Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Books I've Read: Literally



The premise for this book really blew me away, and as soon as I read the blurb, I knew I had to read it.  Unfortunately, the execution wasn't quite as good as the blurb promised.

Annabelle is a super-organised person whose life is thrown into chaos first when her parents announce they are splitting up and selling the house she's grown up in, then when an author visiting her English class lets slip she is writing Annabelle's life.

The rest of the book follows Annabelle as she struggles to enforce her own will on her life rather than following the plot the writer wants her to follow.

Pretty cool idea for a story, right?  Especially when the author in question is the author of the book.

But it doesn't really work.  Will, the author-written love interest has no spark.  Sure, he's 'perfect' for Annabelle, but perfect is boring.  Is it any wonder that Annabelle starts having feelings for the far more interesting Elliot?  And the way the author writes herself is uncomfortable.  I know it's tempting in a fictional world to make all your dreams come true, but all the descriptions of Lucy and her career and all the movies that had been made of her books just made me cringe a little.

There were some great moments in this book.  I especially liked the times when Annabelle was still figuring out that she really is a character in a book and the little things going on that made it clear she really was.  But overall, it was disappointing.  Which is a shame because it's a really great idea for a story!

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:


A girl realizes her life is being written for her in this unique, smart love story that is Stranger Than Fiction for fans of Stephanie Perkins.

Annabelle’s life has always been Perfect with a capital P. Then bestselling young adult author Lucy Keating announces that she’s writing a new novel—and Annabelle is the heroine.

It turns out, Annabelle is a character that Lucy Keating created. And Lucy has a plan for her.

But Annabelle doesn’t want to live a life where everything she does is already plotted out. Will she find a way to write her own story—or will Lucy Keating have the last word?

3 comments:

  1. I can't really see how one could make the premise work, given the question raised: will she find a way to write her own story? If she's a character being written, it seems impossible to make that leap. But . . . an interesting idea.

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  2. It is an interesting idea, but only if it was executed well, which it sounds like this wasn't. Writing yourself as a character in your own book just seems weird.

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  3. Not a big fan of the book cover. It doesn't say anything to me about what the book might be about, although aesthetically it's very interesting and eye-catching, so I'll give it that. :)

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