Gabby lived under the
radar until her makeover. Way under. But when she started her senior year as a
blonder, better-dressed version of herself, she struck gold: Billy Nash
believed she was a the flawless girl she was pretending to be. The next eight
months with Billy were bliss...Until the night Gabby woke up on the ground next
to the remains of his BMW without a single memory of how she got there.
And Billy's nowhere to
be found.
All Gabby wants is to
make everything perfect again. But getting her life back isn't difficult, it's
impossible. Because nothing is the same, and Gabby's beginning to realize she's
missed more than a few danger signs along the way.
It's time for Gabby to
face the truth, even if it means everything changes.
Especially if it means
everything changes.
I think this is a book
that readers will either love or hate, mostly because of Gabby. Her voice leaps
from the page and we get a good sense of why she does what she does, thinks
what she thinks, and feels what she feels. This is most definitely her story,
so if you don’t like her then you won’t like the story. Keeping that in mind,
here are my thoughts.
I didn't particularly
like her. I understood her actions and the motivation behind them, as well as
how her family life drove some of that. I just disagreed with them on a
fundamental level. If Gabby and I were to meet on the street, we wouldn’t be
friends because we are too different. However, I can see teens connecting with
her and completely sympathizing with her situation. As a teen, I probably would
have loved this book for many reasons.
In other aspects of the
story, the pacing could have been a little quicker. The beginning spends a lot
of time with her in the hospital dealing with her injuries and her mother’s
determination to make her beautiful again. It wasn’t until page 100 or so
before I felt like the story had really started moving.
The injuries themselves
were done fairly well, which often isn’t the case. She heals a little too
quickly, but it's only noticeable when she specifically mentions the passage of
time. This isn't often, so it’s easy to overlook. The big reveal at the end,
however, is a different story. I didn’t find it especially surprising or
believable. From very early on, I could see what was really going on with
Billy. I can understand why Gabby didn’t, but it was difficult for me to
sympathize with this kind of blind infatuation for so much of the book.
Honestly, this just
wasn't my cup of tea, but I think teen girls will identify in a big way.
4 comments:
I think it's sometimes tough for adults to relate to teen characters. For me, it's pretty easy. I feel like I'm still very much that teenager, deep inside. I have a WIP that adults aren't relating to, but teens are. The adults don't like my MC, but the teens think she's just like them. I'm trying to decide if I leave her alone because the target audience gets her or if I try to appease the adults too. It's a tough call.
Yeah, that's a really tough call. The adults are the gatekeepers, but the audience is the teens. So, ultimately, I think it matters what the teens think.
I can't say for sure whether I would have liked Gabby when I was a teen. I would have sypathized more, that's for sure, but I really don't know if I would have liked her. But I had teen friends who would have loved her.
THis really ties in with last night's yalichat on voice. Here's an example of voice being so strong that you have to come down on this side of Like or Dislike.
Interesting post.
This actually sounds pretty cool. @Kelly-very interesting dilemma you have. I would stay true to your own story and your own character's voice.
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