Showing posts with label Abby McDonald. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abby McDonald. Show all posts

June 12, 2013

Book Review: Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood by Abby McDonald

The Deal: Hallie and Grace Weston are going through a rough time: their father has died and left everything to his new wife (the woman he left their mom for) and baby; and their artist mother is more distracted than ever. 

Soon, their step mother Portia kicks them out and the gils are forced to move to L.A. with relatives, where ever the Drama Queen Hallie seems to thrive in her own way while younger sister Grace is trying to keep it all together.

My Thoughts: Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood is basically and upside-down modernized version of Sense and Sensibility, and for the most part I rather liked it. The twists and updates were pretty smart  and ballsy and I think the spirit of the story was kept.

I liked the characters even though I thought Hallie was a bit over the top and annoying, and Portia was so mean and I got so mad at Hallie and Graces dad and, and their mom too, for their neglect.

Aside from that, it was okay. I really disliked the title (sounds like a lazy title to me, somehow) but the writing was fun. Didn't like it as much as I did Abby McDonald's previous book Getting Over Garrett Delaney but it was a fun way to pass time anyhow, and I've certainly read worse Jane Austen Retellings. 
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Alex

May 2, 2012

Book Review: Getting Over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald

At First Sight: Ever since their fateful meet-cute at a coffee shop, Sadie has been in pining for her best friend Garrett Delaney, but after two years of being joined by the hip, they are facing six weeks apart as Garrett leaves to go to writing camp and Sadie is stuck in their small Massachusetts town.

At first, Sadie is inconsolable, as she was sure Garrett was just on the verge of confessing his true (romantic) feelings toward her before he left for camp - and didn't do it just because they kept getting interrupted during those last couple of days together.

But when he calls a couple of weeks later, to tell Sadie that he has met the (New) Love of His Life - most recent in a long list of girls Garrett has 'loved' since meeting Sadie -  Sadie decides she has had enough and she's going to get over Garrett no matter what. 

Sadly, that's easier said than done, and Sadie quickly realizes just how much of her life she has molded around Garrett in the last few years, how many people, movies, books and experience she dismissed, afraid of what Garrett would think. 

Lucky for her, her new friends at Totally Weird - a coffee shop she's working at for the summer -are there for her, as is Kayla, her former Best Friend from whom she grew apart after meeting Garrett. These girls are ready to do whatever it takes to help Sadie, everything from cheering her on to dishing out the tough love

Second GlanceGetting Over Garrett Delaney was a really fun book to read and I love that both the title and cover were just so right for this story.

I loved Sadie, she was funny and a little sarcastic but not in a mean way, the only bad thing about her was the huge blind spot she had when it came to Garrett. I loved her friends, particularly Kayla and LuAnn, both of them were funny and I loved how resilient Kayla was under her perky surface. Oh and her mom was nice too, even though she was in the book very little, she understood what Sadie was going through and was supportive in her own way. 

Garrett was a pompous poser and it was fun to hate him. 

I love that this book is all about Sadie finding her way back to herself, to all those girly things she loved and how willing she was to try out anything once she made up her mind. 

Bottom Line: I really enjoyed this book, it was funny, the characters were likable and I loved that it was all about Sadie getting back to herself more than any budding new relationship or anything like that, she truly is Getting Over Garrett Delaney, and it's a joy to cheer her on as she does.

Favorite Quote: Oh, there were so many!! I'll put a few...

Melancholy is a perfectly legitimate state of mind - artists have thrived on it for centuries. War and Peace - there, that wasn't exactly written in a  fit of bright, and purposeful energy, was it, now? And Anna Karenina. Tolstoy wasn't leaping around with happiness every hour of the day, and he still managed to achieve something.
Maybe I should move to Russie; they clearly appreciate inner torment there.

Why suffer alone when you could share the burden? Friends bring comfort, support and snack foods for every occasion. And heartbreak goes so much better with cookies.

Don't write off a book (or person, or movie) just because it has a pink, sparkly cover.

Love isn't pain. Heartbreak isn't noble or romantic. You deserve better, so don't ever forget.
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Alex