Saturday, October 18, 2008

Bounce by: Natasha Friend

Total: Four stars

To put things into perspective quickly, I liked Bounce about as much as I liked Perfect.

Natasha Friend's latest novel centers around an almost-thirteen-year-old girl, Evyn. Life as she knows it has been turned upside down. Her eclectic father, whom she calls Birdie, announces he’ll be marrying knockout Eleni at Evyn’s thirteenth birthday dinner. He says this like it’s a good thing. Evyn is shocked by this announcement - who would want to marry her weirdo dad? Only Eleni isn’t your typical second wife. She’s a mother of six.

Like it’s predecessors, Bounce is a slim novel, but in no way is it short on life lessons. Occasionally, Evyn’s personality seemed to flit between mature and immature, which, in theory, should be a negative point. It’s not. This is what middle school is like. One day you’re as high as a kite - the next, you’re...not.

Although Bounce is fairly predictable and the flow of the story is more forced than in Lush or Perfect, it’s still worth a read and definitely something I’d recommend.

1 comment:

Khy said...

Good review, as always. I want to read this one. And Perfect. Blah.

And is Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before any good? I want to read that one too because the title is awesome.