Book Review Discussion: Shucked by Megg Jensen

Book: Shucked by Megg Jensen
Genre: YA Contemporary
Rating:★★★☆☆
For: Fun
From: Ebook from Amazon or somewhere. I can't remember!

Short Synopsis: I picked this one up on a whim because it sounded sort of like the book I'm trying to write.... which of course made me curious. It's about a girl who has to spend the school year (in my book it's the summer) on a farm with her grandparents. She is not happy because she is used to gallivanting around the world with her archaeologist mom, but now her mom has been assigned something dangerous, so she has left Tabitha with her grandma. Tabitha feels very new at the whole teenager high school thing, so she has learn so much stuff... including how to flirt and how to be a cheerleader and how to not be too rough on people with her taekwondo skills. Also, math. But, besides all that, she learns some shocking things about one of her teachers, and that her mom is up to something other than what she's been letting on, and somehow Tabitha gets all mixed up in everything!

My Response: It's a cute fun story. I saw many resemblances to what I'm trying to write, but also to what Kathy is writing too! It was sort of a mash up of the premises of our two books. How weird is that? So it was fun to read and to learn what I liked that this author did and what I didn't like. It has it's problems but for the most part, it was fun to read and I enjoyed it!

Bottom line: Fun!

Let's Talk About: Plot. I think this story has some issues with the plot thing. Some stuff just didn't make sense or was too, you know, weird. And I know the story I'm working on has the same sort of issues. But for me, plot is such a slippery sort of thing! What makes it good? What makes it bad? Is plot only for people with wild imaginations? Or can plot be more a simple subtle thing? What's your take on plot?

Other Reviews:

It’s a rocket-paced read full of outlandish, comedic coincidences that make it easy to keep turning pages. From Lehua Parker

And while the plot started off fantastic, even if a bit far-fetched, it quickly takes a turn for just plain OUT THERE. From For Love and Books

Tabitha’s voice is hilarious and she carries the story. ..... However, the book suffered some identity issues. From Kristen S. Walker