Helpful Score: 3
I don't normally read YA titles and this book reinforces that decision. The title and description were intriguing but this book was difficult to finish - lots of rich teens (and their parents) expressing angst about their privileged lives ... over and over again. The only character I cared about was Carley.
Reviewed by Cat for TeensReadToo.com
Life in the upper class enclave of Fox Glen is not kind to those refusing to keep up appearances; people who are overweight, academically underachieving, and generally social outcasts. People like Carly Wells. Somehow, all of this is still bearable thanks to Carly's love for hard partying, Fitzgerald quoting, all-around golden boy and best friend, Hunter Cray.
When her parents crown themselves the Medici of Fox Glen by hiring struggling novelist Bree McEvoy to write a novel ensuring their daughter discovers a newfound appreciation of words, Carly has no concern and no idea that everything in her life is about to change.
Every once in a while you'll come across a novel so precise in its observations, so visceral in its actions, and so familiar in its depictions you know less than three pages in you're reading a book that will shatter your soul, breaking you into bits. You will relive some of the best and worst moments of you life and cry through every page while your heart tightens with fresh pain. You'll be thrown against jagged cliffs until everything inside splits open, and in the end, you'll still be grateful for the experience.
I realize there are plenty of people who will pick up HOW TO BUY A LOVE OF READING and not identify as closely with the characters as I did, but it's still a deeply layered, incredibly nuanced piece that digs into your mind and stays there long after the novel's end.
Life in the upper class enclave of Fox Glen is not kind to those refusing to keep up appearances; people who are overweight, academically underachieving, and generally social outcasts. People like Carly Wells. Somehow, all of this is still bearable thanks to Carly's love for hard partying, Fitzgerald quoting, all-around golden boy and best friend, Hunter Cray.
When her parents crown themselves the Medici of Fox Glen by hiring struggling novelist Bree McEvoy to write a novel ensuring their daughter discovers a newfound appreciation of words, Carly has no concern and no idea that everything in her life is about to change.
Every once in a while you'll come across a novel so precise in its observations, so visceral in its actions, and so familiar in its depictions you know less than three pages in you're reading a book that will shatter your soul, breaking you into bits. You will relive some of the best and worst moments of you life and cry through every page while your heart tightens with fresh pain. You'll be thrown against jagged cliffs until everything inside splits open, and in the end, you'll still be grateful for the experience.
I realize there are plenty of people who will pick up HOW TO BUY A LOVE OF READING and not identify as closely with the characters as I did, but it's still a deeply layered, incredibly nuanced piece that digs into your mind and stays there long after the novel's end.
