That Time I Read A Good Book, It Just Wasn’t For Me

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit

Joanna Gordon has been out and proud for years, but when her popular radio evangelist father remarries and decides to move all three of them from Atlanta to the more conservative Rome, Georgia, he asks Jo to do the impossible: to lie low for the rest of her senior year. And Jo reluctantly agrees.

Although it is (mostly) much easier for Jo to fit in as a straight girl, things get complicated when she meets Mary Carlson, the oh-so-tempting sister of her new friend at school. But Jo couldn’t possibly think of breaking her promise to her dad. Even if she’s starting to fall for the girl. Even if there’s a chance Mary Carlson might be interested in her, too. Right?

I received this book for free from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review.
This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I’ve been having bad luck with reading lately. Either I’m going into a slump or I’m just expecting too much from books these days. Because yeah, there are some stand-outs every now and then that get 5 stars out of me. But those moments happen less every month. And I hoped this book would be one too, but it just… wasn’t. I still enjoyed it for the most part, but I wanted to love it. And I didn’t.

So, because I have no idea how else to go about this, I’m going to make a list. Here’s hoping it’ll make any sense.

♦ I liked the writing. It’s the kind of style that I love and that I seem to enjoy the most. Very realistic and easy to read (but omg so hard to write). I read this book in one day because it was so easy for me to get lost in the writing.

♦ I also liked the setting. It felt very real to me and not exaggerated or anything. Either the author lives in the area or she’s done her research very well. (I could look it up, but you know… so much effort really.) So yes. Points for setting.

♦ I liked the basic idea of the story, but that’s it. Don’t get me wrong, it was executed nicely and everything. I just didn’t feel sucked in at any point. It didn’t wow me at all and I kind of want books to wow me.

♦ I didn’t connect to Joanna. She was a fine character. They all were. I liked Gemma, Mary Carlson & her brother, George, … I liked Jo’s parents. They were unique and developed well enough, but I just couldn’t connect. Joanna made some stupid mistakes that I honestly don’t really get. I just never really got her. It’s kind of hard to describe.

♦ The religious themes in this book were an issue for me. Not because it was preachy or anything, because it wasn’t. I just… It’s a huge part of the story. And I knew that when I went into this. But I loved The Serpent King, so I wanted to give this one a try too because it’s an LGBT book and I love those. But in this one it just felt very different. More present somehow. And it didn’t gell with me. It didn’t stick.

♦ I wasn’t into the romance that much. I wanted to be and there’s really nothing wrong with it except for that unnecessary drama near the end, but I just didn’t buy it. Probably because I never connected to the characters. It did get a tad more steamy than I expected, which I did really like and highly encourage in YA.

♦ Also, haha, just a sidenote, but Joanna & her dad are Italian. But there is not nearly enough Italian food in this, just saying. If you’re MC’s Italian, take advantage of that and showcase the fooooood. Honestly now. Just a missed opportunity.

So overall, this is a good book. And yes, you should read it. That rating I gave it just represents how I felt about it. If you love YA Contemporary, you absolutely should give this a try and I hope you’ll enjoy it a lot more than I did.

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Bee

Bee (born as Bieke) is 27 years old and from Belgium. (No she won't send waffles.) She's a strange, nerdy and anxious creature floating around somewhere on the ace spectrum. Oh, and she also writes books as Nelly B. Jones. Or tries to anyway. You can also find her on Novel Ink.

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