FEAR.... THAT PART COMES LATER

a friend

a tiny friend

a tiny origiami dragon friend

The first lion is asking for comfort because she was given a big spook!!! and she needs mommy to tell her it’s safe and ok!!!! (What’s cuter is that mommy clearly reassures her, and goes on to take the parent role of ‘deal with the scream rat in order to protect my large and easily frightened daughter’)

Three apex predators

OR

***This book review may contain spoilers.***

I know Sarah Dessen’s formula. Just didn’t work for me on this one for some reason. The book is about this girl named McLean and she moves around with her father who fixes up restaurants like Chef Robert Irvine in “Restaurant Impossible.” The reason she’s with her dad all the time is because her mom cheated on him with the basketball coach of his favorite college basketball team and alma mater. McLean was unable to forgive her mom for leaving and starting a new family. A cliche feeling, but then again, a lot of teenagers go through these same feelings. Every time they moved someplace new, McLean would assume a new identity with different personality types and her name would always be some rendition of her middle name Elizabeth. It’s easy to start over for her for every time they moved so it was easy for her to do this. In the end, all the issues were resolved in some type of way. Her parents and her grudge. The moving so she can finish out the school year and stay with her friends.

What I didn’t like about this book was the predictability. After reading so much Sarah Dessen on my binge, I know she could do so much better. I also didn’t like McLean. I don’t know why. There was something about her that rubbed me the wrong way.

Case in point, her friendship with Deb. You really had to pity a person to become friends with them? And speaking of friendships, that whole Dave and Riley friendship was glossed over like it was going somewhere but never did. Almost like Sarah Dessen just scrapped that idea altogether.

There was no chemistry at all between McLean and Dave. I did not see what either of them brought to the table for each other to constitute any valid feelings/emotion from me. It felt forced.

I also feel like there was a cameo of Jason just so we can be like…this dude. Man. How the mighty have fallen. Treating the protagonists in her stories like nothing? This is what happens to you.

Overall, it was okay.

My Star Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars