High school sophomore
Zona Lowell has lived in New York City her whole life, and plans to
follow in the footsteps of her renowned-journalist father. But when he
announces they’re moving to Athens for six months so he can work on an
important new story, she's devastated— he must have an ulterior
motive. See, when Zona's mother married an American, her huge Greek
family cut off contact. But Zona never knew her mom, and now she’s
supposed to uproot her entire life and meet possibly hostile relatives
on their turf? Thanks... but no thanks.
In the vein of Anna and the French Kiss,
Zona navigates a series of hilarious escapades, eye-opening
revelations, and unexpected reunions in a foreign country—all while
documenting the trip through one-of-a-kind commentary.
My Thoughts:
Cute.
This
book was entirely middle-of-the-road to me so I could end the review
right there and be fine with it. But I won't. You're welcome.
The
writing wasn't stellar but I wanted to keep reading. So that's
something. It did take me a few chapters to get into the story, though,
mostly because it kind of started in the middle of the story then jumped
back to the beginning. Zona, the protagonist, had this fun little habit
of writing articles about her life which were placed throughout the
book. I loved the idea of this. But the articles pulled me out of the
story. I would have liked them much better had they been at the end or
beginning of each chapter instead of randomly placed throughout. There
was no transition, really, so it felt very abrupt.
The story
follows Zona as she and her father move from New York to Greece for 6
months so that Zona's father can write a book and Zona can meet her
deceased mother's family. I liked the premise. All the Greek culture
references and stories were very interesting and entertaining. Zona's
family was hilarious. I always appreciate an American's view of other
cultures because, well, I am an American who liked to learn about other
cultures. There was a lot going on in this book: Moving to a new
country, being the new kid in school (although the description of an
American in a foreign private school didn't match my knowledge of
foreign private schools), romance, family issues, writing processes,
friends with social issues, cultural differences and exploration. I
loved that there was so much going on! The plot was very full. Well done
there.
Ok, and there's a giant heart on the cover, right? So I
was expecting some epic kind of romance. Zona starts out boy-crazy and
goes through a few different crushes before she finds her love interest.
I liked that. It felt realistic. But after all that build-up the actual
"love" story was very anticlimactic. We don't get many cute details
other than, "we kissed." Well. Very informative, thank you.
I
don't have much more to say. I liked it. There were many plotlines and
subplots, which is awesome, but the writing itself wasn't my favorite. I
don't know if I'd recommend it, per se, but I wouldn't not recommend
it. So that's something.
Sexual Content: Mild
Language: Mild
Violence: Mild
Drugs/Alcohol: Mild (if any)
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