Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Review: Will You Won't You Want Me? by Nora Zelevansky


Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pub. Date: April 19, 2015
Genre: YA Contemporary
Source: Print ARC
Rating: 4 Stars


Blurb:
 Marjorie Plum isn't your average washed up prom queen. After all, her New York City prep school had no royal court. Yet, ten years after high school graduation, she is stuck in the past and aching for that metaphorical tiara.

When her life takes an unexpected turn, she is forced to start over, moving into a tiny box of an apartment in Brooklyn with a musician roommate who looks like a pixie and talks like the Dalai Lama. Desperate to pay rent, she starts tutoring a precocious 11-year-old girl, who becomes the unknowing Ghost of Marjorie Past. So begins a bumpy journey to adulthood, during which she learns about herself from the most unlikely sources: a rekindled childhood love, a grumpy (but strangely intriguing) new boss, even her tutee.

In Nora Zelevansky's charming second novel, Will You Won't You Want Me?, Marjorie soon realizes only she can decide: who is the real Marjorie Plum?


Review:
I think every book you read comes into your life for different reasons at different times. When a book just doesn't do it for you, maybe it's just not the time for the story inside to 'speak' to you. Maybe this doesn't describe you at all and you just read to, well, read. But me, I'm one hundred percent an emotional reader. I feel deeply and at times it can be annoying. This is one of those times that a book jumped up out of the pages and spoke to me; I felt eerily connected to Majorie and the story she had to tell us.

Down on her luck, Marjorie is stuck at a crossroads of sorts. She's lost her job, her best friend, and she has no where to live. Hitting rock bottom means there's only one way to go - up. It doesn't help any when you're somewhat stuck in the past. How does one ever expect to grow up, so to speak, when they can't help but think about how it used to be. That's what WYWYWM? is all about - learning to let go and move forward. No matter how scary it may be.

I enjoyed going on this wonderful and witty adventure into Marjorie's life - it was both fun and at times bittersweet. To find one's true self is not easy feat...sometimes it takes a lot of fails in order to get it right. I think that's why I was able to connect with the main character so much. Life can be so damn grueling but when things are good, you're able to appreciate the bad that much more. I also enjoyed the romance of the story. I don't feel it took overtook the story.

It didn't need to. Zelevansky writes a captivating and mesmerizing story full of hope, love, and a surprisingly refreshing heroine to look up to. Overall, this is one book you should definitely put on your list of books to read next. The characters are well developed, real, one hundred percent authentic. I can't wait to read more from the author!  


*Thank you to the author for providing a copy for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Buy the book!!

About the Author:
NORA ZELEVANSKY is the author of Will You Won't You Want Me? and Semi-Charmed Life. Her writing has appeared in ELLE, T Magazine (The New York Times), Town & Country, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and Vanity Fair, among others. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, New York.

*BOOK CLUBS should reach out via Twitter or norazelevansky.com to have the author Skype or call in!


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