Book: Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara AltebrandoGenre: YA (NA?) Contemporary
Rating:★★★☆☆
From: the library
For: Fun and Supporting Local Authors
So I thought this book was going to be about dealing with college roommates or all the craziness that ensues during college, or some such thing. But it surprised me and was instead about two girls who are paired to be roommates for the upcoming school year, and the correspondence that they end up having with each other over the summer as a way to get to know each other. It was very cautious and hesitant at first, but soon turned into a real true and solid friendship. They ended up telling each other everything about their respective crazy summers, even before telling their lifelong best friends.
Then they had a fight. Then they made up and then they went off to meet each other in college. Is there going to be a sequel? I feel like it needs a sequel!
So really, it ended up not about being roommates, but about leaving your families to go to school and the stress that it causes. And about kids dealing with grown up issues and about making new friends.
I enjoyed it for the most part. Sometimes I felt like it was a little over the top with the stuff these kids were dealing with. I liked how one of the girls was part of a big family and had little brothers and sisters. That's not something we see much in books these days. And that was life for some of us!
Bottom line: I enjoyed it. It was fun!
Other Reviews:
This book was such an accurate portrayal of life and relationships and transition that I kept having to stop myself and nod, or reminisce on something from my life that felt exactly like what happened in the story. From Read This Instead
With a nice romantic element, but plenty of much bigger things going on, this had all the makings of everything I love in contemporary. From A Good Addiction
A wave of nostalgia just hit me over and over while I was reading this. Roomies is a very endearing, swell of a read! From Amaterasu Reads
It has a little bit of everything: stuff to make you think, stuff to make you swoon, a set of parents you hate and another you love. From Lili's Reflections
(Edited to add new question feature.)
Question for My Readers: Did you have some sort of connection or correspondence with your college roommates before you actually met them?
I love when I hear about books like this! When I first heard about New Adult, this is what I thought of - more books having to do with what life is like for people around college age. I think it's a niche that really needs to be filled, unlike the romance with bad boys niche that so many new adult books actually fall into :)
ReplyDeleteI thought this was fun, too!
ReplyDelete