart and had her whole life planned out at sixteen. She has a personality that is irritating because of her constant need to plan and prepare for every possibility, combined with the need to over-achieve, I just wanted to reach in and shake her.

I felt like everyone in this story are caricatures of real people. None of the people felt real, not Hanks the Malaysian cowboy or Grandma Gerd the hippie artist or...more

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Jun 03, 2010 Tulah807 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 705-books-read

regular response (also chapter 5 in my writing section):
Vassar Spore is so obsessed with not only planning her whole life, but planning her whole life according to her parents dreams and wishes. She always does exactly what they tell her, like a robot, and she believes that is truly what she wants to do too.

Why would you want to do what other people simply tell you to do? Because they brainwash you into thinking that is what you want too, or because you’re too lazy to figure out your own dreams?...more regular response (also chapter 5 in my writing section):
Vassar Spore is so obsessed with not only planning her whole life, but planning her whole life according to her parents dreams and wishes. She always does exactly what they tell her, like a robot, and she believes that is truly what she wants to do too.

Why would you want to do what other people simply tell you to do? Because they brainwash you into thinking that is what you want too, or because you’re too lazy to figure out your own dreams?

I don’t know. I think it depends on different people. For Vassar, she respects her parents so much, that they are her like role models and so she thinks what they do is right. She wants to be like them, and she thinks she can achieve that by doing what they say.

Is this what society has turned into? That just because we look up to someone means we have to be their clone? I think that that would be the opposite way to find success. Even if you love what you’re role model does, everyone IS different in one way or another, so you’re role models one small strength could possibly be your weakness. I feel like if we have our own dreams, that could be inspired by someone else, we wouldn’t end up as lost.

When Vassar realizes she loves Hanks, and doesn’t want to marry the soon-to-be-doctor and blond, tall boy, she goes in self denial. She constantly thinks ‘what will my parents think?’ and ‘I CAN’T love the asian cowboy (Hanks)’.

Just because we don’t make the exact moves as our idols or exact things they did/want doesn’t mean we can’t achieve our dream! I feel like making your own side steps makes you even better at what you do, even if you end up making a mistake, because you learn from mistakes.

When Vassar took the trip to Asia, she realized she didn’t really want her parents dream for herself.

I feel that if she didn’t make her own decision, she would fail at her job (that her parents wanted) because her only motivation would be her parents. To be happy and successful, we need to make our own path, because in the real world, not only (sadly) will our parents die (and with them some of the motivation), but we will have to make our own choices, even if you have an assistant! Some guidance is OK though, because guidance can help us build our path. (less)

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