This book failed. It was about three privileged girls from different backgrounds around the world building a friendship over the course of three summe...moreThis book failed. It was about three privileged girls from different backgrounds around the world building a friendship over the course of three summers at a posh summer camp (which was really just a boarding school). Oh yeah, and it took place in the 70's. I don't know why it took place in the 70's, but WWII did play a small (and hilarious) part in the novel.
Well, I can tell what this book wanted to be. It wanted to be this beautiful, stunning story of how three girls from such different backgrounds with such different personalities are able to find common ground in the bonds of womanhood and are able to develop a friendship that is able to transcend time and life's difficulties. Eh, no. What I got was three annoying, unrelatable characters whom I never felt connected, and all the stupid shit they did at summer boarding school.
And then they become friends without ever really being that close, it appeared to me.
And then the WWII revelation at the end? I laughed my ass off. That concept would have been great as a novel of some NYT bestselling sort, but instead it is wasted on the end of this crappy book in a gimmicky way. And I smelt it from five miles away. I was like IF GARCIA PUTS THAT IN HERE THIS BOOK SHALL BE DEAD TO ME.
Book, you are dead to me.
Overall, the book was a gimmicky sisterhood-of-the-traveling-pants wannabe that wasn't nearly as significant as it wanted to be. I would say skip it. (less)
Hannah spends the first few days of her summer vacation before her senior year crying her eyes out and eating ice cream after she catches her boyfrien...moreHannah spends the first few days of her summer vacation before her senior year crying her eyes out and eating ice cream after she catches her boyfriend, Sebastian, making out with some girl at a party. Not exactly an auspicious start to a summer. What makes it worse is that Hannah's best friend, Ava, is totally ditching her this summer to become a camp counselor in Maine. Hannah, in an effort just to get her ass out of bed, gets a job in a diner along with Ava's boyfriend, Noah, and a hypochondriac redhead named...(crap, I forgot her name)....Lacey? The job at the diner is exactly what Hannah needs to get out of her funk, but things become tricky again when Hannah starts to develop feelings for Ava's boyfriend, which become more and more substantial as the summer goes on. Opening up on the dramatic first day of senior year, the truth about what exactly happened over the summer is revealed, changing the friendships and relationships of the characters forever (or at least a teenage version of forever).
Okay, I forced myself to write that painful, badly-written summary because I didn't want this review to be entirely consisted of ranting. I need at least one semi-pleasant paragraph so I don't seem like a raging bitch.
So now that that's over...... I FUCKING HATED THIS BOOK.
Sorry, I cuss when annoyed.
I have decided Barnholdt is not my cup of tea. This is the second book I read of hers, and both of them have received one star and a punch in the face. Maybe, one day, I shall read one her books again, if her main characters ever grow a brain and if the writing ever evolves from 'LIKE TOTALLY OHMIGOD'.
This book has 34 updates from me. 34 times when I absolutely could not take it anymore and had to publicly announce the stupidity of this book or else my brain would explode. I wish 34 was just the number of times I was annoyed with this book. That number is more like 1, 150, but I could not drag the book on any longer.
Hannah is an idiot. A self-absorbed, worthless idiot with no common sense and no interests beyond Starbucks and her love life. I swear, this girl was depressed about one guy or another for literally 90% of the novel. I have no patience for worthless teenage girls. I am a teenage girl, and I encounter idiots every day. But my god, this book makes it seem like being an idiot is a happy normal thing to do. Sure, everyone is gonna have some drama or another, but it is not the basis for their existence. Hannah was a boring, stupid character. I can't believe some of the things she said. It was like HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO FUNCTION, YOU DUMB TROLL. My god, get a LIFE, girl.
And honestly, she deserved every bit of what was coming to her. Her sleeping with her best friend's boyfriend (the goodreads summary says it was just a "passionate kiss" but it lies) was a long time coming. She could feel herself developing feelings for him and she purposely sought him out. For all the hell her ex-boyfriend put her through, you would think she would have better sense than that. It's not like she didn't know it was wrong, her endless fretting made it clear she knew it was wrong, but she let herself do it anyway. It's kind of like my banana complex. That probably sounds really dirty, but let me explain. *clears throat* I run into bananas. In MarioKart. I can't help myself, I drive right frickin into them. It's not like I don't see them, it's not like I don't want to win (several broken Game Cube controllers over the years can attest to how badly I want to win). But I run into them anyway. One time my brother asked me why I do it, and I didn't even have a response. The reason is probably very profound, or its something as stupid as thinking its fun when my car spins in circles.
So yeah, the whole situation between Hannah and Ava and Noah is kind of like that. But I hate that fucking saying "sometimes it happens". How horribly cliched and pussy-footed is that? "Oops, sometimes my best friend's boyfriend's penis just ends up in my vagina. It just happens.' BULLSHIT. SOMETIMES MY FOOT JUST HAPPENS TO GO UP YOUR ASS. At least, Hannah or Noah never tries to justify their actions, but they still piss me off. I felt like it all was handled in a light sort of inconsequential way. Yes, there was a scream-out in the hall and a fight in the diner, but those didn't seem like long-lasting consequences. There should have been more emotional turmoil than just Hannah moping endlessly. I don't want to get preachy about high school romance and infidelity either, so I'll end it here. But cheating still sucks, no matter how old you are or how serious the relationship is.
I just felt that everything about this book was poor quality. The writing felt like it came from the brain of an illiterate 14-year-old with no real problems except if she'll be home in time to watch Jersey Shore. The characters were either tremendously flat or tremendously annoying or both. The plot was predictable and pretty eventless.
And to top it all off, the main character thought Sting was Bono. WHAT. THE. HELL.
I think I'm done with this book now, guys. I'm just done with it. (less)
This could have all been avoided if everyone wasn't so damn self-centered and just freakin talked to each other without storming ou...moreOooooh the drama :0
This could have all been avoided if everyone wasn't so damn self-centered and just freakin talked to each other without storming out of the room every two seconds. (less)
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