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daeqt's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this book up out of sheer hope that it would be something a little more dark, vampire children or something. Of course I was disappointed when they weren't, but I kept reading, despite that this wasn't necessarily my cup of tea.
chaos_code's review against another edition
3.0
I was curious about the premise. Unfortunately there were so many random plot points that never went anywhere, and the ending was so abrupt - I didn't believe it at first - that I went to different websites/reviews to see if that was actually the case.
hannahshaww's review against another edition
4.0
This book was pretty short. At times it was a little to gothy and slow but overall it was a nice story.
tiamatq's review against another edition
1.0
Phillipa takes off in the middle of her dad's wedding to pastel-loving Krystal, in order to head off to her summer job - being a nanny who "loves black" to ten-year-old twin girls at a luxurious but creepy spa in Maine. The spa has all the latest amenities, including a hot gardener named Geoff, a bossy, a ghost-obsessed business-women named Lady Buena Verde, an absent-minded father, and a prissy assistant, Laurie, who may or may not be dating Geoff. However, the twins and their new nanny are not to be seen or heard by guests, despite orders for Phillipa to make the twins have "fun" so that they can get over their mother's death. Phillipa is still grieving her own mother's death, but she's ready to take on the challenge.
So... sound kind of crappy? That's because it is! This is a relatively harmless fluff-book, but the writing is weak, the characters don't develop, the ending is abrupt, and a major plot-point - Phillipa getting over her mother's death - just gets dropped. She starts out still mourning her mother (and it's been several years since she died in a car wreck that it's hinted was caused by Phillipa's cat... WTH?) and hating the idea of having fun. But she throws herself into forcing the twins to have fun, like going to the arcade, swimming, or hanging out in the butterfly garden. A few ghosts appear in the story with absolutely no consequence, even after one of them tries to kill Phillipa. There are hints that Lady Buena Verde could help her contact these spirits, but absolutely nothing comes of it.
The romance complication between Geoff and Laurie is explained away in one sentence and he'll probably be visiting Phillipa after the summer, who I guess will be going back to her unhappy life with her dad and new stepmother. These are the classic YA adults who hardly care that their teenage daughter will be spending the summer in a strange mansion as a nanny, or that she takes off in the middle of their wedding, after throwing away her bridesmaid dress.
You'd think that maybe the positive of this book is that it's a light, quick read... and it is. But the language is so dated, I have a hard time imagining teens would want to read it. There are references to Dragnet in this... Dragnet! Which last aired in 1959. Very relevant to today's teens. There are just so many good books out there, there's not much a reason to waste your time on this.
So... sound kind of crappy? That's because it is! This is a relatively harmless fluff-book, but the writing is weak, the characters don't develop, the ending is abrupt, and a major plot-point - Phillipa getting over her mother's death - just gets dropped. She starts out still mourning her mother (and it's been several years since she died in a car wreck that it's hinted was caused by Phillipa's cat... WTH?) and hating the idea of having fun. But she throws herself into forcing the twins to have fun, like going to the arcade, swimming, or hanging out in the butterfly garden. A few ghosts appear in the story with absolutely no consequence, even after one of them tries to kill Phillipa. There are hints that Lady Buena Verde could help her contact these spirits, but absolutely nothing comes of it.
The romance complication between Geoff and Laurie is explained away in one sentence and he'll probably be visiting Phillipa after the summer, who I guess will be going back to her unhappy life with her dad and new stepmother. These are the classic YA adults who hardly care that their teenage daughter will be spending the summer in a strange mansion as a nanny, or that she takes off in the middle of their wedding, after throwing away her bridesmaid dress.
You'd think that maybe the positive of this book is that it's a light, quick read... and it is. But the language is so dated, I have a hard time imagining teens would want to read it. There are references to Dragnet in this... Dragnet! Which last aired in 1959. Very relevant to today's teens. There are just so many good books out there, there's not much a reason to waste your time on this.
dukesangel002's review against another edition
3.0
This was such a cute YA story. It really defeats the "goth" steriotype and is a really touching story about family and friends and happiness. Pippa's father is getting remarried, but Pippa isn't ready for that after the death of her mother. So she takes a babysitting job to get away from her home life. She ends up babysitting for 10-yr-old twins that are nothing if not practical, with a scedule with required "fun" time and living in a room that is more like a prison, Pippa has to try to help the kids lighten up and try to get their work-aholic father to reconnect with his children.
dtaylorbooks's review against another edition
2.0
First, I wasn't totally convinced this chick was actually goth as goth takes more than dressing in black and liking black rainbows. She seemed like kind of a superficial goth; someone that dresses in black and pouts all the time at other people's happiness but put a set of abs you can bounce a quarter off of in front of her and she goes gaga. Totally not goth.
And what's with the twins?
Seriously, was red rum involved? I haven't even seen The Shining and I couldn't stop thinking about these guys while reading this book. I mean, what does a set of ten-year-olds have to be morose about? Yeah, their mother fell off a cliff (is it bad that I'm trying not to laugh at that? I mean, who accidentally falls off a cliff?) but they were lacking sunshine even before then. Apparently mummy was a The Cure listener before she took a dive. So what's their deal?
I just felt it was all rather contrived. The goth part anyway. And I was fully disappointed about the ghost part. How lacking that was. Don't go into this book thinking you'll be getting anything on the supernatural side because it's so finite that if you blink, you'll miss it. Why even mention ghosts at all? It holds absolutely no bearing on the plot.
Mostly it's about Philippa trying to get the twins' father to stop being a workaholic and start paying more attention to them all the while trying to figure out how involved the gardener and the pink chick really were. It's pretty lacking on anything exciting and, really, it's overall pretty mundane. The part with Geoff was interesting enough but definitely not enough to hold the entire story together.
The ending was pretty rushed as well. One turn of the page and everything's all dandy. The girls have their daddy back and the Geoff issue is settled and everyone lives a happily summer after. That's it? Boo.
So yeah, Philippa's really not as goth as she likes to think she is, the twins need to be exorcised, Daddy and Lady BV need a laxative and Geoff should just put his shirt back on. Overall, this book's pretty forgettable. It's something different against everything else that's out there with the premise but in terms of plot, it leaves something to be desired. I'd recommend reading this only if you have nothing else to do.
And what's with the twins?
Seriously, was red rum involved? I haven't even seen The Shining and I couldn't stop thinking about these guys while reading this book. I mean, what does a set of ten-year-olds have to be morose about? Yeah, their mother fell off a cliff (is it bad that I'm trying not to laugh at that? I mean, who accidentally falls off a cliff?) but they were lacking sunshine even before then. Apparently mummy was a The Cure listener before she took a dive. So what's their deal?
I just felt it was all rather contrived. The goth part anyway. And I was fully disappointed about the ghost part. How lacking that was. Don't go into this book thinking you'll be getting anything on the supernatural side because it's so finite that if you blink, you'll miss it. Why even mention ghosts at all? It holds absolutely no bearing on the plot.
Mostly it's about Philippa trying to get the twins' father to stop being a workaholic and start paying more attention to them all the while trying to figure out how involved the gardener and the pink chick really were. It's pretty lacking on anything exciting and, really, it's overall pretty mundane. The part with Geoff was interesting enough but definitely not enough to hold the entire story together.
The ending was pretty rushed as well. One turn of the page and everything's all dandy. The girls have their daddy back and the Geoff issue is settled and everyone lives a happily summer after. That's it? Boo.
So yeah, Philippa's really not as goth as she likes to think she is, the twins need to be exorcised, Daddy and Lady BV need a laxative and Geoff should just put his shirt back on. Overall, this book's pretty forgettable. It's something different against everything else that's out there with the premise but in terms of plot, it leaves something to be desired. I'd recommend reading this only if you have nothing else to do.
kassy25's review against another edition
4.0
The main character was really great! I had a lot of fun reading and it was a very quick read. This was so much better than I had anticipated it would be and I still remember this book when I read it back in middle school.
fullybookedlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
This was pretty cute, but at 167 pages, could have used another 100 to actually flesh out the story.