It's hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or t...
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Apr 09, 2011
Tatiana
rated it: 
2.5 stars
Disturbed women is something I definitely enjoy reading about, especially when they are portrayed through the eyes of slightly over-involved observers. It is fascinating to get to know such women who think they have it all figured out but who in reality grossly underestimate the depth of their own wretchedness. Breakfast at Tiffany's and to some degree Girl, Interrupted are the books that explore this premise. And so does Like Mandarin.
High-school senior Mandarin More...
Disturbed women is something I definitely enjoy reading about, especially when they are portrayed through the eyes of slightly over-involved observers. It is fascinating to get to know such women who think they have it all figured out but who in reality grossly underestimate the depth of their own wretchedness. Breakfast at Tiffany's and to some degree Girl, Interrupted are the books that explore this premise. And so does Like Mandarin.
High-school senior Mandarin More...
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Dec 17, 2010
Phoebe
rated it: 
Usually, I save my FTC/keepin’-me-honest disclosure for the end of my review, but here, it seems prudent to state it up front. I won this review copy of Kirsten Hubbard’s March 2011 debut Like Mandarin through a contest on her group blog, YA Highway. What’s more, I “know” Kirsten (not in the biblical sense of the term, of course, getchermindouttathegutta!) as well as any two people who have exchanged emails but never met can know one another. In fact, we met on goodreads, and bonded over a book
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Jun 21, 2011
Ashelynn
rated it: 
Cross posted at A Gypsy Writer.
I didn't know about this book until a few weeks ago. When I did, I fell in love with the cover, then with the summary. I live in Wyoming, and not a lot of books are about Wyoming. After talking with Kirsten Hubbard after I won the book in her first giveaway, I found out this book is based in the county I live in. How cool is that? She even wrote in the book that I was meant to win the book. How can I argue with that?
Hubbard's writing is magical. More...
I didn't know about this book until a few weeks ago. When I did, I fell in love with the cover, then with the summary. I live in Wyoming, and not a lot of books are about Wyoming. After talking with Kirsten Hubbard after I won the book in her first giveaway, I found out this book is based in the county I live in. How cool is that? She even wrote in the book that I was meant to win the book. How can I argue with that?
Hubbard's writing is magical. More...
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Dec 17, 2010
Kari
rated it:
The Short Version:
Striking and fluid, Like Mandarin brings a new voice to YA with vivid, highly developed characters and a no holds barred plot. Grace is a perfect compliment and contrast to Mandarin, and the connection and dynamic between them is handled flawlessly. Fleshed out with Hubbard’s stellar writing, there are some strong messages and a poignant realism within this book.
The Extended Version:
Grace is intelligent and mature for her age, but still on the cusp of strong More...
Striking and fluid, Like Mandarin brings a new voice to YA with vivid, highly developed characters and a no holds barred plot. Grace is a perfect compliment and contrast to Mandarin, and the connection and dynamic between them is handled flawlessly. Fleshed out with Hubbard’s stellar writing, there are some strong messages and a poignant realism within this book.
The Extended Version:
Grace is intelligent and mature for her age, but still on the cusp of strong More...
Apr 07, 2011
I'm pretty sure there's nothing I can say to properly do justice to this absolutely gorgeous book--without using the words "lovely," "beautiful," or "Wow" too many times. But I'm going to try!
There are plenty of reasons to read this book. It's darn good for one thing. (One of the best Contemps I've read). The characters are believable and relatable, the setting is perfectly integrated to the story, and the plot itself is surprisingly page turning for a con More...
There are plenty of reasons to read this book. It's darn good for one thing. (One of the best Contemps I've read). The characters are believable and relatable, the setting is perfectly integrated to the story, and the plot itself is surprisingly page turning for a con More...
Feb 22, 2012
Melanie
rated it:
Okay, where to begin? Maybe the very first line since, as every great book should, it sucked me in.
The winds in Washokey make people go crazy
The prose just gets better from there. It's lyrical, poignant, intense. Beautiful. It's everything that I, as a writer, aspire to achieve and that I, as a reader, feel honored to experience. Hubbard had me re-reading lines and highlighting passages in an effort to understand their simple brilliance. Nearly every line is a wonder, ripe w More...
The winds in Washokey make people go crazy
The prose just gets better from there. It's lyrical, poignant, intense. Beautiful. It's everything that I, as a writer, aspire to achieve and that I, as a reader, feel honored to experience. Hubbard had me re-reading lines and highlighting passages in an effort to understand their simple brilliance. Nearly every line is a wonder, ripe w More...
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Jul 16, 2011
Margo
rated it:
Grace Carpenter, the book's main character, lives in Washokey, Wyoming. She's a failed beauty queenlet (by choice), a year ahead in school (not by choice), and has an obsession with dead things. Well, rocks. But rocks have to be the most dead things on the planet, right?
Most of all, Grace wants to be – you guessed it – like Mandarin Ramey.
The story follows an unlikely friendship – one girl wants to leave town, the other seems to own it. I found the book so utterly readab More...
Most of all, Grace wants to be – you guessed it – like Mandarin Ramey.
The story follows an unlikely friendship – one girl wants to leave town, the other seems to own it. I found the book so utterly readab More...
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Jul 18, 2011
Audrey
rated it:
full review on my blog, holes In My brain
This book is… full. It’s hard to describe, it just feels like it’s brimming over with essence and energy from the moment you’re whipped into the story by the winds in Washokey. It feels almost surreal to be so caught up in a complexly simple storyline; Like Mandarin is explosive and impulsive like a shout of laughter, yet reins it all in within a dustbowl of brilliance. This book is damn good.
With a rather simple and somewhat predicta More...
This book is… full. It’s hard to describe, it just feels like it’s brimming over with essence and energy from the moment you’re whipped into the story by the winds in Washokey. It feels almost surreal to be so caught up in a complexly simple storyline; Like Mandarin is explosive and impulsive like a shout of laughter, yet reins it all in within a dustbowl of brilliance. This book is damn good.
With a rather simple and somewhat predicta More...
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Jul 05, 2011
Faye
rated it:
'Like Mandarin' easily surpassed my expectations. I was completely hooked by Grace and Mandarin by the end of the Chapter 1. I love to read fantasy books with supernatural creatures and the works but every once in a while, it's good to touch ground with something as stunningly beautiful as 'Like Mandarin.' Hubbard has an amazing capability to write a captivating story that's so compelling, you can't stop reading till it's over! The worst part of this book for me, was that it had to end. I fell i
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(1 person liked it)
Oct 26, 2011
Lily
rated it:
Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews.
It's hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything to be like Mandarin. When they're united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship, pac More...
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews.
It's hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything to be like Mandarin. When they're united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship, pac More...
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Feb 08, 2012
Kaitlin
rated it:
I think it is finally time for me to write some actual thoughts to go with my five star rating. So. I have read this book three times now. And every time, it is as beautiful as the last time. It's beautiful in so many layers, you almost NEED to read it more than once to truly appreciate it. Or at least, I did. The most obvious way in which this book is beautiful is the writing--the similes and metaphors, the way the setting creeps into the smallest details. And of course there's Mandarin. If Man
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Mar 08, 2011
Kelly
rated it:
Full rview: http://stackedbooks.blogspot.com/2011/03...
this book? it is something.
i'm saving a longer review for a couple weeks, when you can run out and buy this one, but this is a girl's bible. i mean, who HASN'T been grace? i'm still grace. she's so much smarter than me and she's 14. i cannot express the number of ways i identified with her. but it's so real. it's spot on.
a really, really, really killer debut.
this book? it is something.
i'm saving a longer review for a couple weeks, when you can run out and buy this one, but this is a girl's bible. i mean, who HASN'T been grace? i'm still grace. she's so much smarter than me and she's 14. i cannot express the number of ways i identified with her. but it's so real. it's spot on.
a really, really, really killer debut.
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Sep 08, 2011
Jill
rated it:
Liked: Beautiful imagery of the badlands of Wyoming. I love that part of the country, and spent some time in Lander, Wyo, so I could picture it pretty well. Also liked the part about them "liberating" the animal trophies. Despite what you will read in the "dislike" below, I thought it was a well crafted novel - better, anyway, than a large portion of the drivel I've read. It will appeal to a teen audience looking for books about fitting in.
Disliked: Pretty typical Y More...
Disliked: Pretty typical Y More...
Jul 20, 2011
Liesl
rated it:
Fourteen-year-old Grace Carpenter lives in the badlands of Washoke, Wyoming. She’s smart, reclusive, and at odds with her make-up selling, child-pageant obsessed mother, but it’s Mandarin Ramey who fascinates Grace. Brash Mandarin Ramey, the town slut and underaged bartender, is everything Grace wants to be, but when Grace is unwittingly befriended by Mandarin, Grace learns that Mandarin isn’t as strong or perfect as she seems.
This book took me a while to get attached to, but by the e More...
This book took me a while to get attached to, but by the e More...
Jul 03, 2011
Camila
rated it:
Like Mandarin is about a young girl (age of a freshman, but skipped a grade to sophmore year) who is average in looks, but very smart, and is growing up in a small town in Whyoming. The girl, Grace Carpenter, is very shy and has no friends. Her old friend Alexis is mostly just mean to her. There is a girl at Grace's school, Mandarin Ramey, who is beautiful and mysterious, and it the object of every man's (and some women's) lust. Also every women's jealousy. The entire town speaks of her as the T
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Jul 03, 2011
Darlynn
rated it:
14-year old Grace is socially awkward and the youngest sophomore at her high school in the Badlands of Wyoming. She wants to be like Mandarin, a provcative 17-year-old with “apricot skin, Pochonatas hair and eyes the color of tea”. For her community service project, Grace begins tutoring Mandarin and despite their age difference, they begin a volatile friendship based on Mandarin’s impulsive, carefree personality. Grace begins seeing a darker side of Mandarin, but after her friend sets her up to
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Mar 23, 2011
Fifteen-year-old Grace is living in the suffocating badlands of Wyoming with her pageant-obsessed mother and super-talented younger sister. There's no beauty to be found, except for the beauty of Mandarin Ramey: wild child, town slut, and the one person Grace would most like to be like. Unlike smart and studious Grace, Mandarin is wild and carefree, a girl the whole town talks about but nobody really knows. When Mandarin asks to be partnered with Grace for a school project, the two form an unlik
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Mar 20, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
Right away I was able to connect with the main character, Grace. She is the socially awkward smart girl who just wants to be like the popular girls, in this case Mandarin, that everyone wants to be or looks to as the bad girl - wild and free. Grace has disappointed her mother early in life by throwing her final big beauty pageant chances out the window on a whim of disobedience. Grace is paired with Mandarin by a teacher that is hoping that Grace will be able to help Mandarin pass her classes
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Feb 21, 2011
Cindy/Books Complete Me
rated it:
Grace's story is one that is both difficult and engrossing to watch unfold. She's sick of her small town and fantasizes about getting out someday. She can't understand why her mother, who had left at one point, ever came back in the first place. Grace is intelligent (one year ahead in school even) and sticks mostly to herself at school. She has a deep admiration for two things in her life: rocks and Mandarin. When a teacher requests that Grace help Mandarin with a school project, Grace's infatua
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Jan 29, 2011
Hderaps
rated it:
In every way, Grace is a wallflower. She is a former child pageant star, who had one shining moment of retaliation where she lifted her dress in front of her entire town. That ended both her days on the pageant circuit and her rebellion.
Since this one memorable outburst, Grace has faded into the background. Not that she's not worthy of notice. She is an awkward beauty, an honors student who has skipped a grade and may skip over another, and is brilliant about science. But, none of More...
Since this one memorable outburst, Grace has faded into the background. Not that she's not worthy of notice. She is an awkward beauty, an honors student who has skipped a grade and may skip over another, and is brilliant about science. But, none of More...
Dec 13, 2011
Kelly
rated it:
Grace Carpenter hates her small-town life. Her mom's pageant-obsesed, and since her own disastrous pageant performance (which involved flashing her underwear to the judges, other contestants and basically the whole town), they haven't been very close. Her younger sister's in pageants now, and Grace knows her sister is their mom's favorite. She's not very popular in school and she knows just how forgettable she is. And then she and Mandarin become friends. Mandarin's everything Grace isn't.
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Mar 10, 2011
Krista
rated it:
Like Mandarin is one of those books I really wanted to read, and then I really didn't. The main reason is I know the author from back in the Absolutewrite days. So there's this pressure of "Oh am I gonna like or hate it or what?" LOL
Here's the truth. Amazing. Read it in a day. I won't say I'm not pea green with envy for Hubbard's beautiful prose and breathtaking figurative language. She has a gift for vividly painting pictures in your mind of everything from the rebellious More...
Here's the truth. Amazing. Read it in a day. I won't say I'm not pea green with envy for Hubbard's beautiful prose and breathtaking figurative language. She has a gift for vividly painting pictures in your mind of everything from the rebellious More...
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Sep 26, 2011
Georgiann
rated it:
Like Mandarin is a beautifully crafted, story about an unlikely friendship that sets two very different girls free.Grace Carpenter is a failed beauty queen. Her mother has an obsession with beauty pageants. Mandarin Ramey is a seventeen year old beauty she is a wild girl shameless and utterly carefree.While Grace is studious and self conscious, she would give anything to be more like Mandarin. While they are both so wildly different from each other they are united for a school project, they emb
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Jul 26, 2011
Maggie
rated it:
I really enjoyed reading this, for the most part. There were moments that made me freak out a little bit, but thank God they didn't get too dark. I'm at the point where I can't read about certain things--they just make me stress out no matter how true to life they are. Sometimes, I just want to read something hopeful.
The writing is beautiful, but I thought there were too many similes. Almost everything is compared to something else, and it's usually unnecessary. Despite that, I like More...
The writing is beautiful, but I thought there were too many similes. Almost everything is compared to something else, and it's usually unnecessary. Despite that, I like More...
Jan 28, 2012
Samantha
rated it:
So so so so good! I wasn't sure I would love this book when I picked it up, but it only took about 2 minutes for me to fall in love with it. As soon as Grace recalled the first time she noticed Mandarin (right after seven-year-old Grace turned her appearance in a local pageant into a bit of a dirty dance show) I was hooked.
Mandarin is every bit the girl I would have fallen for in high school. I'm not sure why I find myself so drawn to these damaged girls, but I do. (It's clear enough w More...
Mandarin is every bit the girl I would have fallen for in high school. I'm not sure why I find myself so drawn to these damaged girls, but I do. (It's clear enough w More...
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Dec 26, 2011
FREEBIRD
rated it:
4 eye opening stars.
I'll be the first to admit it: I love coming of age stories. Maybe it's because my own was so action packed and insane, but I understand when a person blooms. I understand when a teenager has that "AH HA!" moment and then their entire world is shaken and turned upside down, sideways, inside out and then finally rights itself. But it will never look the same.
This is exactly what happens in the novel to Grace Carpenter. Grace, our protagoni More...
I'll be the first to admit it: I love coming of age stories. Maybe it's because my own was so action packed and insane, but I understand when a person blooms. I understand when a teenager has that "AH HA!" moment and then their entire world is shaken and turned upside down, sideways, inside out and then finally rights itself. But it will never look the same.
This is exactly what happens in the novel to Grace Carpenter. Grace, our protagoni More...
Aug 26, 2011
Sarah
rated it: 
Have you ever been envious of a classmate? Grace Carpenter isn't quite envious; she is infatuated with Mandarin Ramey, an upperclassman at her high school. Mandarin is feisty, popular with the boys and not afraid to show her independence. She's definitely got herself a reputation in their small Wyoming town. And reputation is something Grace is lacking. Grace excels at her classes, is tired of her old friends, and her mom and sister are too busy doing the beauty pageant circuit to pay atte
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May 11, 2011
Kim
rated it:
Grace Carpenter is a small-town girl who is a serious student, loves to read, and is intrigued by geology. Mandarin Ramey is beautiful, fun, and carefree. Mandarin is the talk of the town, and quite frankly the only touch of color in windy Washokey, Wyoming. Grace is tired of the the third degree and the provincial mindset,and wants to get out and as far from Wyoming as possible. To get out, she thinks the best way is to become friends with Mandarin. Once acquainted, Mandarin immediately senses
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May 02, 2011
Book Twirps
rated it:
Kirsten Hubbard captures small town life perfectly in her novel Like Mandarin. Fourteen-year-old Grace Carpenter longs for something more than the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming. When she was younger she was a pageant princess. Her single mother would doll her up and take her out to compete. That all ended after she pulled a stunt during the finale of one of her pageants, humiliating her mother, who then refused to enter her in another. This is also the first time she sees Mandarin Ramey.
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Oct 02, 2011
Patricia J.
rated it:
The Wyoming badlands are as much a character in Like Mandarin as Grace or Mandarin--two teenagers who seem as opposite as day and night. This rocky, windswept landscape interrupted by barbed wire fences and small towns is a place with wide vistas but narrow viewpoints, where people like what's known and distrust what's new. I really like that author Kirsten Hubbard brings such authenticity to this contemporary YA story. These characters make bad choices and big mistakes but they help each other
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