Things don’t always change with a bang. Sometimes they change so gradually that you can’t clearly pinpoint the last moment they were truly the same.
I was super excited to read One Lonely Degree by C. K. Kelly Martin because I really enjoyed her first novel. Another slice of contemporary realism from Martin, this book follows Finn as she struggles with changes in her family while she battles depression brought on by a traumatic experience at at a party.
What I Liked
– The characters are top notch. They’re all well-developed with clear personalities and their own little conflicts within the text.
– Friendship of the female AND male variety. Also, a slight love triangle, which. If I were still working on my dissertation, I might use this book.
What I Didn’t Like
– Oh my word, this book is BORING. Like, super boring. It starts to pick up in the last four or so chapters and then it’s OVER. Just when it gets interesting. I was so disappointed. I mean, seriously. It is well-written, the characters are well-developed, but it lacks serious oomph. I would put it down and forget about it. And then when I finished it, I seriously thought, “…that’s IT?” The worst part is I kept reading, hoping for that special something that makes realistic fiction so great for me, that identification, seeing some glimmer of interestingness or thinking that’s different, and it was just boring.
In conclusion: Tragically boring. I mean, really.
Support Your Local Library: 12/30; YA Reading Challenge: 7/20
The Englishist 