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Finding Jolie
Jolie Feinstein is a 16 year-old girl from a “good” family in an affluent New Jersey suburb. She’s popular, smart, attractive, and not unhappy, but the awareness of her mortality haunts her. Jolie seeks refuge in drugs and sex for a while, but a series of events and a revelation about an early childhood accident resulting in the death of her little sister, pushes her to her breaking point. She runs away – but not before making a late-night call to her high-school math teacher, Mr. Keltz. Daniel Keltz is a 32 year-old algebra teacher who, after Jolie’s call, begins to question his own solitary and severely unsatisfying life. When he learns of Jolie’s whereabouts, Daniel does the only crazy thing he’s ever done in his life, and takes off to find her. The story follows Jolie to Colorado Springs and then to San Francisco, where she finds temporary solaces and unlikely friendships interspersed with more trouble, obsession, and death; and it follows Daniel’s journey to find Jolie and himself along the way.
367 pages, Paperback
First published December 14, 2011
46 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 16, 2012
First Thoughts:
Wow…this story was so much more than I expected, the summary doesn’t do this story justice, so much happened, so many things unveiled, I could hardly believe the intensity of this book. The content was deeper and surprising than I expected. This definitely is a book that will open your eyes up to a world where drugs take control and people’s hidden identities come to the surface.
Plot:
The plot hit the major key points of a plot line but the ending lacked a great deal. Not that I was upset of the outcome it was because I felt there was so much left unfinished, like some of the characters we had grown to like and love were left hanging; their stories left in the abyss of virtual space. There were some questions left unanswered; some ties left without a bow and after all that I had read through, all the hardships, joy, pain and love in the end I felt left down. But in all, the story was well paced and I found the action well-paced, there was plenty of slower moments where it allowed the characters to reveal things about themselves and to also allow previous scenes to sink in. So in all though I felt the resolution lacked some important things the overall feel of the plot was good; especially the sub-plots; they were well played out.
Characters:
What to say about the characters? There were some well thought-out characters, I felt the author really took time to fill in the little details of the characters and allow us as the reader to get more aquatinted with them. They each were distinct and were essential to the overall story, each one added a different flavor to the story.
Transformation of the character:
There were some amazing transformations in this book and there were also some characters who yearned to break out of their mold but just couldn’t. I especially enjoyed Jolie’s transformation; I felt that it was realistic and true. The author took time for the character to explore her world, to make and learn from her mistakes. It was just so wonderful and amazing and the way she worded the transformations were poetic and smooth. I especially enjoyed that even some of the minor characters made short transformations in themselves. But as I mentioned earlier there were some of the characters in the sub-stories that tried to changed; they tried to break free but something in their world was holding them back, I loved that the author chose to keep that element; it gave the atmosphere a more realistic and true air about it.
Description:
I found that the detail in this story was well thought out and placed strategically. There wasn’t too little or too much, the author chose the moments to explain further inside the scenes when necessary. I felt that the attention to detail; the way she explored inside the mind of the characters was beautiful; each mind; each scene was explained well and efficiently.
Style:
I felt that this author went with a more poetic feel, the words and phrases the author chose had that vibe about them. They were put in order that helped both the reader and the characters themselves understand this complex and dark world. This was definitely written very nicely and I didn’t have a problem getting through it, it was just a nice and even read.
Quote of the book:
“She had been a fool. It was sad. It was stupid. It was damn tragic.”
Goodreads Summary:
Jolie Feinstein is a 16 year-old girl from a “good” family in an affluent New Jersey suburb. She’s popular, smart, attractive, and not unhappy, but the awareness of her mortality haunts her. Jolie seeks refuge in drugs and sex for a while, but a series of events and a revelation about an early childhood accident resulting in the death of her little sister pushes her to her breaking point. She runs away – but not before making a late-night call to her high-school math teacher, Mr. Keltz.
Daniel Keltz is a 32 year-old algebra teacher who, after Jolie’s call, begins to question his own solitary and unsatisfying life. When he learns of Jolie’s whereabouts, Daniel does the only crazy thing he’s ever done in his life, and takes off to find her.
The story follows Jolie to Colorado Springs and then to San Francisco, where she finds temporary solaces and unlikely friendships interspersed with more trouble, obsession, and death; and it follows Daniel’s journey to find Jolie and himself along the way.
Last Thoughts:
I would recommend this to people who don’t mind reading realistic and tragic stories, there’s a lot of adult content in this book that isn’t suited for a younger audience. I would recommend this to readers who are looking for books about young teens and the world of drugs and emotional pain. This book was filled with so many events and ideas that I myself found some new information stored in my mind. There’s just so much out there that it’s impossible to ever keep track of it all. I enjoyed this book in the end I just wish the ending could have been expanded but I’d be more than willing to read more books by this author.
Wow…this story was so much more than I expected, the summary doesn’t do this story justice, so much happened, so many things unveiled, I could hardly believe the intensity of this book. The content was deeper and surprising than I expected. This definitely is a book that will open your eyes up to a world where drugs take control and people’s hidden identities come to the surface.
Plot:
The plot hit the major key points of a plot line but the ending lacked a great deal. Not that I was upset of the outcome it was because I felt there was so much left unfinished, like some of the characters we had grown to like and love were left hanging; their stories left in the abyss of virtual space. There were some questions left unanswered; some ties left without a bow and after all that I had read through, all the hardships, joy, pain and love in the end I felt left down. But in all, the story was well paced and I found the action well-paced, there was plenty of slower moments where it allowed the characters to reveal things about themselves and to also allow previous scenes to sink in. So in all though I felt the resolution lacked some important things the overall feel of the plot was good; especially the sub-plots; they were well played out.
Characters:
What to say about the characters? There were some well thought-out characters, I felt the author really took time to fill in the little details of the characters and allow us as the reader to get more aquatinted with them. They each were distinct and were essential to the overall story, each one added a different flavor to the story.
Transformation of the character:
There were some amazing transformations in this book and there were also some characters who yearned to break out of their mold but just couldn’t. I especially enjoyed Jolie’s transformation; I felt that it was realistic and true. The author took time for the character to explore her world, to make and learn from her mistakes. It was just so wonderful and amazing and the way she worded the transformations were poetic and smooth. I especially enjoyed that even some of the minor characters made short transformations in themselves. But as I mentioned earlier there were some of the characters in the sub-stories that tried to changed; they tried to break free but something in their world was holding them back, I loved that the author chose to keep that element; it gave the atmosphere a more realistic and true air about it.
Description:
I found that the detail in this story was well thought out and placed strategically. There wasn’t too little or too much, the author chose the moments to explain further inside the scenes when necessary. I felt that the attention to detail; the way she explored inside the mind of the characters was beautiful; each mind; each scene was explained well and efficiently.
Style:
I felt that this author went with a more poetic feel, the words and phrases the author chose had that vibe about them. They were put in order that helped both the reader and the characters themselves understand this complex and dark world. This was definitely written very nicely and I didn’t have a problem getting through it, it was just a nice and even read.
Quote of the book:
“She had been a fool. It was sad. It was stupid. It was damn tragic.”
Goodreads Summary:
Jolie Feinstein is a 16 year-old girl from a “good” family in an affluent New Jersey suburb. She’s popular, smart, attractive, and not unhappy, but the awareness of her mortality haunts her. Jolie seeks refuge in drugs and sex for a while, but a series of events and a revelation about an early childhood accident resulting in the death of her little sister pushes her to her breaking point. She runs away – but not before making a late-night call to her high-school math teacher, Mr. Keltz.
Daniel Keltz is a 32 year-old algebra teacher who, after Jolie’s call, begins to question his own solitary and unsatisfying life. When he learns of Jolie’s whereabouts, Daniel does the only crazy thing he’s ever done in his life, and takes off to find her.
The story follows Jolie to Colorado Springs and then to San Francisco, where she finds temporary solaces and unlikely friendships interspersed with more trouble, obsession, and death; and it follows Daniel’s journey to find Jolie and himself along the way.
Last Thoughts:
I would recommend this to people who don’t mind reading realistic and tragic stories, there’s a lot of adult content in this book that isn’t suited for a younger audience. I would recommend this to readers who are looking for books about young teens and the world of drugs and emotional pain. This book was filled with so many events and ideas that I myself found some new information stored in my mind. There’s just so much out there that it’s impossible to ever keep track of it all. I enjoyed this book in the end I just wish the ending could have been expanded but I’d be more than willing to read more books by this author.
September 4, 2019
Great book and wonderful read.
December 28, 2011
It's a charmed life, for the most part, for Jolie Feinstein; but underneath it all, Jolie is haunted by a fear of death that sometimes paralyzes her with terror. She especially experiences these fears at night, when the superficial aspects of her world (e.g. shopping, boys, sex, appearance, etc.) seem especially transparent. She suspects, that these trivialities allow she and everyone else, for that matter, to cling to an illusion that life has meaning. Jolie pins her hopes on a boy (and finding the perfect outfit to make him love her), but a party ending with Jolie naked in the backyard, vague memories of a different guy on top of her, and no idea whether she's still a virgin, represent just the beginning of Jolie's attempts to run from her fears.
Daniel Keltz is awake in his bed when the phone startles him from his efforts to fall asleep. It's Jolie Feinstein, a student in his algebra class the year prior. Jolie is semi-hysterical after learning about an early childhood accident resulting in the death of her little sister, but her ranting about how everyone is just going to die, and her sincere and desperate plea to understand how people can go about their lives never thinking about this fact, resonates with Daniel, as does her question of whether he is satisfied to live his life as is, and one day just die. The call ends abruptly, but Jolie's influence on Daniel Keltz does not end there.
Finding Jolie is a journey, Jolie's journey to escape her fears and Daniel's to find Jolie. The journey takes them both across the country where they separately encounter strange and life-altering situations and experiences. What they find in the end comes as a surprise.
Finding Jolie is a fast-paced, provocative, page-turner. But it also resonates on a deep psychological level. The novel can be appreciated on either level, and will probably resonate mostly with female readers from ages 17 - 30.
It's underlying theme, though not obvious to the reader, is derived from a social psychological theory called Terror Management, that the author, an accomplished Psychology Professor, has explored extensively in her research.
Daniel Keltz is awake in his bed when the phone startles him from his efforts to fall asleep. It's Jolie Feinstein, a student in his algebra class the year prior. Jolie is semi-hysterical after learning about an early childhood accident resulting in the death of her little sister, but her ranting about how everyone is just going to die, and her sincere and desperate plea to understand how people can go about their lives never thinking about this fact, resonates with Daniel, as does her question of whether he is satisfied to live his life as is, and one day just die. The call ends abruptly, but Jolie's influence on Daniel Keltz does not end there.
Finding Jolie is a journey, Jolie's journey to escape her fears and Daniel's to find Jolie. The journey takes them both across the country where they separately encounter strange and life-altering situations and experiences. What they find in the end comes as a surprise.
Finding Jolie is a fast-paced, provocative, page-turner. But it also resonates on a deep psychological level. The novel can be appreciated on either level, and will probably resonate mostly with female readers from ages 17 - 30.
It's underlying theme, though not obvious to the reader, is derived from a social psychological theory called Terror Management, that the author, an accomplished Psychology Professor, has explored extensively in her research.
March 6, 2012
I wasn't quite sure what to make of this book when I first started it. I figured it would be a typical high school story. Well, there are some typical elements to it but overall it's pretty unique. I found myself rooting for the characters and identifying with them. I did end predicting one of the plot points, but I didn't mind it because it was told in a sweet way. I certainly didn't predict the ending completely though. There were a few elements that pulled me out of the story, but overall it was very well done and flowed together nicely.
I'm currently working on a more detailed review to be posted on my blog later today.
ETA: My detailed review is now posted on my blog.
http://midnight-orchid.blogspot.com/2...
*I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.*
I'm currently working on a more detailed review to be posted on my blog later today.
ETA: My detailed review is now posted on my blog.
http://midnight-orchid.blogspot.com/2...
*I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.*
February 7, 2012
This is a fine debut novel (perhaps best shelved under "young adult") by a fellow psychology professor. It's a story about a young girl managing her emerging existential fear of death, by trying to live as much as she can, by embracing, rather than fleeing fraught interpersonal encounters as well as her own physical body. The book fictionalizes many of the constructs from a social psychological perspective known as Terror Management Theory.
purchased-waiting-to-read
April 12, 2012Giveaway winner
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews