Lindsay read and liked Andrea's review of Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale:

"Call me conservative, but I just can't believe this was a young adult book! There was so much swearing in it (more than most adult books) that just wasn't needed that it distracted from the plot of the book. That doesn't generally bother me...but i...more Call me conservative, but I just can't believe this was a young adult book! There was so much swearing in it (more than most adult books) that just wasn't needed that it distracted from the plot of the book. That doesn't generally bother me...but it did with this book.(less) "

Lindsay read and liked Lindsay's review of Suite Scarlett:

"Um...well. This is one of those books about a young girl who doesn't know how beautiful she is and has a crush on her older brother's impossibly good looking friend. If you like that sort of thing then there you go.
Unfortunately Scarlett is t...more Um...well. This is one of those books about a young girl who doesn't know how beautiful she is and has a crush on her older brother's impossibly good looking friend. If you like that sort of thing then there you go.
Unfortunately Scarlett is the least interesting character in this book. Her family owns an old hotel in New York City and the best parts of the book come from her interactions with Mrs. Amberson, the hotel's eccentric guest, and Scarlett's siblings. (less) "

Lindsay read and liked Kelly's review of Suite Scarlett:

"I would give this a 2.5, simply because the last, oh, 200 pages made me laugh from how ridiculous it was.

Johnson's writing style irritated me to no end. She has no sense of how to write from the voice of a 14 or 15 year old in this book. ...more I would give this a 2.5, simply because the last, oh, 200 pages made me laugh from how ridiculous it was.

Johnson's writing style irritated me to no end. She has no sense of how to write from the voice of a 14 or 15 year old in this book. I am actually annoyed I chose to read this book first, as others have said her work is great (perhaps this one is not representative). And, before I dig into my real issues with the story, let me start by stating it is clearly a poor decision to put someone who is clearly 19 or 20 on the cover representing Scarlett.

So, where to begin?

Why does it take 100 pages for a plot to begin? Why is it that the guest, Ms. Amberson, is the one who begins the plot? Who is she anyway? Why is she there? Sure we get some hints that unravel as the story ends, but, really, why should I care as a reader? I don't care about Scarlett at all and clearly, no one else but her brother Spencer does either (although she mentions having friends, I would suspect any 15 year old girl in NYC would have more than the 5 hiply-named rich kids who are traipsing around the world as friends). To be totally honest, the only character in the entire book to have anything interesting going on is Lola. If the story were written about her, I may have enjoyed it. The youngest sister, Marlene, is just a stock character serving as a "problem" throughout the story. She's nothing but the sick kid who caused the family to go poor. Boo hoo. I don't care about Marlene, as she is simply an irritating member of an already irritating story, and I feel she gets that treatment throughout. At least Johnson could have made her more of an important character to make the whole Leukemia-powerkids-poorhouse creating monster gain some sort of empathy from the reader. I just think she's a nuisance.

The book masquerades as a young adult novel, but really, it's a poor attempt to both write about something cool (growing up in a hotel) and about working for a demanding crazy woman (ala "Devil Wears Prada" or any other story of that NYC-based ilk) while also trying to develop an absolutely absurd story about a girl who is way too in love with her older brother. I'm not even sure how to classify the story, nor would I be sure how to sell it to a reader. It's funny because of how ludicrous it is, but that's not the goal of the story -- it's ludicrous because I've read a lot and just can identify a fish when I see it. Now, I could have given Johnson credit for a hilariously absurd story....IF IT BEGAN BEFORE PAGE 100. But up until page 100, we have Scarlett being madly in love with Spencer and not much else. And there's no build up to absurdity. It's like Johnson wrote two separate short stories and tried to string them together. It wasn't seamless.

Can I return to the fact I can't buy the story of Scarlett and Spencer being such good siblings? There are parts I found downright incestuous. Also, Eric is 18 and wants to kiss 15 year old Scarlett? That's sick, too. I don't care how much girls dream about dating older boys at that age, but no older boy (especially a SOUTHERN boy, as is repeated throughout) would want a 15 year old. Eesh.

Honestly, this is a book that Johnson should have rewritten entirely and centered it around bored uptown NYC housewives. It would have been more realistic and easier to find humorous (or serious...). I'm sorry to have read this story first because now I'm going to be thinking of this as representative of her work. I read she's creating a sequel. I can't even imagine how!

Sometimes, I can forgive a horrible story for good writing, and sometimes I can do the reverse. This one, sadly, has both against it. (less) "

Lindsay added a quote:
"Between the wish and the thing the world lies waiting." — Cormac McCarthy

Lindsay added a quote:
"What we, or at any rate what I, refer to confidently as memory--meaning a moment, a scene, a fact that has been subjected to a fixative and thereby rescued from oblivion--is really a form of storytelling that goes on continually in the mind and often changes with the telling. Too many conflicting emotional interests are involved for life ever to be wholly acceptable, and possibly it is the work of the storyteller to rearrange things so that they conform to this end. In any case, in talking about the past we lie with every breath we take." — William Maxwell