Thursday, May 21, 2009

Lipstick Apology


Title: Lipstick Apology
Author: Jennifer Jabaley
Pages: 286
Published: Razorbill, August 8 2009
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Recommended/Not Recommended
Cover: B
Overall Grade: A

   When sixteen-year-old Emily Carson's parents die in a plane crash, her world comes crashing down around her. Left only with a mystery behind her mother's last message, Emily Please Forgive Me, scrawled on a tray table before the plane went down, and questions, Emily's uprooted from her quiet suburban Pennsylvania life and is plunged into Manhattan, where she's to live with her makeup-mogul aunt. At her new school, Emily finds new friends--and meets boys. There's Owen, the amazing, gorgeous, popular one who makes Emily feel like a princess. And then there's Anthony, Emily's chemistry lab partner/baker/"brother" who helps Emily heal...
   My thoughts: Wow. What a phenomenal read! Once I hit the middle, I literally could not stop reading. This debut novel was like a contagious disease--I was sucked into Emily's world. I could picture all of the people and places and actions described. I was hooked. The vortex-like plot was addicting, beautifully written, and realistic, and I really like how Ms. Jabaley added a mystery subplot to it (Emily finding out why her mom was sorry) without being cheesy and false.
   Ms. Jabaley did a terrific job writing a story with enough twists and turns so that it was entertaining and compelling but not obnoxiously long and confusing, and making the novel equally serious/heartbreaking and funny/sweet/light!
    My one big problem was all the errors in the ARC that I read. There was everything from punctuation and capitalization issues to misspelled words and funky indents. It got really distracting after awhile, so hopefully they'll fix that before the final printing--yikes!
   And oh my goodness, the ending was so perfectly cliché and corny that I felt a bit nauseous, but happy all the same because I'm a sucker for happy endings! (:
   Although the plot was very predictable, I still found myself love, love loving Lipstick Apology just because it was so unique and fun to read. I know that when it comes out in August, I'm definitely buying a copy to reread over and over again! Overall, a very beautiful debut. You'll definitely want to watch this author.

* Karin Perry, my ARC is coming your way! 

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Um, you won Peace, Love and Baby ducks on my blog. I need your home addy or do I already have it?

Chrissy said...

It sounds like an OK book based on the description, but your review really makes it sound like something more special than that. I always enjoy a well written book. :)

GreenBeanTeenQueen said...

I want to read this one. I'm a sucker for happy endings too:) I'm glad you liked it, that means I'll probably end up loving it too!

Mitzy said...

I have been wanting to read this book foreverrrr - I can't believe I still have to wait three months!!

prophecygirl said...

I can't wait for this, and your review has made me want it even more!

Anonymous said...

thank you so much for your lovely review! You've made my day!
I see that you do author interviews, I would love to participate if you are interested.

thank you again!
Jennifer Jabaley
LIPSTICK APOLOGY
Razorbill, 2009
wwww.jenniferjabaley.com