That's what happens to Libby Fawcett when she is asked to
tutor Seth Jacobs, a boy who she has liked for nearly two
years. She accepts the offer mostly because of her crush,
but also because she knows that her rival, Angel Rivera,
likes Seth, too. But Libby gets sidetracked from trying to
figure out if Seth likes her or not when she discovers that
her mother is dating Angel's father. In this whirlwind of
events, Libby becomes hopelessly confused about her
feelings toward everyone in her life, namely her mother,
Seth, and Angel. She tries desperately to uncover her own
feelings in the myriad of events that follow, the most
important of which would be her fight with Seth, dinner at
the Rivera's house, and finally, Angel's art show. The
novel culminates as the entire cast of characters decides
things once and for all.
The idea behind this book is sound and the plot provides
plenty of interesting situations, but I thought that it was
not executed as well as it could have been. The character of
Libby Fawcett is believable as a teenage girl, as is the
character of Angel Rivera, but many of the others felt less
real. For instance, Roger Fawcett and Keisha Jones were fairly realistic, but I found myself getting aggravated by them rather than endeared towards them. The subplot of Roger and Keisha's romance seemed to intrude on the main plot of the book and, other than this subplot, they served no real
purpose. The storyline moved along quickly and didn't drag,
but none of the events satisfied themselves until the very
end. As the book ended, the various conflicts resolved in
one of three ways: they ended in a believable, though
clich, resolution, they didn't end at all, or they ended in
a completely arbitrary conclusion. I would recommend this
book for its plot and quick pace, but not for the style in
which it was executed.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 6
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Melrose, MA United States
