From Goodreads: Lexington Larrabee has
never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the
multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not
supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand
new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either. Which
is why, on Lexi’s eighteen birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father
decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every
week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage
job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s
anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food
restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit
moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep
tabs on her. In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family,
forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi
learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and,
regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she
might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to
love him.
My Rating: 3.5 hearts
Thoughts
on the Novel: Although the plot of 52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica
Brody is pretty generic in that it’s about a spoiled heiress who learns to
appreciate what she has, I still found it an entertaining read. I think a huge
part of that was because of Lexi. She’s this completely bratty teen in the
beginning of the book, yet still somehow manages to be hilarious. It was easy
to not only laugh with her, but also at her. Once Lexi started to mature, it
became much easier to like her. I did think that her change in perspective was
kind of quick though. Still, I’d have to say that 52 Reasons to Hate My Father
is probably the best out of the three books written by Brody that I’ve read so
far.
52 Reasons to Hate My Father was
released in July 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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From Goodreads: Clara Gardner has
recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through
her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans
(a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she
has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out
what that is, though, isn't easy. Her visions of a raging forest
fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town.
When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams
(literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the
same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's
less angelic side. As Clara tries to find her way in a world she
no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she
never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and
duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will
Clara be ready to face her destiny?
My Rating: 4 hearts
Thoughts on the Novel:
As much as I love books about angels, most of the ones that I’ve read
haven’t been particularly outstanding. But, one series about angels that has
been recommended many times is the Unearthly trilogy by Cynthia Hand. I finally decided to give the first book, Unearthly, a try and wasn't disappointed.
Early on, I figured that Unearthly would be another
typical paranormal YA novel because it seemed like Clara would eventually hook up with Christian, the boy of her dreams. However, Hand did a great job of deviating from that
norm. And while doing so, she
managed to create complex characters and realistic relationships, and explore
the theme of fate vs. free will without making it appear heavy-handed.
Unearthly was released HarperTeen in January 2011.
