Kassiah

I've been trying to think of what I want to say about this book for two days, and I still don't know how to phrase the way I feel. I liked it. It was okay. I feel underwhelmed.

Gabrielle Zevin has combined two of the best things in the entire world (coffee and chocolate) and made them forbidden. Throw in a sweet boy who's in a non-band and is totally off-limits, and you've got a winning plot, right?

In theory, yes.

This book centers around a young teenage girl thrust in the middle of adolescence and adulthood too soon. She has to deal with more than anyone her age should have to go through, and yet I just don't feel it with her. She's too controlled, except when she should be. Then she makes rash, mostly unexplained decisions, leaving us wondering what she was thinking.

The futuristic society that Zevin paints has such potential but isn't elaborated on enough to reach it. There are mafia ties and mysteries woven throughout, but it's almost like the characters don't want to make the effort to make us believe the strife they are going through. The "star-crossed" romance between Anya and Win seems forced to me, and I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up with her sister in the future. That's not a spoiler, by the way--it's a sign of how much I didn't feel their chemistry.

NGL, though, I kindof really really liked when he kissed her tattoo. There just wasn't enough of that.

This is the first in a series, and I wonder if that is what has me feeling so...meh about it. I don't know what happened to authors planning to tell a story in one book, but this one felt like it dragged on a bit and reached no real climax. Kind of like this review.

I'll get to my point. This book had potential that in my opinion, it didn't live up to. I'm hoping for more in the sequel, but I wish I didn't have to wait for a sequel to get that. *nods*