Wanderlove Review

Author: Kirsten Hubbard
Release date: March 13, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte
Pages: 352
How I got it: For review via Netgalley 

It all begins with a stupid question:  

Are you a Global Vagabond?  

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path. 
Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.  

But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.  

Kirsten Hubbard lends her artistry to this ultimate backpacker novel, weaving her drawings into the text. Her career as a travel writer and her experiences as a real-life vagabond backpacking Central America are deeply seeded in this inspiring story. 

I was left feeling very underwhelmed after reading Hubbard's debut, Like Mandarin, but I could see that the author was still destined for great things in the future. As usual, I was right. Wanderlove is a fantastic contemporary adventure.

I instantly connected with Bria. Her narration is as funny as it is heartfelt, but anyone who's ever felt like they're a little too tame and comfortable, or had something in their past that they wanted to just run away from will effortlessly be able to put themselves in Bria's shoes.

I've never read a book set in South America and I found it to be fascinating and a definite way to separate Wanderlove from other teen travel books. Hubbard's own travel experience really shows in the way she writes equally about the bad and good about South America, and I think anyone who's ever been or just likes some realistic settings will appreciate that. I know I did.

And now for my favorite thing about the book: The romantic tension. Rowan is hot, guys. He and Bria spend a lot of time dancing around topics and words and feelings and you could just CUT THE TENSION WITH A KNIFE.

Basically, Wanderlove was made of win. If you're a fan of contemporary, this one should definitely go on your to-read list!

Plot: Totally fun and unique. Took me a little while to get into it, though.

Characters: All of them were great and easy to relate to.

Writing: Very good.

Ending: YAY.

Kid friendly? There's swearing, drinking, mentions of sex, and making out.

Overall:

"Nooo don't make me watch TV mom I wanna reeead."

Actual quote from me the night I finished Wanderlove. Once it grabbed me, I was racing to finish it.

Like Mandarin Review

Author: Kirsten Hubbard
Release Date: March 8, 2011
Pages: 305 (ARC)
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Most Appropriate For Ages: 12+
Where I Got It: From RandomBuzzers

It's hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything to be like Mandarin. When they're united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town's animal-head trophies, and searching for someplace magic. Grace plays along when Mandarin suggests they run away together. Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds plaguing their Badlands town. Because all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin's unique beauty hides a girl who's troubled, broken, and even dangerous. And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, no friendship can withstand betrayal.

After hearing so many great things about Hubbard's debut and finally reading it for myself, I'm left feeling very conflicted.

I thought Hubbard's writing was great, especially when describing the setting. But I thought that describing Mandarin's appearance every page was a bit much, and made her beauty seem almost forced.

While I found Mandarin to be interesting enough, I never really connected with her like I wanted to. And unfortunately, I found the main character Grace very annoying. She was constantly fixated on what others thought of her. I realize that her agitating personality was part of the story--and she did develop as the story went on--but it still bothered me a lot. 

The ending of Like Mandarin was powerful, but for me, the rest of the book wasn't nearly powerful enough. I see great potential in aspects of Hubbard's writing, though, and I'll be reading her next book. I just missed something in Like Mandarin, sadly.
 

Book Report:

Plot: A bit on the slow side.

Characters: Eh.

Writing: Great in some aspects, but slightly lacking in others.

Ending: Powerful and fitting.

Kid friendly? There's language, mentions of sex, drinking, and an attempted rape.

Should I read it? Yeah, I'm definitely in the minority of people who didn't adore it.

Overall: