Chelsey Philpot

TEDIOUS - that's the word.

This is so disappointing. I can't even bring myself to finish it.

The writing is flat. The story is mind-numbingly predictable. The characters are put-your-head-through-a-brickwall frustrating. The supposed love interest isn't cute - he has TRIES TOO HARD tattooed across his forehead (and fails spectacularly in his trying).

This book makes me tired.

PEOPLE, HEAR ME! Please, find something better to read. PLEASE.

"We're going to conquer the world, Charlie."

What an amazing story. Picking it up just based on the cover, I wasn't really sure what I was getting in to. Dancing, carefree, in the setting sun (or rising? you pick) just seemed so.....spontaneous and silly. It also screams of friendship and possibly love - but it's three and not 2 or 4, so it also tells me that there's someone here who...isn't a part of the 2. You think it might be the girl to the right

but you'd be wrong

Meet Charlotte. Going to show more a rich boarding school attempting to further her art, she helps a strange girl one night. That one act of kindness draws Charlotte into Julia's world. And Julia isn't just Julia...she's Julia Buchanan. Of the Buchanan clan which is very rich and mildly powerful and is whispered about everywhere you turn - at least in the well-to-do circles.

Charlotte, who becomes Charlie in the Buchanan world, is slides into the clan easily and gets to experience how the other half lives. But Charlie is always warning you that this world is not her world - she always warns you that this tale....it will hurt in the reading and the telling.

That's why I say setting sun. Because the three dancing in the setting sun know they have to use the moment while they can, before it's gone. show less

This was a cute teen romance that is, unusually, from the boy's perspective. Homer has fallen in love with Mia, the unusual girl who is living in a boat in the parking lot of his fathers' tourist gift shop. But Mia has bigger problems than where she's living -- she's pregnant and has no family. The only plan that makes sense to her is to head north to Massachusetts and find her favorite foster sister, who said she'd always give her a place to stay. But Homer can't let her make the trip show more alone, and after some cajoling his fathers agree to let him drive her -- as long as he takes along his little brother, Einstein. Einstein has a detour in mind after they drop Mia off -- he wants to ultimately end up at a conference about the end of the world.

And so begins a wacky, wild road trip, where they meet some unusual characters and things don't go exactly as planned. It's a fun, sad story, but it's definitely not realistic. The whole thing has almost a fairy tale feel to it, which is added to by the addition of "parables" throughout the story, which usually explain some bit of a character's or place's history. I'm not sure exactly how it would be categorized -- it's definitely not fantasy, and I don't think it's quite magical realism either. There's no magic, just things that wouldn't really happen.

Regardless, I thought it was a cute story even if things don't end quite how anyone expected. show less

The 5 stars is an immediate reaction--I could see this going down to 4.5 stars after some reflection, but either way it's really good. And yup, totally reminded of The Great Gatsby A Separate Peace while reading.