Thursday, April 16, 2015

Flunked by Jen Calonita

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book. It was an interesting idea, and it seemed cute to begin with. The execution left a lot to be desired. The characters felt more than a bit uneven to me. They weren't all that well developed, so their actions felt inconsistent, or contrary to what I knew about them. The balance between the darker aspects of the story, and the cuter ones felt off as well. It was almost like the author wasn't sure what kind of story they were writing, and it left me feeling a bit off balance. The plot was a bit simplistic, and it wasn't helped by the lack of characters I felt fully engaged in either. I think the shortness of the story didn't help, and the author tried to cram a bit too much into this book for any of it to come together well. Parts of the ending felt a bit out of left field, and, while I was glad it wasn't quite as simplistic as I feared, it still wasn't great. The message at the end also seemed to be a bit out of nowhere, and really wasn't supported by anything that came before it. A quick read, but shallow even by middle grade book standards.

mle

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