I agree with community reviewer Kara that this is a book you can't judge by the first bit. ?áDon't give up on it too early. ?áI disagree with her about the final rating. ?áUltimately, it's as superficial as chick lit, and really should have a pink cover accessorized by symbols of Vassar's rich, planned, Western life contrasted with symbols of her quest for a sense of a spiritual identity and a global perspective in rural SE Asia. ?á

I picked it up because of the title and cover. ?áI wanted a story that was powerful enough to hit home, to help me act more boldly and spontaneously. ?áBut this disappoints. ?áIt's not a bad book for a casual reader, but it's not what it could have been. ( )

The characters can be cartoonish at times (Malaysian cowboy?? List-making overachiever named Vassar??) but reading it put me in mind of the old screwball comedy movies and that's not all bad. Entertaining and amusing coming-of-age story. ( )

I liked the cover of this book enough that I bought it on my last trip to Powell's. My level of engagement went precipitously downhill once I opened said cover. Tissue-thin plot, characters I didn't like, and writing I found difficult going overwhelmed the nicely done travel bits. The big mystery at the heart of the book was obvious within the first couple of pages. There just isn't much here to like. ( )

Carpe Diem turned out to be a surprisingly good read about travels in Southeast Asia (where, according to the book, rolls of toilet paper are placed on restaurant tables to be used as napkins). This is one of the few times I've read about the Hmong since The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, and I found the contrast between the happy family and the drug den very interesting. Ultimately it's a YA novel with the requisite teen age love story, and the worst possible narrator, Lynde Houck on the audiobook, and alas a really stupid christian miracle (what do you expect from the daughter of missionaries?). But it's worth a read for the very interesting details of travel. ( )

This was an okay travel adventure novel based on a girl named Vassar. Vassar is a product of super-hyper parents who have her make life goals each and every night, planning out her next 20 years. She plans to graduate valedictorian, go to an Ivy League school, earn a phD and later a Pulitzer. Her whole summer is packed full of AP courses and extra tutoring in order for her to edge out another girl who is close competition. Then her kooky grandmother sends her plane tickets for a tour in Malaysia, blackmailing her parents with something mysterious. Her parents let her go, even though Vassar does not really want to.
Vassar goes to Malaysia, with 10 bags full of every possible travel precaution. She has promised to write a novel on the journey to get credit for her AP course, and she dutifully emails her chapters to her other overachieving friends. Her grandmother seems a little crazy, but she gets Vassar and Hanks (the cute Asian helper/bodyguard) to help her find things for a collage. Vassar finds herself breaking rules and doing things she never thought she could. Crazy stuff continues to happen, and she is taken hostage in a tribal opium den. An ok story, the girl realizes how her life goals change as she gets a serious and predictable reality shock.

3 stars—fluff, didn’t seem real
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