Search This Blog
April Reviews Link-Up
May Reviews Link-Up
June Reviews Link-Up
July Reviews Link-Up
August Reviews Link-Up
September Reviews Link-Up
October Reviews Link-Up
November Reviews Link-Up
December Reviews Link-Up
2024 Literary Escapes Challenge
2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
Trigiani's YA Novel Needs A Little Spice, Spice, Baby
When Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani opens, our angsty heroine has resigned herself to a long, lonely year at Prefect (or "the waiting room of hell itself" [24] as she prefers to call it). At least she's got her camera - she can chronicle her misadventures in a video diary, edit the footage and send it off to her faraway friends and family. Uploading her preliminary shots gives her a shock, a first indicator that her freshman year at Prefect might hold some surprises yet. To her astonishment, she finds her roommates becoming family; a cute filmmaker becoming her boyfriend; and the school she despises becoming a sort of refuge. Sure, she misses her family; her BFF back home seems ... distant; and then, of course, there's the ghost. Is she getting messages from beyond the grave or just missing home so much she's hallucinating? A school competition gives her the chance to find the answers, prove herself as a filmmaker, and win back the affections of the two boys she most wants to impress. Will Viola succeed? And how will the most difficult year of her life play out?
First off, I have to say that I admire Trigiani for trying something different. Not only is this her first YA novel, but it's also a giant leap away from her trademark Trigiani Trifecta (Italian families, Italian food and New York fashion). A little bit of Italian spice is sprinkled here and there, but Viola in Reel Life is basically a flavorless story about a semi-interesting (non-Italian) Everygirl navigating through her first year away from home. It's sweet, but slow, unfocused and just kind of ... blah. It needs some (okay, lots) of Trigiani's signature spice to stand out. The book seems lost without it.
Even though I've found her last couple books a little disappointing, I still love Trigiani. She writes with great warmth, especially about families. You can feel that closeness with Viola, her roommates, and their kin. None of the characters are particularly well-developed, but at least you can feel a bond between them. I liked that about the book, but otherwise, it was just really hard for me to get into. Maybe it's my fault - I was expecting a teen version of Big Stone Gap - but this one was just too bland for me. My advice to Trigiani? Spice, spice, baby.
Grade: C
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG
2 comments:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!
Reading
Listening
Followin' with Bloglovin'
-
Time Travel Thursday2 hours ago
-
-
-
The Blackmailed Bride3 hours ago
-
-
-
-
The Expectant Detectives By Kat Ailes7 hours ago
-
Daily Post 24 April Wednesday10 hours ago
-
-
-
Just Shy of Ordinary21 hours ago
-
A Letter from Italy by Rose Alexander22 hours ago
-
Toxic Prey by John Sandford22 hours ago
-
Final Cut by Marjorie McCown23 hours ago
-
-
Falling - T.J. Newman1 day ago
-
-
-
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth1 day ago
-
-
-
Haiku Reviews...2 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
Sunday Salon: April 21, 20244 days ago
-
-
Sunday Post5 days ago
-
Reading as a retreat from reality1 week ago
-
Reading Recap March 20242 weeks ago
-
-
March Monthly Wrap-up3 weeks ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?6 months ago
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra9 months ago
-
-
-
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-
Grab my Button!
Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)
- ► 2013 (183)
- ► 2012 (193)
- ► 2011 (232)
- ► 2010 (257)
- ▼ 2009 (211)
- ► 2008 (192)
Your title of this post had me giggling...very cute!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I haven't read any other novels by Trigiani, you perfectly summed up my experience of 'Viola in Reel Life'. The cover looked so awesome and the blurb too, but I found it way to slow and although the characters were nice it lacked something (don't know what though...).
ReplyDelete