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biscuitcrux's review
5.0
This book had a plot arc that I could totally get behind. It was subtle, no grand gestures, no cliched bullshit. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Emily is a 16-year old boring New Jersey suburbanite. Her summertime fun plans have usually include laying by the pool, going to Starbucks, going to Dairy Queen, all with her cheery best friend Meg. But Emily has just taken an art class in school and found that she has an aptitude for drawing. So her parents signed her up for a summer art program 3 days a week in Philadelphia - the scary big city.
The second Emily arrives at the campus, she realized what a fish out of water she is. The other kids are all artsy weirdos with colorful hair and bizarre fashion choices, and she looks out of place with her brand-new art supplies and mall-bought clothes.
Then Emily meets Fiona, the weirdest, loudest, most artsy kid of all. Her big thing is tracing shadows with chalk, and she balks loudly at people who value things like "craftsmanship" and "skill" over radical ideas. She's all attitude and no substance. Fiona has no patience for people who aren't constantly sucking her dick over how perfect and amazing her art is. She throws tantrums when given constructive criticism during critiques. I was initially worried at the breathless, awestruck way Emily described Fiona. I went to art school with people exactly like Fiona, and they are some of the most obnoxious people I've ever met. I've also been friends with people like Fiona. It's alternately exhilarating and shitty. However, Siobhan Vivian has obviously been friends with someone like Fiona too, because she got it exactly right. In Fiona, Emily gains a marginally talented, batshit frenemy who gets a thrill out of influencing Blank Slate Emily, but cruelly screws her over when Emily's art gets chosen for the juried art show instead of Fiona's.
As you can imagine, the things Emily experiences during the course of her class in Philly make now feel like an outsider in her New Jersey suburb. Now, she's a poseur in both worlds. After having Indian food and Bahn Mi, Starbucks doesn't taste as good. After running around to radical galleries on First Friday, going to Dairy Queen after a high school baseball game doesn't cut it. And after flirting with a sexy cool-guy teaching assistant, whatever boring jock she was supposed to like doesn't hold the same appeal. Side note: her love interest was described as possibly black or Hispanic, but it was only mentioned once, and the author didn't make the book about that. How refreshingly progressive!
The third act has the shit hitting the fan with both her New Jersey school friends and her new Philly pals/crush. Emily has so much trouble balancing the two aspects of her life that she screws it up in both places. But, she's able to start repairing it. Fortunately, and lesser authors might have gone this route, Emily doesn't resolve things by just throwing away one part. She doesn't just disavow her lame suburban existence in favor of being more like Fiona. She realize that that's a big part of who she is. But becoming a cool artist is also important to her, so she decides to stop worrying so much about fitting in in the suburbs. She stops letting her mom choose her hairstyle and pick out all her clothes and room furnishings. She goes back to the suburbs, lets her modest freak flag fly, and looks forward to a couple of years in the future when she can apply to art school in the city and develop it even more. Her friends, while they haven't had the same experiences she has, aren't bad people and start liking this different new Emily. And the book ends with her hoping that maybe someday Fiona will calm down and forgive Emily for being more talented than she is.
Beautifully written. I'm looking forward to reading more of Siobhan Vivian's work.
Emily is a 16-year old boring New Jersey suburbanite. Her summertime fun plans have usually include laying by the pool, going to Starbucks, going to Dairy Queen, all with her cheery best friend Meg. But Emily has just taken an art class in school and found that she has an aptitude for drawing. So her parents signed her up for a summer art program 3 days a week in Philadelphia - the scary big city.
The second Emily arrives at the campus, she realized what a fish out of water she is. The other kids are all artsy weirdos with colorful hair and bizarre fashion choices, and she looks out of place with her brand-new art supplies and mall-bought clothes.
Then Emily meets Fiona, the weirdest, loudest, most artsy kid of all. Her big thing is tracing shadows with chalk, and she balks loudly at people who value things like "craftsmanship" and "skill" over radical ideas. She's all attitude and no substance. Fiona has no patience for people who aren't constantly sucking her dick over how perfect and amazing her art is. She throws tantrums when given constructive criticism during critiques. I was initially worried at the breathless, awestruck way Emily described Fiona. I went to art school with people exactly like Fiona, and they are some of the most obnoxious people I've ever met. I've also been friends with people like Fiona. It's alternately exhilarating and shitty. However, Siobhan Vivian has obviously been friends with someone like Fiona too, because she got it exactly right. In Fiona, Emily gains a marginally talented, batshit frenemy who gets a thrill out of influencing Blank Slate Emily, but cruelly screws her over when Emily's art gets chosen for the juried art show instead of Fiona's.
As you can imagine, the things Emily experiences during the course of her class in Philly make now feel like an outsider in her New Jersey suburb. Now, she's a poseur in both worlds. After having Indian food and Bahn Mi, Starbucks doesn't taste as good. After running around to radical galleries on First Friday, going to Dairy Queen after a high school baseball game doesn't cut it. And after flirting with a sexy cool-guy teaching assistant, whatever boring jock she was supposed to like doesn't hold the same appeal. Side note: her love interest was described as possibly black or Hispanic, but it was only mentioned once, and the author didn't make the book about that. How refreshingly progressive!
The third act has the shit hitting the fan with both her New Jersey school friends and her new Philly pals/crush. Emily has so much trouble balancing the two aspects of her life that she screws it up in both places. But, she's able to start repairing it. Fortunately, and lesser authors might have gone this route, Emily doesn't resolve things by just throwing away one part. She doesn't just disavow her lame suburban existence in favor of being more like Fiona. She realize that that's a big part of who she is. But becoming a cool artist is also important to her, so she decides to stop worrying so much about fitting in in the suburbs. She stops letting her mom choose her hairstyle and pick out all her clothes and room furnishings. She goes back to the suburbs, lets her modest freak flag fly, and looks forward to a couple of years in the future when she can apply to art school in the city and develop it even more. Her friends, while they haven't had the same experiences she has, aren't bad people and start liking this different new Emily. And the book ends with her hoping that maybe someday Fiona will calm down and forgive Emily for being more talented than she is.
Beautifully written. I'm looking forward to reading more of Siobhan Vivian's work.
sarahsulliv's review
3.0
I really liked the protagonist, and I really appreciated the way the author avoided being reductive in the way the story and characters played out. felt like a pretty realistic portrayal of this girl's journey. however, despite many positive qualities, the book overall wasn't particularly memorable.
saraheme's review
4.0
liked this book a lot, because it just appealed to a me that I wished could have existed (an artistic me who has fun and meets cool people and lives life).
m_lejeune's review
3.0
Between a 3 and a 4 on this one for me...but I do think this is great YA lit in the fact that I think most of the girls I taught would have rated this a 4 or a 5. Vivian writes adolescent characters so well...the writing always rings very "true" to me.
emtbf's review
5.0
Fantastic book! i felt so conected to emily, like she was me. loved the plot, loved the setting, loved the characters! good job vivian!
nectarinereadss's review
3.0
I liked this book, but then again, I didn't. The story was so flat, so unoriginal. I enjoyed the art aspect of it and her younger sister, Claire. Fiona and Meg were two characters I absolutely hated, but I also hated the way Emily treated Meg. I loved Yates, but their romances was so platonic, so boring, I felt like if it was a TA-Student romance it should have been more exciting, more sneaky, I mean one kiss isn't a real relationship. And, he was so scared just to go and meet up with them out of class. University student hang out with their profs all the time, yet he can't manage a concert?
This book gave me such mixed feelings, that I really don't know what to do. 2.5-3/5 stars
This book gave me such mixed feelings, that I really don't know what to do. 2.5-3/5 stars
jenstarkey's review against another edition
2.0
Hmmm. I think my problem with this one was how much I LOVED Not That Kind of Girl by the same author. I was expecting the same level of wit, sexiness and style. Instead, it just fell flat.
I think the main problem was that I couldn't stand Fiona. Ughhhhhh.
She reminded me so much of a toxic friend I had in High School and I thought FOR SURE Emily would end the story relieved to have dodged a bullet. Not so.
Yeah, this one didn't do it for me. I didn't even really like Yates, and Emily was an obnoxious, smug little brat. I think my favourite character was Meg. At least she didn't pretend to be someone she wasn't.
I think the main problem was that I couldn't stand Fiona. Ughhhhhh.
She reminded me so much of a toxic friend I had in High School and I thought FOR SURE Emily would end the story relieved to have dodged a bullet. Not so.
Yeah, this one didn't do it for me. I didn't even really like Yates, and Emily was an obnoxious, smug little brat. I think my favourite character was Meg. At least she didn't pretend to be someone she wasn't.
gmamartha's review against another edition
3.0
Finding herself - or rather finding out who she isn't anymore - it's all such a complicated journey.
Everyone does it differently, and interactions with others are tenuous while all is shifting.
Everyone does it differently, and interactions with others are tenuous while all is shifting.
mlejmeyer's review
3.0
Between a 3 and a 4 on this one for me...but I do think this is great YA lit in the fact that I think most of the girls I taught would have rated this a 4 or a 5. Vivian writes adolescent characters so well...the writing always rings very "true" to me.