About the Book
-
Author:
- Kelly Loy Gilbert
- Genre:
- Contemporary
Cover Story: Slice of Life
BFF Charm: Eventually
Talky Talk: Kelly Loy Gilbertrific
Bonus Factors: Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Twins
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Relationship Status: A Solid Hit
Cover Story: Slice of Life
A drawing of an Asian-American girl with a blonde guy standing at her back is centered on the cover. There are orange slices of different scenes behind them making up the background, showing her parents, her siblings, paparazzi wielding cameras, and other moments from the book. The feel is very “TV show opening credits.”
The Deal:
Honor Lo is a seventeen-year-old ex-reality star from the show Lo and Behold with her parents Melissa and Nathan, her siblings Wrangell, Jamison, Skye, and twin brother Atticus. The show is now over, and the family is grasping to stay relevant, taking on contracts with sponsorship deals. When Honor’s father decides to “take some time” away from the family, the Los must spin the narrative. But what does it mean when Honor doesn’t want to be a part of this narrative any longer? Does she have to give up her family too?
BFF Charm: Eventually
Kelly Loy Gilbert is a master of writing messy, flawed characters you can root for, and Honor is one of them. She’s a people-pleaser with a moral compass that has a spinning pointer. She barely has any friends because she doesn’t trust anyone, and she hooks up with dubious guys in order to “feel” something. And yet. Her concern for her family is tender, and your heart goes out for her: she’s stuck between a rock and a hard place, not wanting to monetize her life any longer but very much a part of a family that has to in order to pay the bills. It took a while, but towards the end I was very much in the camp of “Honor, I will lay on the pavement and get run over for you” and I don’t think that’s an exaggeration. Her conscience has SO much to wrestle with, it’s hard not to love her.
Swoonworthy Scale: 1
After Honor’s family, sans her father, moves to a new area, she starts at a new school and is immediately taken by Caden, a blond hottie who doesn’t talk much. They start a friends-with-benefits situation, but it’s hardly swoonworthy. Caden is closed off, and all of their making-out is off the page. We do eventually warm up to Caden as he and Honor’s relationship weathers some rough spots, but it doesn’t get the heart pitter-pattering.
Talky Talk: Kelly Loy Gilbertrific
I could lose myself in Gilbert’s words. It has been a while since her last book, When We Were Infinite, which came out three years ago, but as soon as I cracked this one open I was back in her beautiful prose and sensitive characters. Everyone has a backstory; everyone is plausibly true to each of their characters, even if they turn out to be snakes. You believe that the characters are, off the page, thinking to themselves that they’re the main character in their own story.
Bonus Factor: Keeping Up With the Kardashians
Only Kelly Loy Gilbert could get me to care about a Kardashian-like clan (that is to say, I don’t watch reality shows, especially about that family); however, I can see the appeal of a group of people who are reduced to characters and content. Watching the Los go through Nathan and Melissa’s separation was like watching a car crash: I wanted to rubberneck, to see how they would pivot and spin the story.
Bonus Factor: Twins
Honor’s twin, Atticus, is the sweetest. Steadfast, loyal, with a moral compass that doesn’t spin all around, he’s the most constant person in Honor’s confusing life. I love him.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
At the beginning of Lo and Behold’s filming, I could believe that Nathan and Melissa were genuine people with a vested interest in their children, but by the time their reality show and book tour have ended and they’re taking on sponsorships — and have been living for years in this situation — I don’t think their concern for their family is real anymore. They are much too interested in the bottom line. My jaw was on the ground for some of the conversations Melissa and Nathan were having about their kids’ lives. What’s worse, they still think of themselves as good parents! Boggles the mind.
Relationship Status: A Solid Hit
Book, I read you in one sitting because you were that good. I needed to know what happened next! For Gilbert fans, this is another home-run. But you weren’t worried, were you?
Literary Matchmaking
A teen with an overbearing mom learns the truth about her life in Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything.
If You Don’t Have Anything Nice To Say by Leila Sales features flawed characters that you totally end up rooting for.
Social media rules Emma Lord’s Tweet Cute.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a free copy for review from the publisher. I received neither compensation nor kittens in exchange for this review. Everyone Wants To Know is available now.
