Tag: Emma Mills

REVIEW: Lucky Caller by Emma Mills

REVIEW: Lucky Caller by Emma Mills

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Henry Holt and Co. in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Nina is in her last semester of high school. Her mom is newly engaged. And she’s partnered with Jamie, the last person she wanted in her group for her broadcasting class.

The early weeks of their show are rocky. Jamie is choosing the music for their 90s shows. Sasha works on publicity. Joydeep is their on-air host, and Nina is the producer.

The problems are hard to miss. Their host is wooden on air, they’ve had technical difficulties, and they’ve accidentally broadcast some language and conversations that should NOT have been aired.

To salvage their show, they decide to hint at a secret guest coming to the show. Nina’s dad, a radio personality, would be ideal to speak not only on the air but also to their class. They run into a few problems, though, when their listeners start making their own assumptions about the secret guest, and when Nina is reluctant to even ask her dad to come.

Review

There were several parts of this that I loved. There are some great laugh-out-loud moments. And I loved the game of pretend Nina and her sisters played with Jamie when they were kids. The climax of the radio show plot thread was fantastic!

But getting to those great moments took a lot of work for me as a reader. The development of the romance was slow, especially the reveal of the original fracture between Nina and Jamie. The story meandered a bit through their awkwardness and her mom’s engagement, and some of the radio things. I prefer stories with clear motives and goals from the outset. This story is more subtle than that.

Readers who enjoy a slower unfolding of the story – the pieces are all there, but you have to wait awhile to put them all together for the big picture – should check this out. And the big moment with the secret interview was the main thing that made the journey worthwhile for me. (Language)

Rating: ♥♥♥½

REVIEW: Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills

REVIEW: Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Sophie is the president of the Marching Pride of Acadia Student Fundraising Committee. And this year they will be trying to raise funds to go to the Rose Parade. Sophie’s idea is to track down Acadia’s most famous resident, country singer Megan Pleasant and have her sing at a benefit concert. On Megan’s first album she sang all about how much she loved Acadia. But now that her third album is out, Megan has moved on to singing that she’s “never going back.”

As Sophie cajoles her friends into helping her track down Megan, their group also starts making space for August. Sophie babysits for August’s brother and his wife every week. But she didn’t know August existed before he arrived at the start of the summer. Apparently his brother and sister-in-law didn’t know he existed either.

Sophie and August fall into a comfortable banter, but he’s hiding things. No matter what chemistry there may be tween them, he seems determined to keep her at arm’s length. But maybe the search for Megan Pleasant will change all that.

Review

I am a sucker for a book with witty banter and laugh-out-loud moments. So Famous in a Small Town was a perfect fit for me as a reader. I’m sure my family was getting tired of my sudden barks of laughter (and they were worried when I started choking rather than do a spit take at one line). I couldn’t help it. I got such a kick out of these characters!

While the story is billed as one centered around the search for Megan Pleasant, for me it’s really about the six teens in this friend group. While they are – to varying degrees – trying to help Sophie with her fundraising idea, there’s a TON going on between the characters. And I loved all of it.

There were some great surprises in the story and some heart-tugging moments to balance out the laughter. The whole package was terrific. I loved every moment of this story. I would enjoy even more stories with this group of teens. They were a treat! I highly recommend this for fans of funny contemporary YA with great characters. (Language, drinking, innuendo, LGBTQ)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½