Book Review: Golden by Jessi Kirby

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.

Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.

Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.

My Review: 

   This book may not have stood out in the sense of it being a one of a kind novel, one that you won't forget easily but it did kind of stand out through the meaningfulness of the story itself, that it wasn't just a love story where instantly everything came together and everybody was happy. Their were certainly some moments where I was definitely intrigued by the path that the story was taking, there was unique vibe to the plot and that captivated me to complete reading the book but other than that I guess the plot was okay and also it was like a story within a story which was fun too! Furthermore, I did like the poetry entries that the author added, it wasn't overwhelming which was crucial or it would have been a total turn off.

   The romantic aspect of this story was really cute, normal but not cheesy and that I appreciated because it definitely added to the story. However, I felt that there wasn't much focus on Olive's relationship because the actual relationship didn't happen until the last few chapters of the story and I would have loved to see more and that kind of left me with the feeling that something was incomplete in the story but I liked it nonetheless.

   I wasn't really comfortable with the writing style, I mean it was good but not always because it slightly annoyed me for some reason throughout the first half of the story. But the characters were a strong feature in this story. The book was told from Parker's point of view - which is by the way a somewhat odd name for a girl, right? - and she was a character that I definitely liked, generally, her actions, mistakes and way of thinking are definitely one of a real human's, making her believable and I personally can relate to her in some things. Another character worth mentioning was Trevor, who was such a sweet guy and I can't get over how sweet he was and I pitied him because of the constant rejection from a certain someone in the story which I guess this someone is obvious but still, lets not get in further in the fear of giving away anything. Nonetheless, the ending of this book was a nice happy one, a bit vague on a few parts but it was okay, you pretty much get what happens in the end.

   Overall, I definitely did like this book because firstly, it didn't go directly under the category of the average romantic contemporary novels because there was more to the story than only that. There were some words of wisdom thrown here and there in this book as I also found the characters to be authentic and lovable, a nice storyline with some diversity as we also go through a journey of self-discovery and a world of new chances. However, I honestly can't say that I do wholeheartedly recommend this book because for me, I did like it but it didn't wow me, so I'd would say to just give it a try if you found it interesting enough to intrigue you because who knows, maybe it will wow you ;)

َFavorite Quotes:

- It’s one of those moments I think Frost was talking about when he wrote “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” I see it differently now. Not as a sad thing, but as a truth of nature. And life. Things have to change.

- Up until tonight, I thought that making big choices took courage—more than I had. But what I realize, here, now, is that it’s not actually making the choice that takes courage. It’s facing it afterward. Owning up to it, whether it’s good or bad. 

- ‘What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’ Mary Olive.

Title: Golden

Author: Jessi Kirby

Series: Stand-alone

Source: Owned

Published: May 14th 2013 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Rating: 3/5  

"What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" 

xoxo, Mariam