|
This book is a retelling of the movie You've Got Mail, which is also a retelling of The Shop Around the Corner and Parfumerie . It's the first Jenn Bennett book I've read (although I received one of her books in a book subscription) and I bought it at a bookstore because the cover is cute. Overall, I thought it was cute and light. I have it rated 4 stars although there were some things that annoyed me (the same things that annoyed Emma actually).  Title: Alex, Approximately Author: Jenn Bennett Publisher: Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon and Schuster Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult (YA) Page Number: 388 pages Classic movie fan Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online as Alex. Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush. Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth—a.k.a. her new archnemesis. But life is a whole lot messier than the movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between hate, love, and whatever it is she’s starting to feel for Porter. And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex…Approximately. I would almost say this book is a tiny bit more New Adult than Young Adult because there is some violence, drug addition, sex (not explicit) and serious situations but it could go either way. The protagonists are in high school if that means anything. I just thought it should be mentioned because normally it's very obvious when a book is YA but this one really skirts the line into a more adult book.
The two main characters are Bailey Rydell who has moved in with her father and Porter Roth, a surfer. Bailey and Porter live in the California city of Coronado Cove, which is loosely based off Santa Cruz. Bailey has been talking to a guy online named Alex. She and Alex have the same love of movies. Alex also lives in Coronado Cove but Bailey hasn't told him she's moved there because Bailey is a bit of an avoider. Instead, she's determined to find him herself and check him out from a distance. This leads her to run ins with Porter, Porter's friend Davy and another boy from school. She and Porter also work at the local museum together. This book is set off the movie so in essence it's fairly easy for a reader to deduce that Porter is Alex and that there is going to be some issue with the two of them. Porter and Bailey do rub each other the wrong way at first but it fades into flirtation. Since the "hate" is short lived Porter and Bailey instead go to a beach party, track down her stolen scooter, get trapped in the museum, deal with the death of a co-worker, fight, date and surf (or Porter surfs). While they get to know each other, they both open up. Porter talks about his surfing, shark encounter and love of science while Bailey tells him about her issues with her mother, anxiety and issues with one of her mother's cases (her mother is a lawyer in D.C.). Bailey tells Porter more about herself than she tells the online Alex. In fact, she doesn't really talk to Alex that much as the story is really focussed on Porter and Bailey. The tension happens when Porter finds out that Bailey is his online chat mate and he does eventually enlighten her (why her own father doesn't is a mystery to me). While they're patching things up in a surf shop there's another encounter with Davy, Porter's friend. Davy has drug problems due from addiction to opiates. Davy is a problematic character throughout the book. He does heinous things either because of drugs or in pursuit of drugs but he is portrayed as the "bad" character in foil to Porter. Drugs are bad of course and Davy's actions are not excusable but it's a rough read to know that Davy is not going to get any help (from his parents, friends or the police). Overall, this is a cute beach read type book. While there are some annoyances, it's was a breath of fresh air after the steaming pile I just read before.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |