A review by youreadtoomuch
Everything Leads to You, by Nina LaCour
3.0
What to expect: queer woc, teenagers with dream jobs, complex family structures, the urge to want a family, an unknown past, homeless youth, happy ending.
Emi Price is just your average, graduating high school senior. At 18, she's charged with designing a room for a major film studio and later on a production designer position for a short film. While dealing between her on-and-off again ex girlfriend and trying to fulfill her brother's requirement to make something great happen before she leaves to college, Emi and Charlotte, her best friend, uncover a mystery lineage of a now deceased famous actor. Ava is not at all what Emi expects but she is so much more.
While I could not put this book down, there were so many points where I found myself cringing. Emi is not your average teenager. Who really lands such an internship and turns out to be immensely talented at it without having any real experience? Yeah, her brother got her the job but still. Also, who gives two teens their own apartment to make memories and who rarely have any adult supervision. From what I can tell, both of their parents are educated and extremely caring of them, why weren't they more involved in the book. Though the book does mention them having to come home once in a while since they really spend anytime home for the two months they have been gifted the apartment.
Anyway, Emi comes off as a niche indie teen who happens to know so much about Los Angeles and the celebrities that have spent time in the city – it's annoying, her spewing off random facts and interests whenever she can. I only really enjoyed her complaining about places calling themselves part of LA when in fact they could not be any more farther than that. Funny.
It's not said if Emi is a lesbian or bisexual but it's easy to deduce she loves girls. And yeah it made me feels so many things and I connected deeply with her and her discovering women and that's one of the aspects I loved the most of this book. Another pleasant surprise was learning Emi is partially black because the book doesn't really describe the characters apart from what they wear or their hair.
Emi Price is just your average, graduating high school senior. At 18, she's charged with designing a room for a major film studio and later on a production designer position for a short film. While dealing between her on-and-off again ex girlfriend and trying to fulfill her brother's requirement to make something great happen before she leaves to college, Emi and Charlotte, her best friend, uncover a mystery lineage of a now deceased famous actor. Ava is not at all what Emi expects but she is so much more.
While I could not put this book down, there were so many points where I found myself cringing. Emi is not your average teenager. Who really lands such an internship and turns out to be immensely talented at it without having any real experience? Yeah, her brother got her the job but still. Also, who gives two teens their own apartment to make memories and who rarely have any adult supervision. From what I can tell, both of their parents are educated and extremely caring of them, why weren't they more involved in the book. Though the book does mention them having to come home once in a while since they really spend anytime home for the two months they have been gifted the apartment.
Anyway, Emi comes off as a niche indie teen who happens to know so much about Los Angeles and the celebrities that have spent time in the city – it's annoying, her spewing off random facts and interests whenever she can. I only really enjoyed her complaining about places calling themselves part of LA when in fact they could not be any more farther than that. Funny.
It's not said if Emi is a lesbian or bisexual but it's easy to deduce she loves girls. And yeah it made me feels so many things and I connected deeply with her and her discovering women and that's one of the aspects I loved the most of this book. Another pleasant surprise was learning Emi is partially black because the book doesn't really describe the characters apart from what they wear or their hair.