Series: The Seven Deadly #1
Author: Fisher Amelie
Publisher: Fisher Amelie
Year: 2013
"If you’re looking for a story about a good, humble girl, who’s been hurt by someone she thought she could trust, only to find out she’s not as vulnerable as she thought she was and discovers an empowering side of herself that falls in love with the guy who helps her find that self, blah, blah, blah...then you’re gonna’ hate my story.
Because mine is not the story you read every time you bend back the cover of the latest trend novel. It’s not the “I can do anything, now that I’ve found you/I’m misunderstood but one day you’ll find me irresistible because of it” tale. Why? Because, if I was being honest with you, I’m a complete witch. There’s nothing redeeming about me. I’m a friend using, drug abusing, sex addict from Los Angeles. I’m every girlfriend’s worst nightmare and every boy’s fantasy.
I’m Sophie Price...And this is the story about how I went from the world’s most envied girl to the girl no one wanted around and why I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world."
I feel sort of
cheated. I expected a story about a total all-consuming debauchery. I did not
get it. But I also liked this book. Feeling quite conflicted. Let us weigh the
options, shall we?
What I expected,
I did not get. I expected to get a girl who is bad to the bone and happy about
it. It is fun to read about a character that is unlikeable on purpose! For the
first 100 pages or so I almost got that. Sure, Sophie had her moments of
self-loathing, but they made her more complex as a character and therefore I
did not mind, If this story had gone differently and we would have gotten more
story as to why she is like that but why she keeps being like that then… Ugh.. She
was not supposed to be the “able to do anything since she found him girl”. False
advertising! That *spoiler alert* is
exactly what happened. It made for a sweet story but I liked the blurb a lot
and feel cheated.
I also did not
like that Sophie seemed transformed the moment she got to Uganda. Sure, her
emotional change took time and was paced quite well, but it did not make sense
to me that she did not rebel against being in Uganda at all. She was good at
chores and teaching from day one. A little too perfect for my taste.
On to the good
parts. Fisher Amelie’s writing is extremely easy to read. The pages just flew
by and I am most definitely adding her books to my to-read list at this very
moment.
The part that
definitely moved me was the orphanage in Uganda. It was written extremely well
and you could not help but cheer for the community there. It is great when
young-adult literature draws eyes to actual world problems. It might be a
disorder or poverty or war but I definitely respect a book that makes you
deeply consider the topic it is handling.
The characters
were well developed and enjoyable to read.
With perhaps a little exception being Sophie. I think she had the incentive to change, to break the cycle, so I did not mind THAT badly that she turned into a nice girl. Except for one occasion. When she first saw Dingane. For a claimed sex goddess of her former group, she lost her resolve around a cute boy too quickly. I expected more badassery. Damn it Sophie, you had one job.
Dingane I liked. I imagine getting glimpses of his side would have been great. All that suppressed desire. Yummy. He turned out to have a past that made it make sense why he would fall for a girl like Sophie.
The people in LA were a great contrast to the ones in Uganda. Okay maybe they were made out to be a little too evil. People like to think of rich corporate demons with red eyes, making decisions in a board room and not caring for anyone or anything else. That, I believe, is not quite true. But for the sake of the story it worked. It amplified the kindness and joy in life of the people in Masego.
With perhaps a little exception being Sophie. I think she had the incentive to change, to break the cycle, so I did not mind THAT badly that she turned into a nice girl. Except for one occasion. When she first saw Dingane. For a claimed sex goddess of her former group, she lost her resolve around a cute boy too quickly. I expected more badassery. Damn it Sophie, you had one job.
Dingane I liked. I imagine getting glimpses of his side would have been great. All that suppressed desire. Yummy. He turned out to have a past that made it make sense why he would fall for a girl like Sophie.
The people in LA were a great contrast to the ones in Uganda. Okay maybe they were made out to be a little too evil. People like to think of rich corporate demons with red eyes, making decisions in a board room and not caring for anyone or anything else. That, I believe, is not quite true. But for the sake of the story it worked. It amplified the kindness and joy in life of the people in Masego.
So you see my
predicament. I wanted to like this book for the sake of one reason but did not
get it. I ended up liking it for another reason. Still, for the sake of
enjoying this book immensely I will give it 4 stars. But I will deduct a ½ of
it for not getting me “the every girlfriend’s worst nightmare and every boy’s
fantasy”. 3.5 it is.
-Linda
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