The Six Rules of Maybe

My first Caletti book, and by the reviews I guess I picked the best. Scarlet, our hero, is just about really believable,especially when she describes the incredible, ineffable sensation of being in love. Caletti nailed it, and 'tho the reader feels such pain on Scarlet's behalf, the whole situation is handled with such truth, and such kindness, that the reader knows that everything will be right and healthy with this family after all.

Loved it.

Seventeen year old Scarlet Ellis lives on Parrish Island with her mother. She is known for being the “designated listener” at school, and spends much of her time observing people and finding ways to be useful to them. One day, Scarlet’s older sister, Juliet, comes home from Portland, where she has been working as a hotel singer, pregnant, and with her new husband (neither Scarlet or her mother were aware of this) and his big furry dog named Zeus in tow. All this happens in the first fifteen pages.

As the book progresses, readers begin to understand her need to be useful and make a difference in people’s lives. Scarlet describes her friends and the romance-in-progress between her friend Nichole and the boy she has yet to speak show more with, and notes her attempts to bridge the two. She also begins to notice and worry about the connection she has with Juliet’s young husband, Hayden, as well as observing and fretting over her mother’s relationship with the obsessive-compulsive Dean.

Introverts and those who worry a little more than they should will appreciate Scarlet’s story. She is an eloquent and observant narrator who often refers to psychology texts and concerns herself with the well-being of those around her. Readers will enjoy Scarlet’s growth as she learns how trying to fix everyone’s problems can create some of her own. Fans of Sarah Dessen will enjoy Deb Caletti’s books. show less

I am actually somewhat new to the YA genre. I first got introduced when I found that I was running out of audio books to listen to at my local library, so the librarian pointed out some in the YA section. She said that even though they were YA, she thought that I might find some of them pretty good. Well...I started out with one by Sarah Dessen, and was quite impressed with her writing. So, this time when I returned my books, I decided to look for something to read from the YA section. I found The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb Caletti. This is also my first experience reading her books. I immediately got attached to the main character, Scarlet Hughes. She is a teenager who spends her time trying to take care of other people. She tries to show more play match maker for her depressed neighbor "Goth Girl" to hook up with the school loner, "Bomb Boy"; she watches over her other neighbors, an older couple that are being scammed on the internet regarding a cocoa plantation, and then tries to brighten the days of another neighbor, a retired postal worker who is becoming more senile by the day, as he goes to the mailbox in search of mail that is never there. Then we have the return of her older sister Juliet, who arrives newly married and pregnant with husband Hayden and his dog Zeus in tow.
I fell in love with mostly every character in this book...well, except Juliet....I wasn't too thrilled with her. But, the story kept me interested, and the whole book was a sweet coming-of-age tale. If you enjoy Sarah Dessen, I believe that you will equally love Deb Caletti. This book brought a smile to my face as it took me back to those "teenage angst" years. I am definitely looking for other books by this author. show less

Scarlet spends her time helping others. Her goal is to make sure everyone's happy. So when her older sister Juliet comes home married and pregnant, she tries to make sure Juliet doesn't fall beck in love with her old boyfriend. Things get tricky when Scarlet finds herself falling in love with Juliet's husband. On top of this, she's worried that her mom might decide to marry her pompous boyfriend. And when her interfering starts to harm rather than help, she must examine her motivations.

The wrong kind of love abounds in The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb Caletti. As a general rule, I like her books and this is no exception. Scarlet is seventeen and her older sister Juliet is twenty one. Juliet skipped college and moved away to pursue her singing career. All of the sudden she’s back home with a new husband, Hayden, in tow. Oh, I forgot to mention…she’s pregnant and wants to be home for the baby’s birth.

Juliet’s never really been in a stable relationship and Scarlet’s afraid she’ll try to rekindle a relationship with her old flame, Buddy Wilkes, hurting Hayden in the process. Wrong kind of love, # 1. Scarlet thinks she’s in love with Hayden. Wrong love #2. The girls’ mother is dating the stuck-up Dean show more Neuhaus, who criticizes her every move. Wrong love #3. Nicole, Scarlet’s best friend, is in love with Shy (aka Jesse) who seems to have a crush on Scarlet. Wrong love #4. And I’m probably forgetting one or two.

The only right love is that of Hayden for Juliet. He writes her astonishingly romantic letters, despite her ambivalence towards him.

Caletti writes extremely readable books. She’s populated The Six Rules of Maybe with an interesting cast of ancillary characters. There are Scarlet’s next door neighbors on one side who are seemingly being entrapped by an internet scam. One the other side, there’s Clive Weaver, a retired postman, who is losing it a bit and runs outside to get his non-existent mail in his birthday suit and sllippers. Across the street are young twins Jacob and Jeffrey who provide comic relief. And finally Goth Girl, an artist who draws in chalk on her driveway. Scarlet, a do-gooder at heart, has to help everyone.

You can’t go wrong with a Deb Caletti book. This is one probably my favorite, with The Fortunes of Indigo Skye as a close send and The Nature of Jade coming in at number 3. If you’re looking for a little romance, a little heroine grows up, a fun story, some action, then I highly recommend The Six Rules of Maybe. We could all learn from the actual six rules of maybe, as well. show less

Deb Caletti knows Scarlet inside out and writes about her with such fondness and perceptiveness that you'd swear you know her too. Scarlet's thoughtful and generous but not used to putting herself first. When multiple things in her life falls apart, it's a view she's forced to reexamine, an examination which gives her new insights about family members and others close to her.

A book with heart and depth. I highly recommend it.

Scarlet reminds me of a balloon, slowly leaking air. As the story progresses, the balloon is obviously falling, but it’s happening so slowly that it takes a long time before she hits the bottom and has to figure out how to rectify the problem.
I don’t want to say that Scarlet is unlikeable, because she’s not, really. It’s just that she is so wrapped up in other people’s lives that she herself isn’t that interesting, so I can’t really say that I like her. She’s a people pleaser, so she tucks away her own feelings and desires in order to keep the people around her happy. So the fact that she develops feelings for her sister’s husband isn’t really an external struggle, but a mental one. However, she allows those feelings show more to control her behavior in regards to him, seeking out ways to know him better even if it makes it harder to see him with her sister. Now, I’m not saying that it’s not admirable that the story isn’t about two sisters fighting over the same guy, because I was somewhat worried that it would turn into that (though having read many of Deb Caletti’s previous works, I highly doubted that it actually would be that story). But it still made me uncomfortable to watch Scarlet struggle with those feelings.
This struggle may have been easier to consume had Scarlet had something in her life I could really grab onto as exceptional. There are things that she does throughout the story that are noteworthy, but nothing about her reels me to make me truly care about her as a character. I don’t believe that, if she was a person I was introduced to tomorrow that I would find that person to be dull or annoying or too passive; but I do think that she’s almost too ordinary, too passive, to carry a story. Although there is conflict in her life, which every story needs to make it interesting, her personality doesn’t allow her to deal with it as a conflict. This makes the story somewhat difficult to latch onto.
This slow-paced story could be problematic for many readers, especially when it is combined with a character that, though seemingly well-intentioned, is kind of unlikeable in a bland sort of way. Although I’ve enjoyed the other Caletti books I’ve read, this one missed the mark for me. While I appreciate the message I got from the book, I wasn’t captivated by the story. show less