REVIEW and GIVEAWAY
The Big F
by Maggie Ann Martin
The Big F by Maggie Ann Martin is currently on tour with Xpresso Book Tours. The tour stops here today for my review, an excerpt, and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
Danielle effed up. Big time.
Danielle’s plans for the future were pretty easy to figure out ... until she failed senior English and her single college application was denied. Suddenly she’s in hot water with very few options, because honestly who applies to a safety school when their mom is a semi-famous "college psychic"?!
Determined to get her life back on track, Danielle enrolls in her hometown community college with a plan: pass her English class and get back into Ohio State and her mother’s good graces. Romance isn’t on her radar ... until she reconnects with her childhood crush and golden-boy-next-door, Luke.
Between family drama, first love, and finding her own way, Danielle can’t help but feel a little overwhelmed. Thankfully she has her friendship with the snarky and frustratingly attractive Porter, her coworker at the campus bookstore, to push her to experience new things and help keep her afloat.
One thing’s for sure: This time, failure’s not an option.
Book Video
Excerpt
“What?” Mom asked. No one moved and the silence that hung in the air stung my ears.
“I didn’t pass English and Ohio State didn’t accept me again,” I said.
Nothing can describe the feeling of your mother’s disappointment and your cousin’s vehement hatred rolling over you all at once. The tears already fell down my face and I knew that if I didn’t leave soon my sadness and embarrassment would explode all over the dining room with no survivors in its wake. I took another look around the table before I ran upstairs.
I couldn’t face the Ohio-State-infested room, so I climbed out my window and onto my roof. I curled my arms around my legs, allowing myself to cry. Everything had finally fallen apart. Mom knew, Claire knew, and now I finally had to admit it to myself. I couldn’t pretend that it would work out or put off the discussion for another day. My failure was here, in my face, and ready to punch me in the gut repeatedly. I pulled out my phone from my pocket and dialed the one number that can solve any crisis.
“Zoe? Come pick me up? It’s an emergency.”
She was on her way before I finished my sentence.
[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]
Praise for the Book
"A debut novel sure to resonate with high schoolers who eagerly anticipate graduation and the start of college... Danielle is a savvy, likable character with whom teens will easily identify... Romance fans will enjoy this fast-paced story that features an interesting set of characters and satisfying conclusion." ~ School Library Journal
"What a fun read! ... I was rooting for Danielle from the first page." ~ Anna S.
"The Big F is such a fun and awesome read ... It’s great to see Danielle learning more on what makes her happy, overcoming her mistakes, and growing up into a better person." ~ Chen Yan Chang
"I really loved this story and it’s something I would read over and over again." ~ GM
My Review
By Lynda Dickson
When Danielle doesn't get into the college of her dreams, she considers herself a failure. She enrolls in the local community college, hoping to transfer out as soon as she can. But plans change. First, she reunites with Luke, her childhood crush. Then, she gets a job at the bookstore and meets Porter, who happens to be Luke's roommate. Finally, she gets an internship with a conservationist organization and discovers her true passion. Meanwhile, she struggles to connect with her mother and clashes with her perfect cousin. Danielle has a whole lot of growing up to do, and she discovers that you can't always plan your life.
In keeping with the F theme of the book title, the chapter titles are all F words: Failure, Fate, Final, Friendship, Fluke, Fun, Future, Fire, Family, Firsts, Foreboding, Fame, Faster, Festivities, Formal, Feast, Fever, Fortune, Frustration, Fracture, and Feeling; this is a cute and clever way of presenting the major premise of each chapter. Danielle is snarky and sarcastic and the perfect foil for Porter. I also love her interactions with her fourteen-year-old brother, Noah, but the exchanges with her mother seem a bit forced and unnatural, while her father's input is practically non-existent. I could see the author expanding this book into a series, and I'd be especially interested in learning more about Noah and Danielle's best friend, Zoe.
A fun, easy read.
Warnings: heavy alcohol consumption, sexual references. Technically, this is a new adult book, as the characters are eighteen years old and attending college. However, while there is (quite) a bit of drinking, there is no coarse language, and the sex scenes are only implied, making it suitable for young adult readers.
Note: the copy I read contained some editing errors and a few poorly constructed sentences.
About the Author
Maggie Ann Martin hails from Des Moines, Iowa, but moonlights as a New Yorker. She has a shiny new BA in English and Journalism from the University of Iowa, the most welcoming literary community in the world. When she is not writing, you can find her binge watching TV shows or passionately fangirling over fictional characters on the Internet. The Big F is her debut novel.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a print copy of The Big F by Maggie Ann Martin (US/Canada only).
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