Saturday, November 29, 2008

In Your Room by Jordanna Fraiberg

When their families randomly switch houses for the summer, retro-chic LA fashionista Molly Hill and laid back granola boy Charlie Richards find themselves living in totally unfamiliar rooms for three long hot months. Soon they become gradually entwined in each other's secret, relationships, and dreams. Day by day, they grow closer...even though they have never met face-to-face.
Can perfect strangers be perfect for each other?
Will Molly and Charlie make it through a summer of seductions, missed connections, and the thousand miles between them to find out?
(Summary from back of book)

Cute. That one word sums up this entire book. Not much substance or excitement, but plenty of fluff, romance, and CUTE-NESS! That might not have been such a good thing in certain aspects, but it was exactly what I was looking for and needing when I started reading this book. A kind of light-hearted retreat. And what better serves that purpose than a novel about a slutty, manly boy falling for the quiet, reserved, and perfect girl? We all wish we were that lucky faultless girl, which was actually very easy to imagine. Molly was a very relatable character who had the same doubts and fears and reservations as many of us have and I found it very easy to put myself in her shoes to see where she was coming from. Although she also did assert herself as an individual with her goals and dreams in the fashion industry. Her best friend Celeste, though, annoyed me completely. I felt like she was really out of control and was forgiven for everything she did with no lasting effects or anything like that. When Molly wasn't present she acted like a total...ahem, witch. :( And the other character who didn't really make sense to me was Charlie. Apparently he was this sleazy man slut who'd had more girlfriends than he could count and suddenly, when he met Molly, had a complete turnaround. First of all, Charlie does not come across as a slutty guy. He's a guy I'd want to date! I couldn't believe that the character we became familiar with in the story is the guy who'd had as shady a past as described. I just didn't buy that. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy! So some of the characters didn't seemed as well planned out or developed as they could have been which brought the book down a little bit. But the general tone of the story made up for it. While the plot might have been entirely predictable and the ending picture perfect, I think that's what made it so good...if that makes sense. I loved the whole idea of getting to know someone from living in their room. Just thinking about building a relationship that way is a really novel idea. And Molly and Charlie's Facebook messages were as innocent and adorable as it gets. The only thing I would change, besides the character development, is the length. The book definitely could've benefited from having 50 more pages! That way we could see more of the characters, more of the plot, and more of Molly and Charlie's relationship. But as it was, it was just a fun little book that you could get lost in for a while. So when you pick up In Your Room, don't look for a life changing read. Instead, expect a little pick-me-up and fluff, and it won't disappoint.

4 comments:

  1. I like that word:cute. I agree that pretty much sums it up!

    Fantastic review!

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  2. I had the same problem with Scary Beautiful by Nikki Burnham. The main guy was supposed to be a nerd/dork, but he was really just a normal guy! I thought he could have been geeked out better. The image given just didn't fit what was actually written. I still liked the book, though, so maybe I'll pick this one up! I love cute books. :D

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  3. I really want to read this. It sounds really cute! :)

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  4. I want to read this one - I like the premise, especially since I've stayed in other people's rooms on holiday.

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Pour your heart out. :)