Synopsis:
Lexi Ryan just ran away to join the circus, but not on purpose.
A music-obsessed, slightly snarky New York City girl, Lexi is on her own. After making a huge mistake--and facing a terrible tragedy--Lexi has no choice but to track down her long-absent mother. Rumor has it that Lexi's mom is somewhere in Florida with a traveling circus.
When Lexi arrives at her new, three-ring reality, her mom isn't there . . . but her destiny might be. Surrounded by tigers, elephants, and trapeze artists, Lexi finds some surprising friends and an even more surprising chance at true love. She even lucks into a spot as the circus's fortune teller, reading tarot cards and making predictions.
But then Lexi's ex-best friend from home shows up, and suddenly it's Lexi's own future that's thrown into question.
With humor, wisdom, and a dazzlingly fresh voice, this debut reminds us of the magic of circus tents, city lights, first kisses, and the importance of an excellent playlist.
Publisher: Scholastic
Page Count: 272
Edition: Kindle (A galley from NetGalley)
Rating: 3/5 stars
Review:
First of all, can we all just take a second to just stare at the GORGEOUS cover? It is so beautiful.
This book is about a girl named Alexandra/Lexi/X/Xandra Ryan whose father recently passed away. He left her no money, so she goes on a search for her mother. A clue leads her to a circus in Florida. After finding out that her mother isn't there, she decides to stay in order to make some extra money. She goes through a few jobs before she finally chooses to be a tarot card reader.
I thought this story was going to be amazing. I mean, the cover is to die for, the plot is so unique and different, I love me a good coming of age story, and it just sounded good to me. This book, sadly, did not meet my expectations.
Lexi was an okay character in the start of the book. I could really relate to her because I love to read and I don't have many friends. Lexi loves to read and she only has(had)two friends. But when you get further along into the story you find her changing. While Lexi does change in a good way, I thought that she also took a turn for the worse. She became selfish and let people push her around. I know her dad just died and I wouldn't be the same either. But she was crying in almost every chapter. Death is a hard topic for a lot of people. People grieve in different ways. Sometimes Lexi's emotional break downs were too much. Also, I hated how she quickly jumped from friend to friend to friend. In the beginning, Heather(I think that's her name)was so nice to Lexi. She showed her the ropes and had meals with her. Lina was a complete jerk to her while Heather was so nice. But the second that something better comes along, Lexi quickly goes to Lina, leaving Heather in the dust. Heather is mentioned in the first five chapters then never mentioned again. What's up with that? And when she starts hanging out with Jake and Lina gets "angry" with her for hanging out with him. She just blows him off for Lina. Then Nick comes into the picture. Don't even get me started on that.
I also hated the freaking love square. First it was Jake, then it was Nick, then it was Eli. Nobody has that many love interests in the course of a few months. Especially a girl who is "socially awkward". Lexi was not "socially awkward".
The last thing I wasn't too keen on in this book was how fast everything went. I know that it's not even 300 pages, but it didn't need to be rushed so much. The author had so much that she wanted to put into one book. I think it would have been better if it was longer and more drawn out. We'd go from one thing to another so quickly and I'd get confused. The flashbacks didn't help at all.
Enough ranting from me. Despite the very lengthy rant above, I really enjoyed this book. It was fun and light, which was just what I wanted. It didn't meet expectations, but wa still an enjoyable read.
I would reccomend this to middle school kids who want to start going into YA and anyone who wants a light read.
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