Summary: Alice, Tiernan, and Summer were best friends who shared an obsession for the band Level3. Then there was that incident freshman year and they haven't been friends since. Now, recent high school grads, they are back together for a crazy road trip that will end with Level3s one-time-only reunion show. But that's if they don't kill each other first.
Characters: Alice is the hardest to like of the three, but I still cheered her on. She's a little intense with her need for everything to be in order and she seriously can't deal when things don't go the way she expects them to. And yet she tries so hard to be flexible and likeable. She's a little naive and optimistic, but I like her for it, and spent the whole book hoping that her road trip and concert idea would bring the three friends back together. Tiernan takes off on the road trip without telling her mom where she's going. She's the bad girl of the group and in a bad place, but it's easy to see where she is coming from and relate to all the hurt she has internalized. Summer is more of a queen bee and spends much of the trip on her cell with her girlfriends and trying to patch things back up with her jerk of a boyfriend. She grows from completely non-assertive to someone who knows what they want and is not afraid to get it. I found her story to be the most satisfying.
Because they are on a road trip, the girls meet a whole cast of characters who only appear in the story for a short time. However, all of these characters are distinct and memorable. Especially Quentin, the sexy nerdy boy who Alice falls for, and his mother, the southern mom who is sweet as pie until she catches you making out with her son in the early morning hours. Then there are they crazy hippies they meet the first night, especially the sexy bad boy (totally an ex-con!) who takes them to the nudist watering hole for a swim. Everyone the girls encounter bring a lot of humor to the story.
Plot/Pacing: Of all the books I've read, Reunited is probably the one most structured like a screenplay. Actually, it probably had tighter structure than three quarters of the screenplays I've read. I was not surprised to discover from her bio that Hilary Weisman Graham is also a screenwriter. This book is fast paced, hits all the right plot points at all the right moments, has set pieces galore, and a cheesy ending that will make you smile. It's a fun ride with over-the-top antics, but that's the point.
Moments I Loved: Any scene with Quentin. This book isn't about romance. It's about friendship and other awesome things. However, Quentin is major nerd girl kryptonite and I certainly wouldn't have minded more of him!
WTF Moments: Summer's parents laugh when Summer asks if they want her to call them from the road. It made me so angry and I immediately loved Summer. They were supposed to contrast Alice's parents, who are more caring and involved, but even they only wanted Alice to check in every 500 miles. Really? I'm 25 and when I went on a 3,000 mile road trip last summer, my parents still called me ten times a day and freaked out if I didn't call or text every single time I stopped for coffee.
Overall: If you like feel good teen comedies, but are in the mood for a book, then Reunited is for you.
Reading Challenges: This book counts toward the following challenges: 336 pages toward the 15,000 page challenge and Support Your Local Library. Track all my progress on my 2012 Challenges page.
Reunited gets a Fake Steph Rating of...
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I feel so bad for you when you went on that road trip! I've never been far away from my parents before for a super long time, so I don't really know how that feels like. But it does seem frustrating when what's supposed to be loving and caring gets played off as something else less loving and caring -.- Anyway, I might not get this one because I really hate cheesy endings, but thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteEileen @ ***Singing and Reading in the Rain***
I love cheesy endings. Sometimes they are exactly what I want. My roadtrip was awesome though! I put my phone on silent and my parents freaked out a little, but it was a blast! Less drama than in reunited and I don't think I met any crazy strangers, but I also didn't meet any awesome guys to flirt with.
DeleteI love this review. Also, I really loved this book! It made me laugh so hard and I LOVED THE ROMANCE. Quentin. <3
ReplyDeleteQuentin definitely made an impression on me. :)
DeleteThanks for the review. I love comedic books. I have a copy of REUNITED and hope to read it for the debut author challenge.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely read it. It's a ton of fun!
DeleteI am so excited for Hilary's book. I met her back in January and she was just so nice of a person. I'm interested and eager to read REUNITED.
ReplyDeleteMust. get. myself. to. a bookstore.!
Thanks for this review. I wonder if Hilary has a film deal for this one (it sounds like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants meets Road Trip in a book).....
Definitely check it out. She was super nice when I met her at BEA and it's tons of fun. I... haven't read Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants *hides*... so I'm not sure about that comparison?
DeleteI missed the Apocalypsies even at BEA :-( It looked like so much fun.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a cute summer read.
Very cute and fun read. The Apocalypsies event at BEA was all kinds of awesome! So many adorable and awesome writers in one room with just as many fab bloggers. One of my favorite parts of the week!
DeleteI first heard about this at BEA and was excited to learn that the author is semi-local to me. So I picked up the book when she did a signing a few weeks ago. I was hoping that it would be a fun road trip book but haven't seen it on many blogs. So thanks for this review...I'm even more excited for it now.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get to it soon and love it! I loooove going to signings. I'm lucky that Maggie Stiefvater went to college in my town so she comes through every couple years even though it is a small town.
DeleteI just can't get enough of road trip books. I know I saw this one on someone else's blog...or somewhere. I'm going to have to read it.
ReplyDeleteI think I need to read more. I miss road trips SO BAD. But I'm going to road trip down to yallfest in November.
DeleteI am totally going to have to borrow this book from you! And there were magnets?! I love magnets! ;)
ReplyDeleteI took it out from the library. :( And Magnets are TOTALLY MY FAVE!
DeleteI recently read and enjoyed this one. I agree that it was structured well, and yeah, it DOES make sense that the author is a screen-writer. REUNITED for me, was like a blast back to the past of all those great 90's teen romances/comedies...in the BEST way. I laughed a lot at it, and loved all three of the girls. So glad you liked it too, Steph!
ReplyDeleteLove the way you said that! It felt like a 90s teen movie in exactly the way I've been craving. I've actually watched Bring It On and She's the Man recently. :)
DeleteSounds like a fun summer read! And I totally get the parents wanting you to check in with them on road trips, as I had to call mine once a day when I drove halfway across the country. How could parents be that relaxed about high school girls on the road by themselves? Aside from that, sounds like a great read!
ReplyDeleteI definitely enjoyed it. Very quick, too.
DeleteI've been dying to read this book for awhile now, I'm happy to hear that it reads like a screenplay! Have you read From What I Remember by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Wilson? I just finished that book and it was serious movie in my head reading, I loved it! Which makes me think I'll like this book too, even if some of the characters already sound like they'll annoy me. Also, I laughed at your WTF moment, because only every 500 miles?! I can drive to the other side of San Diego County and my parents will want at least 3 check ins and 10 texts.
ReplyDeleteAaaaand I just checked my library to see if Reunited came in from my hold list, and it did! Hurrah!!
In all honesty, road trips make me very anxious! I have had bad luck with the ones I have been on in the past and now I am all about planes! Or at least an RV. But small cars, no way! And reading books about road trips...not my scene. Although I did listen to a good one a while back...I can't remember the name of it but I only listened to it because the main girl's name was Courtney! What was that called???
ReplyDeleteHold on I'll look it up...
TWO-WAY STREET! That's what it was!