Title: Golden
Author: Jessi Kirby
Series: n/a
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 14, 2013
Source: received from publisher via Edelweiss
Purchase: Amazon |
Barnes & Noble
Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.
Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.
Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.
Golden is the first novel I've read by Jessi Kirby, but I own both
Moonglass and
In Honor. After absolutely
loving this book, you can bet I'll be picking up the other two posthaste. They're both relatively short, so I don't know why I didn't get to them sooner.
Golden isn't long, by any means, but whatever it might lack in length, it makes up for by packing an emotional punch. Anyone who's ever wondered if they're following their own dreams or just attempting to meet the expectations of everyone around them will identify with Parker's character on some level. She's ambitious and goal-oriented, but she's also afraid that she's let life pass her by without taking any risks or doing anything memorable. After finding Julianna's journal, she's even more certain that if she were to look back on her life ten years from now, she'll have nothing to show for it: no great love, no crazy stories, nothing besides a lot of hard work.
So, when the opportunity for something bigger than her or her own problems presents itself, Parker makes it her mission to solve the mystery of the town's most famous couple's disappearance. And instead of offering up platitudes and promises of things to come, Parker's best friend Kat insists they go out big, that they discover what really happened that fateful night ten years ago. I've noticed that most of the time, friends named Kat in stories or in real life -- my older sister is named Kat -- are often the ones with the harebrained schemes that end up being pretty epic. I kind of adored this friendship in the book. Parker was a bit frustrating at times, especially when it came to Trevor, but that's where Kat would swoop in and smooth things over for me.
The story pays homage to Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken", though a great emphasis is placed on all of his works, since Parker's father is a poet and her family might potentially be descended from Frost. I loved how the themes of chance and choice were interwoven into the story and how they eventually played out in both Parker and Julianna's lives.
Golden was actually a story within a story, which made the mystery that much more compelling and made the book that much harder to put down without finishing every last word. From what I've heard, her other books are no less compelling, and I can't wait to find out for myself.
Rating: 
About the author:
Jessi Kirby is the author of
Golden, which will be released in May of 2013,
Moonglass, and
In Honor. She is also a former English teacher and librarian, wife, mom, beach lover, runner, and lover of Contemporary YA, strong coffee, and dark chocolate. In that order.
Find Jessi:
Website |
Blog |
Twitter|
Facebook |
Goodreads
Monday, May 13, 2013
Review: Golden by Jessi Kirby
Author: Jessi Kirby
Series: n/a
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 14, 2013
Source: received from publisher via Edelweiss
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.
Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.
Golden is the first novel I've read by Jessi Kirby, but I own both Moonglass and In Honor. After absolutely loving this book, you can bet I'll be picking up the other two posthaste. They're both relatively short, so I don't know why I didn't get to them sooner.
Golden isn't long, by any means, but whatever it might lack in length, it makes up for by packing an emotional punch. Anyone who's ever wondered if they're following their own dreams or just attempting to meet the expectations of everyone around them will identify with Parker's character on some level. She's ambitious and goal-oriented, but she's also afraid that she's let life pass her by without taking any risks or doing anything memorable. After finding Julianna's journal, she's even more certain that if she were to look back on her life ten years from now, she'll have nothing to show for it: no great love, no crazy stories, nothing besides a lot of hard work.
So, when the opportunity for something bigger than her or her own problems presents itself, Parker makes it her mission to solve the mystery of the town's most famous couple's disappearance. And instead of offering up platitudes and promises of things to come, Parker's best friend Kat insists they go out big, that they discover what really happened that fateful night ten years ago. I've noticed that most of the time, friends named Kat in stories or in real life -- my older sister is named Kat -- are often the ones with the harebrained schemes that end up being pretty epic. I kind of adored this friendship in the book. Parker was a bit frustrating at times, especially when it came to Trevor, but that's where Kat would swoop in and smooth things over for me.
The story pays homage to Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken", though a great emphasis is placed on all of his works, since Parker's father is a poet and her family might potentially be descended from Frost. I loved how the themes of chance and choice were interwoven into the story and how they eventually played out in both Parker and Julianna's lives.
Golden was actually a story within a story, which made the mystery that much more compelling and made the book that much harder to put down without finishing every last word. From what I've heard, her other books are no less compelling, and I can't wait to find out for myself.
Rating:
Jessi Kirby is the author of Golden, which will be released in May of 2013, Moonglass, and In Honor. She is also a former English teacher and librarian, wife, mom, beach lover, runner, and lover of Contemporary YA, strong coffee, and dark chocolate. In that order.
Find Jessi:
Website | Blog | Twitter| Facebook | Goodreads
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Waiting on Wednesday: Golden by Jessi Kirby
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's WoW selection is...
Author: Jessi Kirby
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 14, 2013
Why I'm waiting: Okay, I'm going to be honest. I haven't actually read a Jessi Kirby book yet. But I own both In Honor and Moonglass, and I know plenty of people who love these books. And what's not to love? Gorgeous covers, great storylines, relatable characters. And this newest book from the author sounds perfect for me. I was that girl. Well, I was Salutatorian, but same diff. (Except when I found out I lost Val by 4 one-thousands of a point, I went a little crazy. :P)
Anyway, I promise to read the two books on my shelf very soon -- they're actually comparatively short next to most of my reads these days -- if the ARC gods might deign to give me an advanced copy of this book. =) I'm kidding. I'll still read them. I've been wanting to for awhile, hence the ownage. But I want to read this one most of all. :D
What are you waiting on this week? Feel free to share it in the comments or leave a link so I can stop by!
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starryeyedjen
- I work with numbers by day, and I'm a mommy and avid reader by night. I'm a self-proclaimed Spreadsheet Queen, and I'll read anything you put in front of me. I seriously love all the books! And I adore audiobooks, too!
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