A review by cbsundance
Gingerbread, by Rachel Cohn
3.0
I found Gingerbread during middle school. My friends and I made our weekly trip to the mall, I would always have to visit the book store. Gingerbread sat on my bookcase, virtually unread by me, for 5+ years. Coming home from break to a snowstorm last year was enough entrapment to get me to read it. For once, I picked it up and read it all the way through. It’s a shame I didn't read it sooner. Maybe it would have had more of an impact on me.
I believe that if I hadn’t stumbled upon Gingerbread when I was middle school, I would have never picked it up. That’s not saying the book is terrible. It hits the demographic age it is meant for but, it just does not transcend that age like other YA literature I have read. Even Cohn’s co-authored book with David Lavithan (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) sat better with me. The protagonist, Cyd Charissa, undergone a major life decision as a teenager and I feel for her- but not that much. It’s probably the age difference between her and I. Which is weird since, I am not by any means Methuslia.
The plot strangely wrapped up in a way that isn’t clear how things suddenly feel into place. Perhaps I’ll re-reading the ending to hash it out for myself. Interestingly, since I picked up this book in middle school, Gingerbread become a series. Shrimp and Cupcake follow the plot where Gingerbread left off. There’s hope of recovery for my feelings of triumph in reading this finally.
I believe that if I hadn’t stumbled upon Gingerbread when I was middle school, I would have never picked it up. That’s not saying the book is terrible. It hits the demographic age it is meant for but, it just does not transcend that age like other YA literature I have read. Even Cohn’s co-authored book with David Lavithan (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) sat better with me. The protagonist, Cyd Charissa, undergone a major life decision as a teenager and I feel for her- but not that much. It’s probably the age difference between her and I. Which is weird since, I am not by any means Methuslia.
The plot strangely wrapped up in a way that isn’t clear how things suddenly feel into place. Perhaps I’ll re-reading the ending to hash it out for myself. Interestingly, since I picked up this book in middle school, Gingerbread become a series. Shrimp and Cupcake follow the plot where Gingerbread left off. There’s hope of recovery for my feelings of triumph in reading this finally.