Author: Kelley Lynn and Jenny S. Morris
Series: None
Pages: ?
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Date Published: March 11th, 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury Spark
Format Read: eARC provided by the publisher (via NetGalley) for honest review
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
New! From Bloomsbury Spark, a sunny heartwarming story of discovery and sisterhood.
A road trip. A singing competition. And super-hot cowboys.
What could be better?
For Charlie, a post-high school road trip isn't just a vacation, it's life changing. While her parents think she's helping a friend move, a chance at fame is the real reason to grab her best friends and drive to L.A. But when her super annoying, uber-responsible, younger sister, Lucy, has to tag along, it isn't quite the summer of fun she imagined.
Add in a detour to her grandparents' ranch in Texas, and between mucking the stalls, down-home cookin’, and drool worthy ranch hands, this could just turn into the best, and most complicated, summer of their lives.
A road trip. A singing competition. And super-hot cowboys.
What could be better?
For Charlie, a post-high school road trip isn't just a vacation, it's life changing. While her parents think she's helping a friend move, a chance at fame is the real reason to grab her best friends and drive to L.A. But when her super annoying, uber-responsible, younger sister, Lucy, has to tag along, it isn't quite the summer of fun she imagined.
Add in a detour to her grandparents' ranch in Texas, and between mucking the stalls, down-home cookin’, and drool worthy ranch hands, this could just turn into the best, and most complicated, summer of their lives.
-Goodreads
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Thoughts:
An Open Letter To Road To Somewhere,
You book, are a trickster. You started out and I was pretty sure that I was going to love you. You had all the right things: music, road trips, sisters and fun. But then your main characters got lost in this maze of self pity and absolutely no confidence and I found myself getting more and more frustrated at you. I know that some people will like you and that I just couldn't relate to your protagonists, but I really wish that there would have been at least a smidgeon of self confidence and way less victimizing of ones self going on. Sorry we didn't get along, but I'm sure you'll find some best friends out there.
-The White Unicorn
I don't know if my opinion of this book comes down to a serious case of "it's not you, it's me", or if I will be one of many who just didn't get this book. (I have a feeling it'll be the first option) Road to Somewhere had a lot going for it. It had a music angle, it had a road trip, it had self discovery. This book should have been something epic, but it fell completely flat for me. There were a few things that I liked and I feel like I should talk about those things first!
The books is filled with duel POV. It works really really well here. Lynn and Morris have really similar voices and so the flow of the book reads really easily. You can't even tell that two authors are behind writing the novel, which I think speaks volumes. Road to Somewhere is plotted out really nicely and it also reads really fast. Honestly, the writing was the best part. That and the sister thing. There aren't enough sibling stories out there.
Sadly, the content took away from the plot for me. Charlie and Lucy had voices that sounded different and a lot alike at the same time. Both girls doubted everything about themselves. I think if one of the sisters would have had an inner dialogue filled with confidence it would have helped. But Lucy doesn't think she's pretty enough and Charlie thinks she's stupid (her words, not mine) and they never let you forget it. Characters with no confidence are a pet peeve of mine, if you couldn't tell, and these girls didn't have any. The fact that the girls don't really take life into their own hands frustrated me too. I mean on one hand they did, but they never changed the way they looked at the world or themselves, so their "look at me taking over my own life" actions seemed like a mute point.
But there were some swoony cowboys, so that was nice. I liked Drew and Jake, even though these girls force them jump through some huge hoops and kept being pretty awful to them.
Honestly, I just can't get behind this one. But like I said, I think that there will be people out there who do like this one and I'm excited to see what other people think once the book is released.
(book was bumped up to two unicorns for the flow and plot)
Rating:
2 Unicorns = It was okay but something didn't work for me!
3 comments:
Oh it always makes me sad when a book starts off great and I start to think "hey this could become my next favorite!"...and then it just loses steam. Ugh. Sorry this one ended up not working out for you.
Swoony cowboys is always a good thing, though! :)
Hmm books like these can be easy hits or misses for me too. These self-discovery or coming of age stories, I feel like they have to really have something great going for them for me to love it. Otherwise I get bored or annoyed by characters like these who lack self esteem. I do love a good road trip book though (witch cowboys!!) so it's too bad it wasn't more compelling overall.
Well, I certainly don't like pity parties. Maybe I can handle it in very small doses but that doesn't sound like that is the case here. I think I'll have to pass on this one, despite the redeeming qualities.
Post a Comment