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stephxsu's review
4.0
One minute May Gold was the average teenage girl, trying to balance being a good daughter and sister while simultaneously plotting revenge on the boy next door, her father’s best friend’s son Pete Camp (hint: it involves nudity). The next, she’s father-less, Mike Gold the victim of a heart attack that leaves behind a struggling nurse wife and three shocked sisters, who whirl off into their own ways of dealing with the news.
A year later, things have not improved much in the Gold household. Their mother is constantly at work, and is thus unable to notice how Brooks, the eldest sister, sneaks out every night to get drunk with her “boyfriend” Dave and his motley crew. Palmer, the youngest, struggles to hide her panic attacks while becoming the next softball star on her high school’s varsity team. And May, the middle sister, the responsible one, feels constrained by the chores laid upon her because no one else will do them.
Even worse, May fails her driver’s test—and May never fails any test. She has no choice but to accept Pete’s offer of teaching her how to drive, providing him with even more opportunities to tease her and play jokes on her. Pete has always been “just Pete” to May… until he starts dating her coworker. Suddenly, May’s not sure if she’s comfortable with the situation. Which means… what? And what can she possibly do about it, when she and her two sisters don’t know yet when they are allowed to be normal again?
The plot, while basic, comes alive at the skilled hands of Maureen Johnson, who provides wit, humor, and heart aplenty for everyone. It’s an easy read, but the writing will stay with you and make you yearn for more from this highly acclaimed author.
A year later, things have not improved much in the Gold household. Their mother is constantly at work, and is thus unable to notice how Brooks, the eldest sister, sneaks out every night to get drunk with her “boyfriend” Dave and his motley crew. Palmer, the youngest, struggles to hide her panic attacks while becoming the next softball star on her high school’s varsity team. And May, the middle sister, the responsible one, feels constrained by the chores laid upon her because no one else will do them.
Even worse, May fails her driver’s test—and May never fails any test. She has no choice but to accept Pete’s offer of teaching her how to drive, providing him with even more opportunities to tease her and play jokes on her. Pete has always been “just Pete” to May… until he starts dating her coworker. Suddenly, May’s not sure if she’s comfortable with the situation. Which means… what? And what can she possibly do about it, when she and her two sisters don’t know yet when they are allowed to be normal again?
The plot, while basic, comes alive at the skilled hands of Maureen Johnson, who provides wit, humor, and heart aplenty for everyone. It’s an easy read, but the writing will stay with you and make you yearn for more from this highly acclaimed author.
theseventhl's review
4.0
Review originally posted at Dangerously Cold Tea
I've been looking forward to reading one of Maureen Johnson since I started following her on Twitter, greatly enjoying reading her hilarious tweets. To my delight, I found that she has brought her humor into her writing, tempered tastefully by the drama of the scenario and the emotions of the main cast as they struggle to deal with their grief over their father's death. The girls' connection with their deceased father grows more apparent as the book commences and further highlights how his death has greatly shaken up the everyday lives of a once-close family. It is at turns serious and humorous, never so lighthearted that the drama feels fake and never so depressing that the mood grows too heavy to endure.
The three girls - Brooks, Mayzie, and Palmer - each deal with the death in their own ways: Brooks drinks; Palmer retreats into herself; Mayzie focuses on her work to keep the family together. Other authors, in an attempt to show the different ways of dealing with a lost loved one, usually goes to extremes to show how characters have changed and in the process destroy any chance of emphasizing with them (why hello there, Alice Hoffman's The Story Sisters) - but Johnson does not fall into this trap; her three protagonists fell realistic in their responses and eventually readers will truly feel empathy for all three girls as they see the different turns and twists in the story through the girls' own eyes.
Overall, The Key to the Golden Firebird is a heartfelt read about the importance of family bonds in the face of tragedy. Each character is illustrated through Johnson's writing and come off the page as three-dimensional and not flat at all. As an introduction into Maureen Johnson's writing, I am very excited to read more of her works - especially if they are as spirited and interesting as this one was.
I've been looking forward to reading one of Maureen Johnson since I started following her on Twitter, greatly enjoying reading her hilarious tweets. To my delight, I found that she has brought her humor into her writing, tempered tastefully by the drama of the scenario and the emotions of the main cast as they struggle to deal with their grief over their father's death. The girls' connection with their deceased father grows more apparent as the book commences and further highlights how his death has greatly shaken up the everyday lives of a once-close family. It is at turns serious and humorous, never so lighthearted that the drama feels fake and never so depressing that the mood grows too heavy to endure.
The three girls - Brooks, Mayzie, and Palmer - each deal with the death in their own ways: Brooks drinks; Palmer retreats into herself; Mayzie focuses on her work to keep the family together. Other authors, in an attempt to show the different ways of dealing with a lost loved one, usually goes to extremes to show how characters have changed and in the process destroy any chance of emphasizing with them (why hello there, Alice Hoffman's The Story Sisters) - but Johnson does not fall into this trap; her three protagonists fell realistic in their responses and eventually readers will truly feel empathy for all three girls as they see the different turns and twists in the story through the girls' own eyes.
Overall, The Key to the Golden Firebird is a heartfelt read about the importance of family bonds in the face of tragedy. Each character is illustrated through Johnson's writing and come off the page as three-dimensional and not flat at all. As an introduction into Maureen Johnson's writing, I am very excited to read more of her works - especially if they are as spirited and interesting as this one was.
missbookiverse's review against another edition
4.0
Dass man aus dem Plot “Familie verliert Ehemann/Vater” noch einiges herausholen kann, beweist Maureen Johnson in diesem kleinen, feinen Roman. Abwechselnd wird aus der Perspektive einer der drei Schwestern erzählt, wobei May den Löwenanteil abbekommt. Brooks, die Älteste lenkt sich mit Alkohol ab. Palmer, die Jüngste, versucht mit ihren Panikattacken klarzukommen und May bemüht sich alles zusammenzuhalten, denn sie ist die Vernünftige. Einer muss ja darauf achten, dass Palmer etwas Richtiges isst und Brooks endlich die Wäsche macht. Dabei hat May selbst genug Probleme mit ihrer Fahrprüfung und dem Nachbarsjungen Pete, der sich plötzlich nicht mehr als streichespielende Raufbold aus ihrer Kindheit präsentiert. Chaos ist also vorprogrammiert und es ist nicht immer leicht dabei zuzusehen wie keiner Rücksicht auf den anderen nimmt, obwohl alle in der gleichen Trauer feststecken. So ist das eben mit Geschwistern – verletzend und liebevoll zugleich. Nebenher entwickelt sich eine unaufdringliche Liebesgeschichte, die zwei oder drei Hundebaby-Reaktionsgeräusch-Momente bietet.
Der Tod des Vaters ist in der Geschichte bereits ein Jahr her und so wird man mehr mit den Nachwirkungen als mit den grausamen, ersten Gefühlen konfrontiert. Das hilft dem Roman nicht zu einem Glück-zerstörenden Godzilla zu mutieren. Es gibt Lichtblicke, ulkige Szenen und amüsante Dialoge. Eine perfekte Mischung aus schwer Verdaulichem und Zuckerwatte.
Der Tod des Vaters ist in der Geschichte bereits ein Jahr her und so wird man mehr mit den Nachwirkungen als mit den grausamen, ersten Gefühlen konfrontiert. Das hilft dem Roman nicht zu einem Glück-zerstörenden Godzilla zu mutieren. Es gibt Lichtblicke, ulkige Szenen und amüsante Dialoge. Eine perfekte Mischung aus schwer Verdaulichem und Zuckerwatte.
michalice's review against another edition
4.0
I have read a few of Maureen's other books so I already know I like her style of writing. When I got the chance to review The Key to the Golden Firebird it was an instant yes.
Brooks, May and Palmer are sisters, the beginning of The Key to the Golden Firebird shows us the type of relationship they have as they tag team Pete in order to prank him and get him back for pranks he ha carried out on May. They are happy and carefree until they go home to discover their father has died of a heart attack. A year later the once close relationship they had is fractured and now the girls bicker and torment each other. Brooks is becoming out of control, partying, drinking and giving up on pastimes. Palmer retreats to her own bubble, watching TV at an insanely loud volume level, May is trying to work, study, look after her younger sister, learn to drive, and try to keep this family running.
Pete is the boy the girls have grown up with, upon reading the synopsis it initially seemed like he would be a bully, but in reality the teasing and pranks goes both ways, they are pretty harmless and seem more like pranks siblings would do on each other.
Going into The Key to the Golden Firebird I thought it would all be sunshine and rainbows and flowers, and that idea was quickly blown away. The girls and family have a lot to deal with, loss of a loved one, stress of school and pressure to perform well in sports, struggling to make every penny stretch as far as possible, their Mum even picks up extra hours in work in order to keep up payments on bills. My heart broke for this family, seeing them struggle day to day, when Pete's Mum is there to help, picking up extra bits from the supermarket for them it made me see how good of a relationship they have with Pete's family, and while he is occasionally annoying it was nice to know the support was there.
The Key to the Golden Firebird is not all doom and gloom, there are moments that had me laughing, especially the family holiday they went on, who knew you needed all those things for an RV. Also seeing how this family worked through the bad things and made something matter, the girls had a crazy plan for their fathers ashes and to actually go through with it was something I would not have done. Seeing these girls finally make peace with each other truly was a happy moment.
The Key to the Golden Firebird is told in multiple points of view, with the girls sharing chapters, giving us a birds eye view into what each one is going through and trying to deal with. We see them struggle to keep going, not letting the loss of their father bring them down, and dealing with it the only way they know how. Pete also plays a big role in this story, he is there for May in a lot of different ways and I really enjoyed seeing this duo develop a strong friendship.
The Key to the Golden Firebird is a quick but great read, and once again Maureen has written a book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Brooks, May and Palmer are sisters, the beginning of The Key to the Golden Firebird shows us the type of relationship they have as they tag team Pete in order to prank him and get him back for pranks he ha carried out on May. They are happy and carefree until they go home to discover their father has died of a heart attack. A year later the once close relationship they had is fractured and now the girls bicker and torment each other. Brooks is becoming out of control, partying, drinking and giving up on pastimes. Palmer retreats to her own bubble, watching TV at an insanely loud volume level, May is trying to work, study, look after her younger sister, learn to drive, and try to keep this family running.
Pete is the boy the girls have grown up with, upon reading the synopsis it initially seemed like he would be a bully, but in reality the teasing and pranks goes both ways, they are pretty harmless and seem more like pranks siblings would do on each other.
Going into The Key to the Golden Firebird I thought it would all be sunshine and rainbows and flowers, and that idea was quickly blown away. The girls and family have a lot to deal with, loss of a loved one, stress of school and pressure to perform well in sports, struggling to make every penny stretch as far as possible, their Mum even picks up extra hours in work in order to keep up payments on bills. My heart broke for this family, seeing them struggle day to day, when Pete's Mum is there to help, picking up extra bits from the supermarket for them it made me see how good of a relationship they have with Pete's family, and while he is occasionally annoying it was nice to know the support was there.
The Key to the Golden Firebird is not all doom and gloom, there are moments that had me laughing, especially the family holiday they went on, who knew you needed all those things for an RV. Also seeing how this family worked through the bad things and made something matter, the girls had a crazy plan for their fathers ashes and to actually go through with it was something I would not have done. Seeing these girls finally make peace with each other truly was a happy moment.
The Key to the Golden Firebird is told in multiple points of view, with the girls sharing chapters, giving us a birds eye view into what each one is going through and trying to deal with. We see them struggle to keep going, not letting the loss of their father bring them down, and dealing with it the only way they know how. Pete also plays a big role in this story, he is there for May in a lot of different ways and I really enjoyed seeing this duo develop a strong friendship.
The Key to the Golden Firebird is a quick but great read, and once again Maureen has written a book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
yungokssss's review
4.0
This was an amazing book. I'd give it a 5-star, but the only thing that stood in my way was the "fathers ashes" thing - it totally creeped me out. But otherwise, it was an awesome read. It was so easy to connect with the characters. Especially Mayzie (duh) and surprisingly, the two other siblings, Brooks and Palmer.
Things are going well for the Golds'. Mayzie's a brain, so her parents sent her off to some all-girl private school. Brooks is a softball champ and is balancing that and Dave, her more-than-a-friend. And Palmer throws a mean pitch. But all that changes when Mayzie's father has a heart-attack and dies. Now she's having trouble with things, especially learning to drive. Brooks starting to be a wild party animal and drops the thing that kept her closest to her dad - softball. Palmer withdraws and acts like a pain (according to Mayzie).
This is an amazing novel, and I recommend it to EVERYONE, even the boys. :) It has just the right amount of adventure and just a tad bit of romance to keep you occupied. Simply amazing.
Things are going well for the Golds'. Mayzie's a brain, so her parents sent her off to some all-girl private school. Brooks is a softball champ and is balancing that and Dave, her more-than-a-friend. And Palmer throws a mean pitch. But all that changes when Mayzie's father has a heart-attack and dies. Now she's having trouble with things, especially learning to drive. Brooks starting to be a wild party animal and drops the thing that kept her closest to her dad - softball. Palmer withdraws and acts like a pain (according to Mayzie).
This is an amazing novel, and I recommend it to EVERYONE, even the boys. :) It has just the right amount of adventure and just a tad bit of romance to keep you occupied. Simply amazing.
kylie_formosa's review against another edition
2.0
Okay, so this book dealt with a lot. And I like how there was some character growth throughout the story. But I also really feel like it's not yet finished.
The romance needs more growth. You can't just have Pete date other people throughout the whole book, and then after 200 damn pages... 200 FREAKING PAGES, Like, honey, I need more. If you're going to include romance, there needs to be more relationship growth.
And yes, I do realise that the issues the book deals with are what it's actually supposed to be about, but at this point it just feels like the romance was there just so that there could be romance in the book (because lord forbid there is a teenage girl who doesn't want a relationship). It's almost like it's against some contemporary rule for the girl to NOT get the guy. Honestly, I would've been much happier had they not ended up together. All May did throughout the entire damn book was use Pete and ignore him whenever she felt like it.
Also, can we just talk about the fact that there are so many damn romance cliches in this book. Let's list the few obvious ones:
1. The girl falls in love with a boy.
2. The girl falls in love with the neighbour boy.
3. The girl falls in love with the neighbour, whom she hates, but not really, because deep down, she realises she has feelings for him.
4. The girl realises she loves the neighbour boy, as soon as he starts dating.
5. The boy starts dating a girl just to date her, because he's clearly also in love with the neighbour girl.
6. The boy starts dating the girl who works with the girl he's actually in love with.
So, that was the whole May + Pete issue.
As for May as a character, she was selfish. Smart, but selfish. She uses people, and tosses them aside when she's done with them. But there's also a side of the writing that kind of makes you pity her, in a way. Yes, she's annoying, but she's also got a lot on her plate, and she's expected to be this model figure because the rest of her family are either too busy working or being depressed or not giving a shit about their actions. There's that I guess. Not really sure if I hate her character or if she's just very poorly written.
Moving on. Brooks. Brooks is senselessly and just plain irresponsible. She threw her life away for absolutely nothing, and there was nothing in the story to suggest that she was changing her ways or that she even wanted to. Even at the end. So I'm assuming she remained sad and careless.
Palmer. I really really disliked Palmer. She is so nosy and has some serious stalkery issues. She spies on people all the time, she listens in on their conversations and she's just plain awful. Then she wonders why no one freaking wants her around. And yes, I do realise she's struggling, but damn girl, you definitely need not be that whiny and creepy.
Pete. Pete seems like this character who was created by someone, and written by someone else. He's got some serious character inconsistencies - like how are you going to mention that he likes to joke around and prank people, and then write him into this boring, useless character? He's just SO boring and dull and unremarkable, that it literally feels like he was only written in the story for the sole purpose of being a romantic interest/romantic awakening issuer for May.
Now despite all of this, I actually didn't absolutely hate this book. It was a very easy read. I just think it needs a lot more work. Especially when it comes to our characters. But I did like it - it just didn't blow me away, and it wasn't one of those remarkable contemporaries that stand out :)
The romance needs more growth. You can't just have Pete date other people throughout the whole book, and then after 200 damn pages... 200 FREAKING PAGES,
Spoiler
you have them kiss. Then May goes emotional, and after EVEN MORE PAGES, realises she actually does love the guy and kisses him again.And yes, I do realise that the issues the book deals with are what it's actually supposed to be about, but at this point it just feels like the romance was there just so that there could be romance in the book (because lord forbid there is a teenage girl who doesn't want a relationship). It's almost like it's against some contemporary rule for the girl to NOT get the guy. Honestly, I would've been much happier had they not ended up together. All May did throughout the entire damn book was use Pete and ignore him whenever she felt like it.
Also, can we just talk about the fact that there are so many damn romance cliches in this book. Let's list the few obvious ones:
1. The girl falls in love with a boy.
2. The girl falls in love with the neighbour boy.
3. The girl falls in love with the neighbour, whom she hates, but not really, because deep down, she realises she has feelings for him.
4. The girl realises she loves the neighbour boy, as soon as he starts dating.
5. The boy starts dating a girl just to date her, because he's clearly also in love with the neighbour girl.
6. The boy starts dating the girl who works with the girl he's actually in love with.
So, that was the whole May + Pete issue.
As for May as a character, she was selfish. Smart, but selfish. She uses people, and tosses them aside when she's done with them. But there's also a side of the writing that kind of makes you pity her, in a way. Yes, she's annoying, but she's also got a lot on her plate, and she's expected to be this model figure because the rest of her family are either too busy working or being depressed or not giving a shit about their actions. There's that I guess. Not really sure if I hate her character or if she's just very poorly written.
Moving on. Brooks. Brooks is senselessly and just plain irresponsible. She threw her life away for absolutely nothing, and there was nothing in the story to suggest that she was changing her ways or that she even wanted to. Even at the end. So I'm assuming she remained sad and careless.
Palmer. I really really disliked Palmer. She is so nosy and has some serious stalkery issues. She spies on people all the time, she listens in on their conversations and she's just plain awful. Then she wonders why no one freaking wants her around. And yes, I do realise she's struggling, but damn girl, you definitely need not be that whiny and creepy.
Pete. Pete seems like this character who was created by someone, and written by someone else. He's got some serious character inconsistencies - like how are you going to mention that he likes to joke around and prank people, and then write him into this boring, useless character? He's just SO boring and dull and unremarkable, that it literally feels like he was only written in the story for the sole purpose of being a romantic interest/romantic awakening issuer for May.
Now despite all of this, I actually didn't absolutely hate this book. It was a very easy read. I just think it needs a lot more work. Especially when it comes to our characters. But I did like it - it just didn't blow me away, and it wasn't one of those remarkable contemporaries that stand out :)
nssutton's review
4.0
and with this, i've read every maureen johnson book. at first i thought she was the kind of author teenage nicole would have adored, but now i realize she's something only 20something nicole would have understood.