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Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Review: The Story of Us by Deb Caletti

Cricket’s on a self-imposed break from her longtime boyfriend—but she’s picked a bad week to sort out her love life. For one thing, her mother’s romance is taking center stage: After jilting two previous fiancés, her mom is finally marrying Dan Jax, whom Cricket loves. But as wedding attendees arrive for a week of festivities at a guesthouse whose hippie owners have a sweet, sexy son—Ash—complications arise: 
Cricket’s future stepsisters make it clear they’re not happy about the marriage. An old friend decides this is the week to declare his love for Cricket. Grandpa chooses to reveal a big secret at a family gathering. Dan’s ex-wife shows up. And even the dogs—Cricket’s old, ill Jupiter and Dan’s young, lively Cruiser—seem to be declaring war. 
While Cricket fears that Dan is in danger of becoming ditched husband-to-be number three, she’s also alarmed by her own desires. Because even though her boyfriend looms large in her mind, Ash is right in front of her....
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My feelings about Deb Caletti's newest offering, The Story of Us, are divided. 


On one hand, I really enjoyed the story as I read it... and related to it on a very personal level, having done something very similar to Cricket a year or two ago. On the other hand, there are aspects of this novel that are a bit blurry to me after having only read it a couple days ago. 


While some aspects of the novel resonated deeply with me, I didn't feel a deep connection to any of the characters, including the main character, Cricket. This is a definite issue and I think it's why the details of the novel failed to stick. The overall story - Cricket's confusion regarding her relationships and her search for herself - was wonderfully done. I truly enjoyed the themes of the novel. The characters and setting, for whatever reason, didn't do it for me. There wasn't an actual event that caused a deeper connection to form between myself and the characters.


Caletti is a must-buy author for me, so I now own a copy of The Story of Us... and I don't regret buying it. The writing in this novel is fantastic and I don't feel like reading it was time well spent, but this book isn't one that I'll reread, like Caletti's Stay or The Secret Life of Prince Charming. If you're a Caletti fan or simply a fan of contemporary YA, give The Story of Us a chance, it's worth a read and you may end up loving it!

Simon Pulse, April 2012, Hardcover, ISBN: 9781442423466, 389 pages.

5 comments:

  1. I have to agree... I didn't like this one as much as her other novels. It was hard to connect to the characters. But it was still enjoyable. For, Caletti is hit or miss, because some of her others were amazing.

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  2. I have never read anything by Deb Caletti even though her novels have been on my to-read list for years. This one sounds great though and her other novels seem interesting as well, but it is hard to pick from where to start.

    Thanks for the review. :)

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  3. I'm super conflicted about this book too. I loved Stay last year so I had high expectations but this one was kind of messy for me. I didn't feel much for Cricket and there were just so many characters. Definitely not one I'll reread any time soon.

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  4. I've read two of Deb's books and loved them! I'm excited to read this one as well. I'm sorry that you didn't connect more, but I'm happy to hear that you still enjoyed it.

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  5. I'm really glad that you also felt divided on it. I loved the writing and just really think the entire novel could have been edited in a tighter fashion and slightly restructured. There was a good story in there somehow... I just don't think it was done in the best way.

    I still want to read another DC book just to compare. :)

    - Estelle, RatherBeReadingBlog.com

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