Synopsis:
After one bad experience, Iowa high school senior, triathlete, and fangirl Lucia “Luc” Guzman swore off relationships. Well, that was until Connor Kohlton and his southern accent moved to town. With the help of her childhood best friend, Jax Weber, she discovers her “college only” dating rule may be causing her to miss out on a great guy. Luc's parents have always taught her and her sister to put safety first and she applies that rule in all areas of her life; her training, her work, and her heart. However, she must throw caution to the wind when she decides she can’t fight her feelings anymore… But what will it cost her? When things start to fall apart, it’s hard to tell who’s to blame, because everyone is putting their Best Foot Forward.
My Review:
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
2 Platypires for Best Foot Forward by Jolene Buchheit.
I was gifted a copy by the author for an honest review.
I was really looking forward to reading Best Foot Forward therefore it really sucks I did not enjoy it. I really did try but this book was just not for me. I kinda knew from the beginning that I was gonna have issues. I really did not like the writing style. There was too much "telling" and not enough "showing." Basically, I could not get sucked in the story. "Best Foot Forward" read more like a friend was telling me what happen instead of me drawing to conclusion and building the story in my head.
Then the story also read like an "after school special" or at the very least a teen show on Nickelodeon. I felt the target audience might be for middle school age kids reading about high school kids. The story was very preachy and it was pretty obvious it was trying to teach its readers. Yet, I didn't feel like I sign up to be taught moral lessons.
Plus it was missing the teen angst that is expected in YA. Luc is a great, smart girl that comes from a good family. She knew to always go to her parents for any problem. Her parents were going to help her. GREAT! But that eliminates any melodrama between characters. Which I guess brings up the plot. Stalker ex-girlfriend on the warpath to break up Luc & Conner by any means necessary. Due to the dialogue and the fact that Luc always turn to her parents, I never felt they were in danger.
I need to bring up the fact that I almost about to DNF the book at 30%. I had to put the book down because of Jamberry. About 4 pages on my kindle read like an advertisement to Jamberry. Its already bad enough that I am constantly being sent Facebook request about that product. One sentence was not bad but a full four kindle pages was just too much. No bueno!
There were a few positives. The characters were really diverse and that was good to see. I feel more stories should include diversity.I respect the fact that the author included that in her story. I also appreciated all the fangirl moments.
Overall, Best Foot Forward was not for me but if your look for a "clean" read then this might be for you.
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