Review: Teens might love it, but too contrived and predictable for me
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 14, 2013
Disclaimer: I was an English teaching major and "literary" is my favorite genre, but I do love YA novels - and this one is a fun, page-turning read, in spite of how contrived it was. Writers who've attended fiction workshops would recognize all the Donald Maas inspired advice to torture the protagonist and create conflict and tension just to keep pages turning. Me, I'd rather be intrigued by authentic characters. In many ways, these characters do ring true. The stoic grandparents who aren't good at touchy-feely behavior and emotions? Spot-on. Little details, like Grandpa has *his* chair at the table (and we farm-raised readers like me know why). The mother's eagnerness to escape the rural setting is, unfortunately, all too believable. My h.s. daughter just write a report for government class on the "brain drain" the Midwest suffers.Tabitha's fear and loathing of math is also believable, though I wish authors wouldn't make light of this condition. It's hard enough getting my own daughters past their own math phobia, especially when they got it from me.The Asian male lead? As if "instant love" isn't bad enough, the author mentions Edward Cullen by name. Lots of other pop culture references abound, which to me limits a novel to contemporary readers. I don't imagine future generations will get the references. But there are many other reasons I wouldn't expect to see this novel on library shelves of my grandchildren. It's just not that memorable or unique.The mother's inadvertent mistake in mailing a certain package? NOT believable. Tabitha's idiocy at the museum? I'd like to think "not believable," but teenagers can be astonishingly stupid.The ending left a few loose ends, hinting at a sequel. Again, teens might embrace more of Tabitha and Company, but I'll be off in search of something more along the lines of .... Joyce Carol Oates, or Michelle Buckman's "Maggie Come Lately." That novel is also rich for its setting and characters, with a bonus "whodunnit," without being so predictable.