Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Belles By Jen Calonita



I am going to switch things up. The same old, boring, questions are getting on my nerves. So today I am going to, attempt, to write this with some new questions, listen to my mother ask what kind of ice cream everyone wants from across the house, not going to accidentally add part of Darius Rucker's Alright lyrics to this, and not fall asleep at the key board and hit publish on a post that is all gibberish from my dogs paws... what? You don't sleep with your dog? Don't judge me. All in all I'm going to master life as my mother within the next fifteen minutes... yeah, right. So, you ready? My neither... but I'm going to try.

Title: Belles
Author: Jen Calonita
Publisher: Poppy (an imprint of Little Brown & Company)
Publication Date: April 2012 (It says January 2007, but that is very wrong. I stalk her.)
You can find more about this book on Goodreads. The link to Bells' Page is HERE.

Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Isabelle Scott loves her life by the boardwalk on the supposed wrong side of the tracks in North Carolina. But when tragedy strikes, a social worker sends her to live with a long-lost uncle and his preppy privileged family. Isabelle is taken away from everything she's ever known, and, unfortunately, inserting her into the glamorous lifestyle of Emerald Cove doesn't go so well. Her cousin Mirabelle Monroe isn't thrilled to share her life with an outsider, and, in addition to dealing with all the rumors and backstabbing that lurk beneath their classmates' Southern charm, a secret is unfolding that will change both girls' lives forever.

My Thoughts: I found this book lacked something. Unlike most of Jen Calonita's books I had to push through the first ten chapters... there were only twenty six. It focused to much on Izzie's life before and she dwelled on loosing her home town, more than she did loosing her mom and grandmother.

There were some parts that I was confused about. I would have liked to have seen her interact with her grandmother but for editing purposes (?) they took those out. I think it would have giving Izzie more character and made her more likable.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Izzie. This book is told from two perspectives. Her cousin, Mira's, and Izzie's. If I had to choose a favorite though, it would be neither. I would have preferred to see more of Braydon.

Which brings me to ask... how can I count (on my fingers) the number of times she actually interacted with Braydon. For a love interest he sure wasn't around a lot. I mean, she was going through a lot, but I really wish Izzie would have interacted more with him. Even though there was some drama throughout the middle of the book, dictating their relationship.

Onto the fun stuff... I loved how the book showed what a real family is like. She portrayed that very well. There were times when they got so frustrated with each other, but in the end they made it through because that is what families do. They fight and protect their own.

The funnest part about this novel was getting a glimpse of the next book Winter White. It was neat to her Izzie's reaction to her Aunt Maureen's bomb drop about dress shopping for a cotillion. Izzie never had any of that and over all it was a great read for finding yourself and trying to stay true to who you are... now I'm just waiting to figure out what more drama can happen in the next book?

No comments:

Post a Comment

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...