Scan barcode
A review by heykellyjensen
If I Tell by Janet Gurtler
3.0
I thought the main character, Jaz, was strong and well developed, and the storyline was interesting enough, but there was a lot going on that just didn't work for me. Most of the secondary characters were underdeveloped, and a lot of the subplots were weak. This could have been a knock out if some of the issues within it -- the biracial/acceptance issue Jaz had, the addiction issues many of the teen character struggled with, the fact not a single family in this story was functional -- were just amped up more.
What I think I found kind of weird was that at the end, we find out that Jaz's mom, who was, according to her, worthless, has a horrible bout of post partum depression. I thought this could have been so worked up to make a lot more of who Jaz was make sense. It just wasn't. It was a couple chapters at the end and almost out of the blue.
Characters in this book made good use of therapy for development, which kind of weakened them. Almost everyone, except Jaz and Jackson, had been to therapy or some sort of counseling to help with their problems, and it almost stood in for a way for the full fleshing out of characters.
I think this book falls into the bad flap copy category. The story's much stronger and is more faceted than it leads us to believe. It, like so many other books, relies on the romance to sell the story. Why? The romance is such a minuscule part of this. There are much stronger and more interesting aspects to play up than the romance.
That said, definitely a book with good appeal factors. It's well written and a believable teen voice.
What I think I found kind of weird was that at the end, we find out that Jaz's mom, who was, according to her, worthless, has a horrible bout of post partum depression. I thought this could have been so worked up to make a lot more of who Jaz was make sense. It just wasn't. It was a couple chapters at the end and almost out of the blue.
Characters in this book made good use of therapy for development, which kind of weakened them. Almost everyone, except Jaz and Jackson, had been to therapy or some sort of counseling to help with their problems, and it almost stood in for a way for the full fleshing out of characters.
I think this book falls into the bad flap copy category. The story's much stronger and is more faceted than it leads us to believe. It, like so many other books, relies on the romance to sell the story. Why? The romance is such a minuscule part of this. There are much stronger and more interesting aspects to play up than the romance.
That said, definitely a book with good appeal factors. It's well written and a believable teen voice.