18 September 2012

YA Book Review: 52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody

Release Date: 3 July 2012
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

Goodreads description:
Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.

Lexington Larrabee has never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either.

Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteen birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.
My Thoughts...
I started out 52 Reasons to Hate My Father with high hopes for a fun, engaging romp though Lexi's coming-of-age story. 52 Reasons is just that.  It's fun and light-hearted with the fairy tale ending to seal the deal.  While I don't generally like book trailers all that much, I have to give a lot of credit to this book's trailer for making me really want to check out this book. So, while I don't usually include these, here's the trailer for 52 Reasons.

Cute, right?  What caught my attention with this one was how movie-like it made the story seem and I have to admit that throughout reading the book I drawn to just how fun this could be as a movie. Really, it reminded me a little of the 80s movie Maid to Order...but obviously not everyone is going to understand or relate to that reference.

Lexi was a fun character to get to know, but I did find that it took me a really long time to feel any strong connection to her.  Her rich-girl persona stays on strong through most of the book and it wasn't until she really starts digging into her family history that I started to feel for her on a deeper level.  I appreciated that she really did start to think about the bigger picture, even if it took a little longer than I would have liked.

The way that the story is set-up allows the reader to get the perfect glimpses of Lexi's days experiencing the different jobs her father has picked out for her without going into too much detail and belaboring the point. The video messages that Lexi sends to Luke were a perfect portrayal of her spunky attitude with little glimpses into her experiences.  I felt like as the story went on, they were the best indicators of the little ways in which she was changing.  The nuances of the story were really my favorite part and I attribute much of my enjoyment to Ms. Brody's wodnerful writing.

Lexi's coming-of-age story isn't like every other story out there on the market and it will have a high appeal to fans of reality television shows, such as My Super Sweet 16 (or, you know, if you understood that Maid to Order reference...).  It was a quick read that I sat and breezed through in an evening.  If you start out annoyed with Lexi, give her a chance! She's really a riot once you get to know her and she'll probably surprise you more than once.

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4 comments:

Danny Bookworm said...

Lool this trailer looks like a movie already:)) how freaking awesome! I also had an eye on this book since quite a while and I'm a litte sad about this low rating :( But.. I guess it was also part of the story to be first annoyed with Lexi hu?

Jennifer Ricketts said...

I'd really love to read this book. I must admit that reality shows are one of my guilty pleasures, lol, and I like that this is a different coming-of-age story. I might like this one! :D

Mandee said...

Do you know what I love? Finding a book you would NEVER read and change your mind because of another blogger. I would have never picked up this book if it weren't for you. I loved the trailer, and now I want to read it. Uhm, you rock. :)

Kiki said...

This sounds great! Very cute.

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