Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: June 7, 2016
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 346
Source: Won Giveaway through the Novl Early Review Program
Find on Goodreads
Goodreads Description
Maddie has big plans to spend the last months before college tying up high school “loose ends” alongside her best friends. Then her beloved grandmother drops two bombshells: (1) Gram is dying. (2) She’s taking her entire family on a round-the-world cruise of dreams come true—but at the end, Gram won’t be returning home.
With a promise to live in the now without regrets, Maddie boards the Wishwell determined to make every moment count. She finds new friends in her fellow Wishwellians, takes advantage of the trip’s many luxuries, gets even closer to her quirky family, and falls for painfully gorgeous Enzo. But despite the copious laughter, headiness of first love, and wonder of the glamorous destinations, Maddie knows she is on the brink of losing Gram, and she struggles to find the strength to let go in a whirlwind summer shaped by love, grief, and laughter.
My Thoughts
Going into this book I had just finished reading the Gemina ARC and it was a big shift from a SciFi world to YA Contemporary. Although the concept sounded interesting, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Honestly I had to force myself through about the first 50 pages, up until they got on the ship. I don't think it was because it wasn't interesting. I just wasn't really in the mood to read it at the time. Luckily I really wanted to know how everything would work out or I might have put off reading it even longer.
"Not overboard, Mary. There's a cute little door they slide you through. You're so melodramatic."
The Loose Ends List is a unique contemporary. I love how the author was able to take such and kind of depressing topic and add some humor to it. This had a lot to do with the characters. I think the characters can make or break a story. Even though all the characters didn't stand out for me, they definitely helped take this story to another level. Every single person introduced had their own personalities, and that was consistent throughout the novel. Maddie's grandmother is an eccentric woman with wild stories of adventure and love and no filter. She's the grandmother everyone wishes they had and even though she's dying, she never loses that spunk. This carries through to the other patients, their families, and Maddie's family. I think learning about everyone is best experienced first hand so I will not get into details of everyone.
Now I want to talk about the romance. I didn't think it was necessary to have any romance. I honestly don't consider it more than a fling. It would have been possible for almost everything to still happen the way it did if the romance was completely taken out. Although it wasn't insta-love it wasn't developed enough for me and just didn't feel real. I hate to say but I feel like there was a relationship (and I'm mentally putting air quotes around that) was only there out of a sense of obligation to genre. I would have really liked if Maddie and her romantic interest could have started off as friends and it could lead to something in the future, after the book ends. I feel like I just said the same thing a bunch of different ways. Sorry!
We get a text just before sunset. It's time, my babies.
While this book was pretty hilarious at moments, I actually laughed out loud a few time, there were still some sad moments. Some scenes didn't hit as hard because I didn't feel as connected to some of the characters. But when the inevitable finally came I shed a few tears. Although it was a sad moment it still made me happy in the end because Maddie's grandmother brought some of her family closer together as well as give them an experience that will continue to teach them things.
Overall, I enjoyed The Loose Ends List but it wasn't my favorite. I think it did a good job of handling the sad topic in an interesting and entertaining way that I never heard of. As far as my rating, I took off a star because of the romance since it didn't feel real. I also took off a star because it was a little slow at moments. I think if you like YA contemporary that deals with these topics it's definitely worth checking out.
No comments :
Post a Comment