Suite Scarlett

Scarlett Martin has always had an unusual life. Growing up in a hotel that her family owns in New York City comes with its own oddities. Her life gets more complicated however when, as per family tradition, she is given responsibility for an entire suite on her fifteenth birthday. With the suite comes the eccentric Mrs Amberson, the hotel's live-in guest. Throw in meeting the gorgeous and freshly arrived to New York, Eric, an up and coming actor and Scarlett's summer has more kinks in it than she could ever have anticipated.

This book was a delight. Scarlett is a lovely heroine who must deal with the typical issues surrounding a romantic relationship but she also has the added dramas that life in a hotel and the unpredictable Mrs show more Amberson provide. I absolutely adored all of the Martin children, particularly Spencer who is a wonderfully sweet older brother. Johnson's quirky sense of humour is evident throughout the novel, but she deftly intertwines it with real moments of insight that make the novel thoroughly enjoyable. A very sweet novel whose sequel I will be hunting down shortly. show less

I started reading it on the train home from our Christmas vacation, and I instantly liked it. It's the story of Scarlett, a delightful teenager who lives in a New York City hotel. Her parents own the hotel, which has declined in prestige over the years. There's some teen angst: her friends are all off doing exciting things all summer, and she has to work at the hotel. There's some romance too. I adore New York City, and this story is a partial ode to the city. Most importantly though, it's laugh-out-loud funny. (There's a joke about That's So Raven fan fiction.) The story dances somewhere between the ridiculous and the real, and it works.

Oh, sweet fluffy chocolate-coated Maureen Johnson goodness for my brain. (Not actual Maureen Johnson covered in chocolate. I don’t need to give her any more ideas.) I wasn’t sure how much I would like this book when I first picked it up, but it grew on me very quickly.

This is one of her more romance-centered books, but it never feels that way. And what I think works in its favor is that so much of Scarlett’s story is also about her family. I mentioned in my Golden Firebird review that a lot of extraneous family members show up in YA only to establish a vague relationship for the main character, and that they only show up for a few pages or are conveniently gone. Here though, there’s a great supportive family element between show more Scarlett and her siblings and her parents. Although there is some favoritism towards Marlene, but the Martin parents are very supportive of their children, even when they’re going through hard times. Lola and Scarlett actually get along very well—there’s some slight antagonism with Lola’s boyfriend, but other than that they both truly care and worry about one another. While Spencer and Scarlett are very close, I also like that Scarlett isn’t an automatic tomboy from hanging around Spencer so much. And while the parents don’t show up very often, they do act like real parents in a tough situation.

And, much like Golden Firebird, this is another family that has fallen on hard financial times. Scarlett mentions that she dreads telling people that she lives in a hotel, as people assume that her family’s well-off. I liked that it’s brought up that the family quirk of everyone taking care of the hotel is more due to financial reasons rather than a tradition. I like that the reason Scarlett’s so lonely during the summer is because she can’t get the opportunities that her friends have.

As the majority of Scarlett’s story is about her and her siblings, I like that they actually have roles to play. SPENCER. Oh I love Spencer. Like I said, I like that his and Scarlett’s relationship is this joshing, teasing one, without either feeling like they have to be more boy/girl-ish. Lola doesn’t have much to do, but I liked that she and Scarlett didn’t conform to the Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry. Marlene is more problematic. I don’t like her to begin with, but I like that Scarlett does point out to Marlene that she can’t get everything she wants by playing the Ill Girl card for the rest of her life. And Marlene slowly begins to change her attitude.

The romance aspect is the strongest force. It’s very standard ‘ordinary girl meets cute boy, conflicting feelings and making out and then a bombshell like he still has a girlfriend.” I did like Scarlett’s quick crush on Eric and her conflicting feelings on how this would change her relationship with Spencer. But what impressed me is that even when Scarlett finds out that Eric did have a girlfriend this whole time, she still has feelings for him and vice versa. And that is messy and complicated and fairly realistic, and not a clean breakup. (I’m in the middle of Suite Scarlett now, and their feelings are still messy and complicated.)

If there’s one thing that I don’t like, it’s Amy Amberson. Unfortunately, she’s the driving force for a lot of the action. She’s not much more than a New Agey, theater actress recalling the glory days of Seventies New York who tries to justify her stunts as quirks. The good thing is that Scarlett’s at least savvy enough to call Amy out on a lot of things, particularly the whole Donna Spendler prank. (There’s much less of it in the sequel so far.)

Aside from that, this is a fun summer read. It’s frothy without skimping on most of the characterization and is very smart and funny. Even Marlene’s cancer backstory doesn’t come off as cloying or trying to make the reader sympathetic (in fact, it’s the opposite). Perfect beach read. show less

Maureen Johnson never fails to amuse. This is the third book of hers that I’ve read, and I enjoyed it just as much as the other two I’ve picked up.

On Scarlett’s fifteenth birthday, she’s given a hotel room to look after. This might be considered bizarre for any other family, but Scarlett’s family owns a hotel (a not-very-popular, slightly rundown hotel, but it was built over 75 years ago, and is very Art Deco, so it’s automatically cool.). Along with the hotel room for her birthday, Scarlett acquires an extremely eccentric guest – Mrs. Amberson is an old B actress who is trying to rediscover New York, and taking Scarlett for a ride while at it. Scarlett’s older brother is a struggling actor, and soon Mrs. Amberson and show more her newly-employed-personal-assistant Scarlett, are as involved with the play as possible – trying to help Spencer break it through to the big time, while still trying to keep the hotel running.

This was a highly enjoyable book. In fact, it may have been almost everything that I think makes a good book rolled into 353 pages. It was funny; it had interesting, realistic characters; it gave me the ability to transport myself to an old hotel in New York. For all intents and purposes, it was fabulous.

One of the things that I like most about Johnson’s books that I’ve read is that, unlike other popular non-fantasy YA books, Johnson’s characters don’t need to “get the guy” in order to be happy. It’s more about family, friends and self-realization. I would even say that this alone makes Johnson not chick lit, as some people claim she is… but then that could just be my aversion to most chick lit. ;)

I loved this book, and it’s reminded me that I really need to go back and read more of Johnson’s older books. show less

A fun YA book. It suffers, though, from having all the characters be fleshed out -- except the narrator. Throughout the story, I had no clue about her motivations (other than she liked Eric), or her personality other than going along with everyone else's mad schemes. It was still enjoyable but I wished that after 380 pages, I knew Scarlett better.

Since turning 15, Scarlett Martin's life has changed in an astounding rush: she's now in charge of a suite at her family's business, the charming but decaying Hopewell Hotel in New York City; her brother Spencer has finally landed an acting gig, introducing her Spence's gorgeous fellow actor and Southern gentleman Eric; she's making in-roads toward spending more time with little sister Marlene; and she's been introduced to Amy Amberson, her suite's dynamic, demanding and semi-famous resident.

Under Mrs. Amberson's guidance, the summer opens before Scarlett like a fan: full of unexpected turns, small adventures, money and new friendships. As the financial situation at the Hopewell seems to become more and more desperate, the Martin show more siblings -- Scarlett, Lola, Spencer and Marlene -- try to find new ways of chipping in and helping their worn-out parents drum up some new business. Ironically, Mrs. Amberson's arrival starts to do wonders almost immediately.

Above all, Suite Scarlett was a really fun, almost whimsical look at the bonds of one family. As another reviewer noted, it was so refreshing to read a story about a family that wasn't fractured, difficult, divorced or not speaking to one another. While the Martins have their difficulties, they definitely love one another.

Each character in the novel was fleshed-out and almost larger than life. While I could argue they were a bit "typecast" -- Spencer is the funny one, the "sad clown" trying to make his way acting in the city; Lola is the type-A oldest sister, trying to keep everything afloat, etc. -- I can't honestly say this bugged me at all. Though Scarlett is our titular character, Johnson's novel is in third person; we pop in and out of everyone's heads, getting their take on the scene before them. Surprisingly, I loved that about it.

The sense of place in this novel was awesome -- I really felt like I'd stepped into the Hopewell's lobby and was looking up at the sparkling (but dusty) chandelier as the Martin siblings scurried around. The mild romance that developed in the story was cute, and I loved all of the theatre references as Spencer's play gets underway.

Overall, a fast and fantastic read -- and a really different, fun way to spend time in New York City. I could pack up my little suitcase and get to the Hopewell to share in family dinner and catch a performance myself! show less

A sweet, fluffy, fun book with entertaining characters and an amusing plot. I think my daughter will enjoy it as well. The strength of this book is in the characters. The action flows from them and their quirks. While the author focuses on Scarlett, each of the siblings gets a chance to show some quirks and some growth over the course of the novel.It's also a fun look into New York, into theater, into the world of a family run hotel.I felt that the romantic storylines (particularly Scarlett's) played out well as part of the story without overwhelming the other aspects.I listened to the audio version of this book. The narrator was pleasant to listen to and did a good job with her reading of Suite Scarlett.In retrospect, I wish I'd saved show more this book to listen to in the car with my 12 year old daughter when we go on a road trip this summer. I didn't like it well enough to re-listen this soon (there are very few books that would stand up to listening twice in a season!), but I'll look into some of her other books. I'll certainly be reading more of her work. show less