Helpful Score: 1
I thoroughly enjoyed this luminous, magical book! It is a fantastic read. You will love the heroine Davidia Jones, aka Davie. From her roots as an unloved dark skinned child living with her promiscuous mother in Mississippi to her sultry nights as a lounge singer in Los Angeles, the story of Davie's coming of age will make you cry and laugh out loud. Davie's enduring love for gorgeous rich boy James Farrell will bring to mind the teen love stories of the 80s, such as Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles, two movies that the heroine is obsessed with in this book. This is a story about the resilience of the spirit, first love and atonement. You will root for Davie as you've rooted for no other romantic heroine. My one negative would be the length. I think the editors could have cut 50 pages from the book.
Helpful Score: 1
An INTRIGUING storyline with quite a few UNEXPECTED plot twists...ROMANCE...REVENGE...REDEMPTION...and a very COLORFUL and quirky cast of characters...despite a few slow patches...it's still an ENGAGING read...KUDOS to Ernessa T. Carter for crafting such a TOUCHING, cute and at times LOL funny debut...I'm looking forward to reading more from this author!
WOW! I really LOVED this book! Great story, great characters. Well written. Easy read. The story of Davie, a poor bullied girl from Mississippi, how she got past her terrible childhood, the mistakes she made, and how she made up for them. DEFINITELY recommend this one!
The very best summer read I had! This story weaves a tale that some may not find believable but it bretahes the triumph of the underdog. Wonderfully written a story that has those of us who came of age in the 80s and 90s reminiscing. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS!!!
Growing up in small-town Mississippi with an abusive mother and classmates who make fun of her, midnight-skinned and wild-haired Davidia Jones makes her escape into Molly Ringwald films. Davidia dreams of her own Molly Ringwald Ending one day, in the form of the most popular boy in school and her crush, James Farrell of the Farrells of Farrell Fine Hair, sweeping her off her feet in front of the whole school. But after a particularly bad school joke, Davidia decides to head west, to LA, where she renames herself Davie and transforms into a sultry lounge singer.
However, Davies past catches up with her in LA when, 16 years after high school, she crosses paths with James Farrell again. A lot has happened in the meantime. Will Davies history prevent her from ever getting her happy ending?
I have been hearing unequivocal love for this book for, oh, about two years or so before I finally had the opportunity to participate in a blog tour for 32 CANDLES. First stop: dive into the book that a small but important contingent of the blogging population has been raving about ever since its publication. And I wasnt disappointed. I so wasnt disappointed, in fact, that 32 CANDLES is easily one of my favorite books of 2011 so far, and one of the most adorable books I have ever read.
The star of the show is Davie Jones. Neurotic without going overboard, self-reflective without it getting in the way of pure entertainment, and unapologetically weird, Davie stands out from the slew of debilitatingly neurotic female protagonists that usually feature in romantic comedies. Davie is like a black Bridget Jones without the weight obsession, which, lets admit it, got frustrating real quickly. Davies weight obsession equivalent is her endless fascination with James, which in her high school stage was admittedly a bit scary. But somehow Ernessa Carter, through the voice of Davie Jones, makes everything okay. We dont judge Davie for her neuroses; we love her all the more for them.
No romantic comedy is complete without a swoon-worthy romantic interest, and James has got the role down pat. He is a perfect black man, and yet somehow his perfection seems like a perfectly natural part of his character, instead of a fictional construct forced upon readers that screams I am perfect! I am perfect! without ever actually showing us why. So, another point in 32 CANDLES favor. Yay!
Im sure there are many other reasons I can go on and on abouthow the secondary characters take on lives of their own; or how the plot, while twisty and turny, wraps itself up in the most delightful and unexpected of waysbut I hope it suffices to say that 32 CANDLES will retain a permanent position on my shelf, as something I will reread whenever I want a dose of a good ole romantic comedy that wont ever fail me. Brava, Ernessa Carter, and I want more!
However, Davies past catches up with her in LA when, 16 years after high school, she crosses paths with James Farrell again. A lot has happened in the meantime. Will Davies history prevent her from ever getting her happy ending?
I have been hearing unequivocal love for this book for, oh, about two years or so before I finally had the opportunity to participate in a blog tour for 32 CANDLES. First stop: dive into the book that a small but important contingent of the blogging population has been raving about ever since its publication. And I wasnt disappointed. I so wasnt disappointed, in fact, that 32 CANDLES is easily one of my favorite books of 2011 so far, and one of the most adorable books I have ever read.
The star of the show is Davie Jones. Neurotic without going overboard, self-reflective without it getting in the way of pure entertainment, and unapologetically weird, Davie stands out from the slew of debilitatingly neurotic female protagonists that usually feature in romantic comedies. Davie is like a black Bridget Jones without the weight obsession, which, lets admit it, got frustrating real quickly. Davies weight obsession equivalent is her endless fascination with James, which in her high school stage was admittedly a bit scary. But somehow Ernessa Carter, through the voice of Davie Jones, makes everything okay. We dont judge Davie for her neuroses; we love her all the more for them.
No romantic comedy is complete without a swoon-worthy romantic interest, and James has got the role down pat. He is a perfect black man, and yet somehow his perfection seems like a perfectly natural part of his character, instead of a fictional construct forced upon readers that screams I am perfect! I am perfect! without ever actually showing us why. So, another point in 32 CANDLES favor. Yay!
Im sure there are many other reasons I can go on and on abouthow the secondary characters take on lives of their own; or how the plot, while twisty and turny, wraps itself up in the most delightful and unexpected of waysbut I hope it suffices to say that 32 CANDLES will retain a permanent position on my shelf, as something I will reread whenever I want a dose of a good ole romantic comedy that wont ever fail me. Brava, Ernessa Carter, and I want more!
