Sunday, May 17, 2009

Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph

High school senior Teresa Adams is so painfully shy that she dreads speaking to anyone in the hallways or getting called on in class. But in the privacy of her bedroom with her iPod in hand, she rocks out — doing mock broadcasts for Miami's hottest FM radio station, which happens to be owned by her stepfather. When a slot opens up at The SLAM, Tere surprises herself by blossoming behind the mike into confident, sexy Sweet T — and to everyone's shock, she's a hit! Even Gavin, the only guy in school who she dares to talk to, raves about the mysterious DJ's awesome taste in music. But when The SLAM announces a songwriting contest — and a prom date with Sweet T is the grand prize — Sweet T's dream could turn into Tere's worst nightmare....

Before I get into the review, I'd like to thank Danielle Joseph for sending me a copy of Shrinking Violet and taking the time to sign it for me.

Shrinking Violet was a fast, easy, and uplifting read. And the main character, Tere's shyness is interesting to read about, because I've never really read about a character that's been as shy as she is, to an extent that she doesn't really talk to anyone.

I had a hard time remembering which character was which, and didn't know fully who everyone was until about half way through the novel, so it would've been nicer to see more character elaboration, so you'd know immediately who was who.

Another thing I thought brought the novel down is that it was predictable, but other than that, it was a novel about finding yourself and being able to stand up for yourself. And another thing I really liked was watching Tere and her mother interact. They were very interesting when placed in the same room.

I was expecting a little more from this novel, but enjoyed it nonetheless. Hopefully you're willing to check it out, because it was detailed and a happy read.

Ratings:

Writing: 3/5
Story: 2.5/5
Character: 3/5
Cover: 2/5

2 comments:

Katie said...

Great review! I read this a couple months ago and I loved it. I just really liked the character of Tere but you mentioned some really valid points in your review.

Kate said...

Great review. This sounds like an interesting read :)