Review: Precious Things
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 1, 2013
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.*When I read an excerpt of this book, I knew I had to see what happened to the characters. Since the story involved a girl who was at what she considered the wrong school, as well as taking an electronic music course, it sounded like an interesting New Adult story. And i can happily say that I was right.Isabelle wasn't immediately likable. I thought she was a bit selfish and whiny, and a bit of a snob since she seemed to look down on community college. However, as that was the whole point of the story, I thought the author did a very good job. Of course, Isabelle does change over the course of the novel, and i did end up liking who she turned into. I loved how she cared about her brother, and the fact that she started to understand her own flaws and to work to change them made her more likable than she would have been, had she not had to grow into that likability.I did immediately like Evan, however. I loved his little emails, and how he tried to catch Isabelle off-guard. He knew that she didn't like the class, so I loved seeing him try to take her down a peg. Plus, he has a really good backstory, and is just a sweet guy in general. I thought he was a great love interest for Isabelle, overall.The side characters were well-written, as well. I felt so awful for Isabelle's dad, since he put on this act of cheerfulness, when he obviously was anything but. Both of his children gave him hard times at various points in the story, and he was just such a sympathetic character. I also liked Lucy, who I thought was a lot of good for Isabelle, since she helped her out of her shell. Then, there was Isabelle's English professor, who had a backstory that helped Isabelle see things more clearly. They were all great, and I found the story that much better because of them.The actual plot was all about Isabelle's perceptions of herself, and how she should be in an Ivy-League college. It also was about Isabelle's home life, which was hard since her mom left. Then, there was the dveloping romance between herself and Evan. All of these elements worked together to become a book about a girl who found out that what she always wanted for herself may not be what she actually ended up doing. It was all about changing perceptions and ideas. I thought it was really interesting.Overall,I really liked this book. It was an interesting New Adult story, about a girl who learned that her problems were not everything. It was about growing up, maturing, and understanding that sometimes, things don't have to be perfect to be just right. With great themes, lots of character growth, and a nicely-developed plot, I'm definitely happy I read this book. ~Brianna