PERENNIALS Review
I never went to summer camp when I was growing up. I wasn't deprived, or anything like that. My parents would have let me go, had I asked — I simply was (and am) of the antisocial sort. I was the type of kid to haunt the local library during summer break. I wasn't one for physical activity. LOL.
However, I do like reading about summer camps — through them I experience what is maybe lacking from my own childhood. Truthfully, I don't feel I missed much . . . but still, the topic and setting of summer camp often makes for interesting (albeit cheesy, usually) stories. How does Perennials measure up? Well, it's not interesting or cheesy. It's just lifeless and lame.
Firstly, this novel has more structural problems than a termite-ridden set of wooden stairs. The first two chapters take place in 2000, at the summer camp that acts as the focal point of this novel, and then randomly switches to 2006. The two characters that are seen in the 2000 chapters are still around, but the reader is suddenly introduced to a ton of new campers, none of them fleshed out whatsoever. I think the main characters were supposed to be... Rachel? and . . . I'm blanking on the other girl's name. Yeah, I just finished this one and can't remember any of the characters' names. That's bad! Bad bad bad.
So the plot hops from character to character and situation to situation, and almost none of it is necessary to furthering the story, nor does most of it come together by the story's end. Either this one leaves a ton of loose ends hanging, or I was too bored to care. I sorta get what the author was going for: the wide ranging impact summer camp can have on young teens, but the problem is this novel is just too short. There are way too many characters crammed into this story, and all of them want to be the main protagonist. None of them are written well at all, and I just . . . God, I'm boring myself talking about this.
I honestly didn't have high hopes for Perennials, but I was expecting to at least get a breezy, fun summer read. Nope. This is just bland, flavorless melodrama populated with excessively, offensively boring characters and trite situations.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free review copy, which was given in an exchange for an honest review.
However, I do like reading about summer camps — through them I experience what is maybe lacking from my own childhood. Truthfully, I don't feel I missed much . . . but still, the topic and setting of summer camp often makes for interesting (albeit cheesy, usually) stories. How does Perennials measure up? Well, it's not interesting or cheesy. It's just lifeless and lame.
Firstly, this novel has more structural problems than a termite-ridden set of wooden stairs. The first two chapters take place in 2000, at the summer camp that acts as the focal point of this novel, and then randomly switches to 2006. The two characters that are seen in the 2000 chapters are still around, but the reader is suddenly introduced to a ton of new campers, none of them fleshed out whatsoever. I think the main characters were supposed to be... Rachel? and . . . I'm blanking on the other girl's name. Yeah, I just finished this one and can't remember any of the characters' names. That's bad! Bad bad bad.
So the plot hops from character to character and situation to situation, and almost none of it is necessary to furthering the story, nor does most of it come together by the story's end. Either this one leaves a ton of loose ends hanging, or I was too bored to care. I sorta get what the author was going for: the wide ranging impact summer camp can have on young teens, but the problem is this novel is just too short. There are way too many characters crammed into this story, and all of them want to be the main protagonist. None of them are written well at all, and I just . . . God, I'm boring myself talking about this.
I honestly didn't have high hopes for Perennials, but I was expecting to at least get a breezy, fun summer read. Nope. This is just bland, flavorless melodrama populated with excessively, offensively boring characters and trite situations.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free review copy, which was given in an exchange for an honest review.
