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notinjersey's review against another edition
3.0
This was a somewhat strange story about a girl from a small town who was sent to reform school and is now on probation. Tiffany is dealing with grief from losing her father and with being herself in a tiny town. She has stolen items from people in her trailer park and she sets out to return them and somewhat make amends. I almost didn’t finish this book but pushed my way through!
mommamel11's review
4.0
I found Tiffany Templeton intriguing and a very real kind of character--the misunderstood delinquent The supporting characters are mostly well defined. The plot about the play enacted by ladies from the local nursing home irritated me almost to the point of minot finishing the book. I think, overall, there is an audience for this novel.
mommamel11's review against another edition
4.0
Tiffany Templeton has the reputation of being tough, so tough she had to be sent to a facility for juvenile delinquents. When the center is closed, Tiffany is sent home early, on probation. Her dad is dead, her mother is distant, and no one in the tiny town where she lives trusts her Not because of her small crimes but her bigger crime of wanting more than the her surroundings allow her. A cynical coming of age story for jaded teens who like their fiction dark and realistic.
kba76's review against another edition
4.0
Initially, I found this hard to warm to. I couldn’t work out why Tiffany was regarded so negatively, and I found it difficult to really develop much interest in events following on from her release from juvenile detention. Slowly, however, as we peeled back the layers of this small town and learned more about Tiffany I came to have a healthy respect for her.
I think the first thing I have to say is that the town of Gabardine really does - on first impressions - seem like the kind of place you’d want to leave and never return to. It’s dying on its feet and the characters who’ve found themselves living there are rather small in their outlook. Nobody seems to have anything marking them out in any way, but that small-town closed mentality actually came to make sense. As we learn more about the people around Tiffany it almost feels like we’re being encouraged to pay homage to the fighting spirit of people who know there’s little point to what they’re doing, but do it anyway.
Tiffany is a girl who you warm to. There’s a softness under this brash exterior, and she has a curiosity about her that suggests she’s smart enough to escape this place - but if she stays it’ll be out of love for those around her. Finding out about her ‘small crimes’ and what each actually represents was a fascinating process. While her brother and mother had a certain grotesque element to them, by the end there was a definite shift in Tiffany’s thoughts about them.
In some ways this reminded me of something by Steinbeck, but with more modern issues. It might not be to everyone’s tastes but I found myself quite charmed by it.
I think the first thing I have to say is that the town of Gabardine really does - on first impressions - seem like the kind of place you’d want to leave and never return to. It’s dying on its feet and the characters who’ve found themselves living there are rather small in their outlook. Nobody seems to have anything marking them out in any way, but that small-town closed mentality actually came to make sense. As we learn more about the people around Tiffany it almost feels like we’re being encouraged to pay homage to the fighting spirit of people who know there’s little point to what they’re doing, but do it anyway.
Tiffany is a girl who you warm to. There’s a softness under this brash exterior, and she has a curiosity about her that suggests she’s smart enough to escape this place - but if she stays it’ll be out of love for those around her. Finding out about her ‘small crimes’ and what each actually represents was a fascinating process. While her brother and mother had a certain grotesque element to them, by the end there was a definite shift in Tiffany’s thoughts about them.
In some ways this reminded me of something by Steinbeck, but with more modern issues. It might not be to everyone’s tastes but I found myself quite charmed by it.
araleith's review against another edition
2.0
This book tried to be more enigmatic and profound than I think it needed to be. I appreciated they were going for "quirky backwater trailer park full of OMG secrets and weird people" but it was mostly boring.
kitandkat's review against another edition
5.0
Oh man, I feel like nothing could compare to The Flood Girls, the author’s first book, but I still loved this one. It was also funny and poignant. When I first read the description before it was released I thought it was going to be about one of the side characters from that book, and... maybe it’s just me but it did kind of start off feeling like an AU fan fiction of that book. However, I did come to appreciate these characters on their own, especially David, whose prickliness was endearing in his own way.
cormhilde's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0