Source Borrowed ARC
Published by Harper Collins on October 14, 2014
Rating:
Cover image and summary from Goodreads:
When Julia Buchanan enrolls at St. Anneβs at the beginning of junior year, Charlotte Ryder already knows all about the former senatorβs daughter. Most people do... or think they do.
Charlotte certainly never expects sheβll be Juliaβs friend. But almost immediately, she is drawn into the larger than-life-new girlβs worldβa world of midnight rendezvous, dazzling parties, palatial vacation homes, and fizzy champagne cocktails. And then Charlotte meets, and begins falling for, Juliaβs handsome older brother, Sebastian.
But behind her self-assured smiles and toasts to the future, Charlotte soon realizes that Julia is still suffering from a tragedy. A tragedy that the Buchanan family has kept hidden... until now.
I donβt know how I managed to put off reading this book for so long, because I really really really wanted to read it when it first came out. Finally I picked it up, thinking it would be a great summer read.
I donβt know if this is a case of me not always being a big contemporary person or what, but I kind of felt like I was missing something when I finished this book. Iβve seen a lot of love for it, but I wasnβt feeling the love myself.
I liked parts of this book, but as a whole, I definitely did not love it. Reading Even in Paradise Β was an enjoyable way to pass time, but the book didnβt stay with me when I put it down. I found myself more annoyed with the Buchanan family than enchanted by them, and was really frustrated with the way CharlotteΒ dropped her other friends to spend all her time with Julia.
I feel like there were hints of some kind of twist about Juliaβs sisterβs death, but when the truth came out, I wasnβt remotely surprised.
I feel like Iβve spent enough time talking about what didnβt land for me. What I did like was the setting, the writing, and the way the author captured the feelings that come withΒ a new friendship β even though it aggravated me to seeΒ CharlotteΒ ditch her old friends for Julia, I remember that feeling of meeting someone new and being so absorbed by a growing friendship.
So overall, not a winner for me, but if you like contemporary YA β well, youβve probably already read this! β but if you havenβt, check it out!