Proud Professional Reader
Monday 24 June 2013
Author: Sarah Strohmeyer
Date Published: April 23, 2013
Grade: B+
Goodreads Summary: From Sarah Strohmeyer, author of Smart Girls Get What They Want, comes this romantic comedy about one girl's summer job from hell. Think The Devil Wears Prada set in Disney World.
When cousins Zoe and Jess land summer internships at the Fairyland Kingdom theme park, they are sure they've hit the jackpot. With perks like hot Abercrombie-like Prince Charmings and a chance to win the coveted $25,000 Dream & Do grant, what more could a girl want?
Once Zoe arrives, however, she's assigned to serve "The Queen"-Fairyland's boss from hell. From spoon-feeding her evil lapdog caviar, to fetching midnight sleeping tonics, Zoe fears she might not have what it takes to survive the summer, much less win the money. Soon backstabbing interns, a runaway Cinderella, and cutthroat competition make Zoe's job more like a nightmare than a fairy tale. What will happen when Zoe is forced to choose between serving The Queen and saving the prince of her dreams?
Review: How Zoe Made her Dreams (Mostly) Come True was definitely a fun read. A fluffy one, as well. I think if was a great way to kick off the summer because it was so easy, warm n' fuzzy, and light-hearted to read.
Firstly, what made me pick up the book was the idea behind it. I was super excited to read about the adventures of Zoe and her perky, loyal cousin Jess as they journeyed through Fairyland, basically what is the equivalent to Disneyland. The story was mostly about this group of teenagers who all worked and lived in Fairyland for the summer, as actors who played "Disney characters", such as Cinderella, Snow White, Prince Charming, Little Red Riding Hood, etc. This whole premise really intrigued me, because I had never heard of anything quite like it before. In the end, I thought Sarah Strohmeyer executed this idea pretty well, although at times it was confusing.
The story started off pretty slow, to be honest. I didn't really feel the book until a third or so of the way in. When the characters each began to develop more, I only then began to get sucked into the book. One of the main reasons I liked this book, is because I really liked the main character. Zoe was super sassy when she needed to be, she was funny and independent, she didn't make any really stupid decisions, she tried hard, she was selfless, and all the while, she was still just a teenage girl going through a time patch in her life. There was never any angst between Zoe and her cousin Jess either; Jess was always loyal and faithful towards Zoe, and she never doubted Zoe's intentions. I loved their relationship because it was so unwaveringly strong- none of this backscratching and turning against each other stuff we see so often in most Young Adult novels these days. Finally, I also really liked the chemistry between Zoe and her love interest (I'll omit his name for spoiler reasons). I found it believable and adorable right from the get-go.
I ended up giving this book a B because of it's "climatic" scenes. I don't know if this is just me, but I began getting a bit confused while reading the scenes- maybe that was the author's intention? To portray the chaos going on? However, during these scenes, I found it hard to keep up with the story line because so much happened in such a short period of time, my brain never really processed any of it. Furthermore, all of the problems in the book seemed to be solved just like that *snaps fingers*. Seriously though, everything was resolved unusually quickly, it felt pretty forced and really quite unrealistic.
Other than those little problems, I thought the overall story line was really well done! It is evident to see that Sarah Strohmeyer is very talented at interweaving different stories to make one giant plot that ends up fitting together quite nicely. The writing was engaging, smart, and funny- I even found myself laughing out loud a couple times. This was definitely the right book to start off the summer with, as it was such a fun, light read, it gave me lots of momentum to pick up some more books and dive right in them.
...And they lived happily ever after (with their books)!
What are you guys reading this summer?
PAULA :)
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