And We're Off

by Dana Schwartz

Seventeen-year-old Nora Holmes is an artist, a painter from the moment she could hold a brush. She inherited the skill from her grandfather, Robert, who's always nurtured Nora's talent and encouraged her to follow her passion. Still, Nora is shocked and elated when Robert offers her a gift: an all-expenses-paid summer trip to Europe to immerse herself in the craft and to study history's most famous artists. The only catch? Nora has to create an original piece of artwork at every stop and send it back to her grandfather. It's a no-brainer: Nora is in!

Unfortunately, Nora's mother, Alice, is less than thrilled about the trip. She worries about what the future holds for her young, idealistic daughter and her opinions haven't gone unnoticed. Nora couldn't feel more unsupported by her mother, and in the weeks leading up to the trip, the women are as disconnected as they've ever been. But seconds after saying goodbye to Alice at the airport terminal, Nora hears a voice call out: "Wait! Stop! I'm coming with you!"

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Travel, Audiobook, Young Adult Contemporary, Art

272 pages, Hardcover

First published May 2, 2017

About the author

Dana Schwartz was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. She attended Brown University where she studied biology and public policy before realizing that she would only be happy if she tried to be a writer. While in college, she created the viral parody twitter account @GuyInYourMFA. Dana worked as a writer for Mental Floss, The Observer, and Entertainment Weekly, with additional bylines for GQ, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, and NewYorker.com.

Dana is the host and creator of the hit history podcast Noble Blood. She also writes for television. She lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Katerina Kondrenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.5 out of 10

This was actually pretty good read. No happy-endings, no bad-endings. Just life.
RTC.

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this via GoodReads Giveaways in an exchange for my honest review. All my opinions are my own.
----
Writing 3.5 stars
Characters - 3.5 stars
Plot 3 stars

(Where's the half-stars??? ;-P)
---

Right away I liked Nora for being a fellow fangirl... her drawings sound like something I would have loved to have if I could cough up the spare cash for a print in a fancy or semi-fancy frame. And the fact that she wasn't a prodigy when it came to Art and still had doubts about herself and still persevering? Awesome :) And She didn't completely lose her mind and throw everything away over a boy.. bonus points

This is one of those compulsively readable books perfect for a hot or rainy day... even one where you are feeling rundown/ill and just escape for a bit into someone else's life.
I remember flying in 2004 to visit a friend in California (since lost touch with, her number and address kept changing and eventually, we faded from each other's lives... met over fanfiction for a favorite show back then funnily enough) and thinking I was brave for going by myself to the other side of the country. Not sure if I would have been as gutsy/brave as Nora for planning to travel on her own to a whole other set of COUNTRIES at that age (that makes me sound old haha).

At first, her mom's attitude to her daughter's art had me growling a bit but as the story unfolds, you get a glimpse into what is going on with her and it's a bit deeper than what the surface shows (only one thing I guessed right). It had me wanting to give her a big hug and some hot chocolate.

Nora does comes across as immature at times and it had me wanting to smack some sense into her (or GibbsGlare)

It was nice to that her mom was present in the story and the ups and downs not portrayed as something unrealistic. It was, well fun isn't the right word but we'll go with it for now, to watch their relationship unfold and have its good/bad moments.

The side characters in here make sometimes-brief appearances but they never did feel like throwaway characters... each had their own vitality and purpose to the story.

Callum was a nice boy and I did love his character but couldn't fully get behind the 'vacation/trip romance' between them. Nothing wrong with it, perfectly well done and very cute at times... I just couldn't connect with it (maybe the asexual part of me? *shrugs*).

The artist's colony sounded like a dream :)

It wasn't a very deep novel but it did have some wonderful 'grounding' moments that had me smiling.

I do wish some things had been expanded upon throughout the story and the epilogue didn't feel like quite enough after everything that had gone on (it was sweet but felt more like a regular chapter than an epilogue proper)

Cons? Not many issues really than what I stated above, and it didn't deter my reading experience any. For a food equivalent... I would say this a ice-cold slushie and delicious funnel cake or ice cream for me, hits the spot at this moment.

Hmm... that came out better in my head. Aah well

A worthwhile read, something light and fun to take your mind off real life for a day or two.

Happy reading!

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy summer read, yes. But I still can't get past the horrible relationship with her mom, how everything just seems to go wrong, and how so many things are just left unfinished at the end. This book definitely could have been longer and explored way more.

[Book of the Month]

The story of an all-expenses paid summer trip to Europe could be the pinnacle of the kind of escapist beach read that spreads a little ray of sunshine upon readers any time of year they choose to pick it up. Book of the Month judge Dana Schwartz makes her YA fiction debut with her signature wit and plenty of voice, following the highs and lows of a mother/daughter team making their way across the Continent. As bubbly and fun as a glass of champagne, And We’re Off is sure to quench your thirst for adventure.
— Book of the Month

Read more at https://www.bookofthemonth.com/and-we...

[Sylvie Bower]

GOODREADS YOU SOLD ME AT GILMORE GIRLS

[Svetlana Dorokhova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Мой отзыв и оценка не будут объективны, учитывая, сколько времени я провела с этой книгой, пропуская через себя каждое слово и эмоцию. И ни капли об этом не жалею. Я безумно рада, что именно она попала в мои руки и очень вовремя! Не знаю, что это: совпадение или судьба, но я не верю в случайности.)) Мне, как художнику невероятно близка героиня, ее переживания, проблемы, поиски. Во многом (касаемо творчества) наши истории похожи, несмотря на разницу в возрасте. Но я часто ловила себя на мысли, что вижу в героине себя.
История написана легко, интересно, насыщенно (объем у книги небольшой, но у меня сложилось впечатление, что за это время столько всего произошло) и с замечательным юмором. Бывает, что в книгах попадается юмор какой-то неуместный, несмешной, с претензией на сарказм. Но это не тот случай, мне действительно было смешно, мне понравилась самоирония героини, которую хочется отметить отдельно. Здесь есть над чем посмеяться, над чем поплакать, над чем подумать - по-моему отличный симбиоз. Очень реалистичная и жизненная история, в нее веришь, в ней нет каких-то притянутых за уши вещей.
Возможно, исполнение неидеально, есть шероховатости, какие-то недоработки, но мне это не помешало, я закрыла на них глаза, потому что сама история мне все это компенсировала с лихвой.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun summer read about a budding artist trying to spend a summer being artsy and independent, but being thwarted by her mom tagging along. All the characters felt very authentic, the dialogue was very real, and I loved that. Nora, the main character, had a lot of problems, but they were all also very realistic and I never felt like they were made up to make her more interesting or layered. Her parents are divorced, and neither she nor her mom are really deal well with it. Her best friend is dating a guy without realizing that Nora has sort of a Past with that guy- should she tell her friend? Then there's the issue of if she's good enough to be a real artist, a fear everyone has about a talent they want to pursue. Some things are resolved, some are not, because real life is like that.

It reminded me very much of an early Maureen Johnson book- 13 Little Blue Envelopes, say. Or Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. So a very fun option for a beach read!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very quick read. This one's tough because I expected more growth from Nora and Alice, and what you get instead is a final chapter resolution with little build-up. The book had little to hold on to other than a few nice moments between the mother and daughter sparsely sprinkled throughout.

Plus there is both domestic and international boy trouble that I wished had dominated less of the storyline.

[Jaime Arkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this summary and I was so excited to read this book! I even found myself laughing a bit in the first chapter, but I honestly don’t know where the story lost me exactly. I obviously have mixed feelings about this read. While I didn’t love it… I certainly didn’t dislike it.

Nora lives and breathes art… it doesn’t help that she has a grandfather who has famous paintings and helps nurture her talent. Her mother on the other hand is less than supportive. When Nora gets accepted into a prestigious art seminar over the summer … in Ireland… her grandfather encourages her to go and he offers her an incentive. He’ll pay for several extra weeks to see other European sites the only catch is that she has to create something from a prompt he provides at each location he suggests.

I think where I struggled a bit was in my feelings for Nora. I think I had expected more growth from her as a character. I felt at times that, yes, she wasn’t happy with her mother tagging along with her on this trip that was supposed to be hers, and I get that, but she let that dictate her attitude and demeanor and let it pretty much ruin a whole trip. She kept saying how this was her trip to be an adult and be independent, yet she just acted so immature. I just thought it was kind of irritating.

I really struggled with the relationship between Nora and Alice, her mother. I hated that her mom was so negative about the things that Nora loved and wanted to do. I thought it was really inconsiderate how her mom hijacked her trip too, and then tried to dictate what they would do.
Of course there are some boys… one who is in the past and still impacting her life, and Callum the boy she meets when she arrives in Ireland. I guess I didn’t have any strong feelings for either the past or the present if that tells you anything at all. I kind of wish I had connected a bit more to the relationship that was building between Callum and Nora, but I just didn’t.

This was a pretty quick read, though I think that’s in part to the way the story is told… I feel like I would have liked to see a bit more depth to the characters and the story itself to have me a bit more invested in what I was reading… and I would have loved to see more of this dedication to art that Nora was supposed to have, I felt like that took a backseat to the boy drama.

[Marochka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Если честно, книга мне понравилась не слишком сильно, хотя я очень ее хотела, и поначалу была просто в восторге.
Но сюжет оказался совсем не таким, как я думала и какой хотела.
Я поняла мораль этой книги, поняла, чему она должна научить читателя. Но мне было невыносимо читать про девушку, которая недовольна буквально всем.
Да, я понимаю, ей семнадцать и ей испортили поездку (как мне испортили книгу, потому что, хотя я и люблю «семейные истории», здесь я ждала совсем другого), но она же все равно путешествует по миру, погружается в культуру новых стран. Как может не нравиться при этом буквально все?
У меня огромный опыт в путешествиях по Европе, и да, я знаю, что там далеко не все происходит так, как запланировал. Да, бывает, что ты в каком-то городе, в который приехал ради, например, определенного музея, на один день, и именно в этот день он закрыт... Обидно, не спорю.
Я, например, была в Лондоне, но мне не хватило билетов на тур «Гарри Поттера». Так что я понимаю, что чувствовала героиня, не попав туда, куда хотела. Но это не значит, что я разочаровалась в поездке, я была в диком восторге от всего остального.
Если бы у меня сейчас была возможность вырваться хоть куда, я бы ни за что не стала ныть и «звереть», как героиня, как бы мне ни портили поездку (посмотрела бы я на нее, если бы все ее вещи перед поездкой в Лондон потеряли в аэропорту, как было у меня, вот это бы реально испортило настроение, а не то, из-за чего она всю дорогу ныла и чем была недовольна).
Да, согласна, в Брюсселе особенно некуда пойти и нечего смотреть, но при этом я не ругаю последними словами Бельгию, как это делает героиня. Мне понравилось, как, например, когда я зашла в один из тысячи магазинчиков с шоколадом, о которых недовольно говорила героиня («Для кого они вообще?»), там играла русская песня. Мне понравилась атмосфера. И пусть Бельгия из всех стран, где я была, мне показалась действительно наименее интересной, в отличие от автора я никогда не назову её «недоразумением».
Романтическая линия вообще какая-то убогая. Т.к. книга короткая, автор толком не смог все прописать (вообще почти ничего не смог прописать, кроме нытья героини). Я не ждала любви до гроба, но вот то, что тут было, это как раз «недоразумение» (а вовсе не Бельгия).
Конец логичный и, вроде как, должен научить читателя следовать за своей мечтой, любить своих близких, но я, если честно, 5 раз перепроверила, не обрывается ли у меня книга где-то на середине, потому что… как-то слишком внезапно она кончилась.
В общем, я так много ждала от книги, что она оказалась для меня сплошным разочарованием. А все так замечательно начиналось… А остались одни негативные эмоции от недовольства героини буквально всем на свете.

[Melanchallina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Дана Шварц "Я уезжаю"

3 из 10

Жанр: YA, современный роман
POV: от первого лица, женский
Геометрия чувств: фигура не поддается определению
Отличительные черты: героиня художница, поиски себя, налаживание отношений между матерью и дочерью

РЕЦЕНЗИЯ:
К моему глубокому сожалению, эта книга оказалась не тем, что ожидала. Я прекрасно помню первую главу и то, как она мне понравилась. Казалось, что у книги есть все, чтобы запасть мне в душу и попасть в фавориты – героиня-художница с отличным чувством юмора, путешествия по Европе, поиски себя… но автор все просрала.

Для начала, мне были неприятны отношения Норы и ее матери. Я очень близка со своей мамой и трепетно отношусь к ней, поэтому мне больно, когда героини грубят своим родителям. С другой стороны, моя мама всегда меня поддерживала, во всех начинаниях, а я осуждаю родителей, которые не уважают стремления и мечты своих детей. Так что сами понимаете, как мне было тяжело при прочтении.

Еще одним неприятным фактором стала сама героиня. Да, твоя мама решила увязаться с тобой в поездку мечты, да все идет не по плану, но черт… Ты в Европе, в новом и непривычном для тебя мире, перестань вечно ныть и жаловаться. Поверьте, я не преувеличиваю Нора жалуется на все и ПОСТОЯННО. Как человек мечтающий вырваться из границ своего города и редко имеющий такую возможность (по ряду причин), я искренне желала надавать героине пощечин. Если что-то шло не по ее плану, она начинала депрессировать и обвинять во всем маму. Черт, детка, да неприятно, но все равно ты в другой стране, вокруг много незнакомых мест, почему ты этого не понимаешь? А ее отношение к Бельгии? Ох… Героиня все время подчеркивала, что это путешествие важно для нее, что она хочет почувствовать себя взрослой и независимой, но по факту вела себя как незрелый ребенок.

Следующий недостаток книги – любовная линия. Она невнятная, непонятная и дико неуместная. Такое ощущение, что автор поняла, что ее книгу будут в основном читать представительницы женского пола и нужно срочно добавить любовь-морковь. И чтобы с ноткой проблемности (не могу сказать иначе) для драматизма. Да вот вышло что-то странное. И ведь в начале было мило забавно и парнишка был очаровашкой, а потом Дана Шварц решила что надо все испортить.

Я также не почувствовала роста героев, чтобы происходящие события как-то повлияли на них. Нора не училась на своих ошибках, а ее мама так до конца и не приняла страсть дочери. Все это вызвало у меня странные чувства, будто у книги нет идеи, смысла.

Ну и конец… он вроде логичный и хороший, вроде как героиня решила идти своим путем, не сдалась… но слишком это было внезапно и обрывочно, будто рандомно вписанная автором сцена.

В общем очень обидно, что книга, которая подавала надежды, у которой была отличная идея и хороший юмор, получилась такой смятой и непродуманной.

[abeer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mother and daughter had a relationship which was like the complete opposite of Gilmore Girls. Loved Nora's grandfather and his assignments. I don't think the characters had much development though, which sucked. (2.75 stars)

[Juliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nora Holmes is preparing for an all-expense paid trip gifted by her grandfather, complete with envelopes for each destination and an assignment (13 Envelopes, anyone?) to complete. She's an artist with mostly fanart under her belt but a good tumblr following and the trip includes a few weeks at an art school. She's supposed to go alone but her mom is too wary and decides to tag along at the last minute. All of her plans are thrown out the window as she has to adjust to the new sidekick.
Truth be told, I chose this book because the audio book was under 8 hours and wanted something to listen to while I worked. This seemed interesting enough to catch my attention so there's that.
It's a pretty fluffy beach read with not a huge amount of substance. Nora and her mother butt heads on more than one occasion and have a handful of fights throughout the book. I can see Nora's point in that the trip she's been looking for was turned on its head when her mom, Alice, tags along. I can also side with Alice because Nora acts like a total brat on more than one occasion. The way she sometimes treats her mom is totally unacceptable, especially in public. Yes, she's allowed to be thoroughly annoyed by the huge change in her trip but there's only so long she should be holding that grudge. She's clearly having fun in her art program and meeting new people. She just pushes aside her mom's feelings half the time. Alice also needs to learn how to communicate. Her twist was something I figured out from the beginning so it was pretty amateur writing. Nora's supposed best friend is totally self-absorbed too so she's not much help. This was enjoyable to listen to and hear about all the places Nora visits. It was also interesting to listen to how much she appreciates art. It's pretty middle of the road so you can take it or leave it.

[Katy O. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vacation Review #5 🌴While technically this book is billed as YA, it will satisfy anyone who has ever traveled with a parent....or a daughter. Nora and her mother's relationship was one I could relate to so closely both as a mother and as a daughter, and I swear some of the conversations were replicas I had when traveling with my own mother as an adult! The travels through Europe were detailed and a joy to read about, and the art storyline will surely please any art lovers. This is a light and quick read, a fun travel companion for YA and adult readers alike.

[Sara (A Gingerly Review) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars from me. I didn't dislike this book but I certainly am not going to be pushing it on people. I had issues with the angsty teenager routine and the vague & disconnected mother suddenly wanting to reconnect with her daughter. Plus, that ending. *insert heavy eye roll here* I really wish authors would stop trying to fix everything in the last five pages. It does not ever work that way.

Full review to come soon.

Review can be found here: https://agingerlyreview.wordpress.com...

By looking at the cover of this one, you would expect this to be about an epic road trip throughout Europe stuffed full of adventure and self discovery. Well, that is what I expected anyway. That is not what lies between the covers. What you will get is an very angsty teenager and a mother with secrets.

Short recap: Nora Parker-Homes is the granddaughter of the famous artist, Robert Parker. He has given her an all expense paid trip to travel through Europe and then three weeks to train at a very selective art school. Everything changes for Nora when her mother chooses to tag along on her trip at the last minute.

I struggled with this book. I mean, really struggled. Thank goodness it is a very quick read because that’s the only reason I didn’t DNF. I believe the biggest obstacle I had was Nora herself. I never connected with her because she didn’t allow anyone to connect with her. She was so self centered, selfish, and stubborn that no character in the book, other than her grandfather, could get through to her. How am I, the reader, supposed to root for someone like that? I had hoped for some growth from her character, some small twinkle that told me she was maturing, developing, or maturing in some way but that never happened. I could understand how much it hit her and hurt her that the mother that has always been so distant suddenly wanted to tag along on a trip to Europe. But instead of trying to talk to her mother about it rationally, she yelled, screamed, threw temper tantrums, and let it affect her entire trip. What made that even more annoying was how Nora kept screaming about how this trip was supposed to be about her becoming an adult and experiencing life. Well, how about you act like an adult and talk to your mother like a civil human being instead of a spoiled brat? That was apparently too much to hope for from this protagonist. The constant bickering, yelling, and nitpicking got old read quick.

Let’s talk about Alice, Nora’s mother. Now there is a character with a subscription to her issues. She was negative, self-centered, and rather delusional the entire time. Alice was just so dang negative and unsupportive about her daughter’s dreams to become an artist. I can sort of see where she was coming from but in the end, she was projecting her fears and regrets from her own life onto her daughter. Not a very original storyline but it made me strongly dislike her even more. It also made me struggle with the mother-daughter relationship. Their relationship was more of two roommates living together, not one of a mother and a daughter. The one thing I found completely unrealistic was how Alice decided at the last minute to hijack Nora’s trip. What mother would do that? A self-centered and crazy one, that’s who. If Alice despised her daughter’s dreams that much, why tag along?

This story is categorized as a contemporary so there are some boys involved. There are two, actually, one back home who Nora fooled around with and one in Ireland. Little to no information is given on the boy back home other than he’s a jerk. Callum is the new one in Ireland and Nora moved super fast with him. It bordered on instalove. Here’s why I couldn’t connect to that relationship: Nora was only supposed to be in Ireland (the fancy school) for three weeks yet she started obsessing over Callum in a matter of days. Then she became upset when he pulled away and realized it didn’t make sense to start something if she was going to leave. He was the smart one of the two! But I didn’t feel what they were feeling and as a result, I didn’t care what they did. I liked Callum but I didn’t see him as anything more than a male character to fill a specific role in that part of the story.

The ending pissed me off. When will authors realize that they cannot solve everything in the last five pages of a story? The way this author tried to tie everything up with a pretty bow was unrealistic. There is no way any of that would happen in real life and it made me dislike the book more. I would have liked this story so much more if the author had picked one topic: either a coming of age story or a mother-daughter working through their issues. This story proved that both cannot work together. The characters also needed so much more development than what was presented here. I feel like this book should have been edited a few more times before it was released. There is so much work that should needed to happen to make this a good story. What we were given was not a good story.

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know when you're making cookies and don't mix the dough well enough so there are pockets of flour and chunks of rock hard brown sugar?

This book feels like that.

I was so disappointed after finishing this because all of the scrumptious ingredients are in there: Europe, an author with a hilarious online presence, mother-daughter bonding. Somehow it never fully comes together. Even as a former Tumblr queen, I struggled to sympathize with the main character. There were some funny first person POV narrative moments but the voice couldn't sustain itself for 250+ pages. The pacing of the book fluctuated between too slow and "blink and you'll miss it." Without spoiling anything, the ending felt very rushed and *too* good/predictable to be true. The overall story arc felt more like seeing a movie through a View Master toy than a continuous video.

I've followed the author on Twitter for awhile and while her nonfiction and 140 character nuggets of commentary are great, this missed the mark. There's no doubt that Dana can craft a story; something just feels half baked with this book. I wish it went through one more draft to thoroughly mix the ingredients together.

tl;dr 1.5 stars

[Forever Young Adult]

Graded By: Rosemary
Cover Story: Suspiciously Familiar
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 4
Talky Talk: Straight Up
Bonus Factor: Europe
Relationship Status: Summer Fling

Read the full book report here.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oof. I picked this up at my local Dollar Tree (which should have been my first clue it would leave a lot to be desired).

That being said; I wrote ALL OVER this book. So many notes and comments. Mostly about how much I hated Nora (the MC). The note I wrote the most in the margins was

"Self-Aware but still stupid"

This should be Nora's motto. She knows she's doing something stupid, acknowledges that it's a dumb thing and then does NOTHING in realization of this acknowledgement and continues to be a selfish brat.

This is going to be so chaotic (much like my notes in the book). I'm sorry for that. I don't have enough time or space to write down everything about this book that bothered me. So here's a mostly out of context list.

-Obsession with a guy who is both unavaliable and a terrible person
-'jokes' that are not funny (or even jokes)
-irresponsible MC (leaving her room in a mess after her mom threatens to throw everything away)
-obsessing about every even remotely attractive man and imagining him falling madly in love with her while she does something not remotely cute/indearing/flirty/etc.
-Jar Jar Binks reference
-snot green streak of hair
-glasses (as in the things on your face you need to see) only serve an aesthetic purpose and no other
-obsession with older men who don't even know she exists despite her desperately pretending to look 'cool'
-GrEaTeSt AmErIcAn ArTiSt RoBeRt PaRkEr
-'the glint of his gold tooth'
-Tim Burton round hills
-the completely pointless wedding chapter
-"No one in Europe wears jeans"
-Nora's casual patterns of abuse
-EFFING NICK and how he's horrible but she's obsessed with him
-the complete ignorance of the fact that Europe has a postal system
-casual rascism/stereotypes
-"an androgynous leather wallet"
-"the words dissolve like a Listerine strip on my tongue"
-BULLETPROOOOOOOOF
-replanning an entire European trip in 45 minutes
-"lips peeling apart"
-calling Mom Alice for like 90% of the book
-the batsh*t crazy formatting that makes zero sense and screams "I'm nOt LiKe OtHeR AutHorS"
-Nora randomly knowing things that she can't see and/or hear
-The big STUPID secret about Nick
-Mom being a Karen for literally the entire book
-Nora literally having zero commitment to ANYTHING
-neo-N*zi
-"the smell of McSweat"
-Nora judges everyone for anything she can. Things that have nothing to do with her. Old computers. Clothing. Hair color, etc. She's such a judgy B
-StArBuCkS (when she's in Paris)
This all happens BEFORE chapter 6. At the end of chapter five I wrote "How is it possible for me to hate the MC more each chapter?"

Continuing my list:
-squat porcelain bidet
-"those ghastly pyramids"
-'Ugly Americans" - this phrase is used repeatedly when Nora recognizes that she's acting like one and then does NOTHING to stop acting like one
-fantasizing about her non-existant fiance more than once (and always a different guy)
-buying some expensive purse (I assume) becuse they're in Paris and you have to buy it where you'll appreciate it or some stupid thing like that (this bag is never mentioned again)
-being alive for 17 years and having no idea what your mom studied in college
-"The sun had sunk a little, dipping behind the uneven roofs" IT'S 3 PM IN THE AFTERNOON IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER.
-"Paris has become a twilight labrynth" IT'S STILL ONLY LIKE 3 PM
-HARRY POTTER, HARRY POTTER, HARRY POTTER (DUMBLEDOR!)
-"I fantasize about strangling her"
-I guess you need a gym in order to workout now...
-Grandpa letting Nora skip school once a year to take her to the art museum in Chicago
-MY GRANDPA IS FAMOUS!!! I AM FAMOUS TOO! BECAUSE HE'S MY GRANDPA. WHY WON'T YOU ACKNOWLEDGE MY FAME?????
-"a cloud of pubic hair"
-"Why would you even bring a baby to a museum? What could it possibly learn?"
-"I compare it to Grandpa's painting"
-"The sun is out, the sky is blue - every Electric LIght Orchestra song just makes so much more sense."
-France = sexy people with cigarettes
-"I am a competent lady artist"
-they're in Paris and she's too busy being a moody brat they don't even go see the Eiffel Tower
-the completely undeserved hate toward Brussels
-the legend about the building in Brussels
-buying chocolate to take home, in the middle of the summer, with multiple days left of the trip
-Nora not NOTICING the building she's sketching is asymetrical until her MOM points it out
-Mom's diet that only matters when Nora can complain about it
-the entire Lord Byron Caroline Lamb story
-sneaking into the church, crashing the wedding and yelling 'Congratulations' are you run out, only further ruining the wedding.
-'I'm an American tourist, give me free stuff'
-this amazing altarpiece that is described in ZERO details. So beautiful
-Nora only planning for 2 days in Paris but 5 in Brussels
-being a moody brat and hiding in the hotel instead of doing ANYTHING else
-in reference to Belgium "It's a terrible fake country, and it shouldn't exist."

We're approximatly half way through now. Yay.

-'no visible signs or street names' - everything the author knows about Ireland she learned from ONE U2 song
-Nora wants to be independent but has no idea what bus stop she needs to get off at
-glasses on the cute boy are cool
-KNOWING THAT YOUR GUIDEBOOK FOR IRELAND ONLY HAS ONE PAGE ABOUT DONEGAL COUNTY and not bothering to get any supplemental information before your trip
-"thank the Great Leprechaun in the Sky"
-Nora has been staying in hotels but has gone most of the trip without mirrors
-sixty years old is too old and feeble
-"Are those... your horses?" (spoiler no one ever actually rides the horses or even mentions them again)
-"Is Irish the language? I thought it was Gaelic?"
-underage drinking - encouraged by Mom
-"He talks in paragraphs. It's exhausting."
-The stupid Lord of the Rings conversations
-basically everything about Callum in relation to Nora
-"the old hobbit made a really, really scary face and it was far too late for me to have to deal with that when I closed my eyes that night."
-"I'm finding it difficult to to wrap my head around the notion that someone could live his entire life in a small town in the corner of an island so far from everything."
-"Wait, you have Buzzfeed here?"
-"The only other American is a boy from California whose name and face are equally forgettable.... I couldn't have picked him out of a two-man police lineup if catching the Zodiac Killer was on the line."
-being upset that she has to pick a partner on the first day of the art thing and being mad that you're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover when she's been doing that since we met her
-basically all of chapter 14 and how incredibly pointless it all was
-"I can't hate her because she's also insanely nice. People like that are the worst."
-"insert blushing emoji here haha"
-All of page 150 (which I crossed out in my book because it's the same stupid fight that Nora and Mom have every time they fight)
-VALENTINE NEVERWOODS. EFFING VALENTINE NEVERWOODS
-"So you guys are like the TV show Friends?"
-"I half expect [his eyes] to change color or morph like a gif somehow."
-Mom's inability to move on and 'get over' the divorce
-"like a platonic Patrick Swayze."
-playing in the sea (ocean?) that's like below 60*F and not being cold
-everything that happens in the cemetery (both times, but specifically the first time is what I'm referencing here)
-"Belgium is a joke."
-the fundamental misunderstanding of what International Law really is
-endorsing animal abuse (the goldfish conversation)

I have no idea how many characters I have left but we're starting chapter 19. Almost done. I'm also being more brief because it's all just the same stupid stuff.

-"my cry-face is uglier than Kim Kardashian's."
-the weirdness of keeping Nora's dad being her adoptive dad a secret for literally no reason
-"Callum kisses me... his mouth parted just enough to let through a hint of wetness."
-"I want to punch her in the face. I want to punch everyone in the face."
-"I resist the urge to kick him." (this is a cat that has done literally nothing to Nora at all except for existing in the same space as her.
-the entire second scene at the cemetery
-angsty pop, sad sad etc. Taylor Swift music references
-the fact that Nora had no idea how her mom got pregnant with her or where or why
-Nora's bat-sh*t crazy dream that has no bearing on anything that happens or happened or will happen
-the weird obsession with JFK and the treasure
-RODGER IS FROM WALES!!!!!!!!!
-the drama between Nora and Callum lasting about three paragraphs and neither of them learning anything worthwhile from the misunderstanding
-the stupid packing list
-Nora pouting because she doublebooked her weekend and so everyone loses
-the mom's stupid 'secret' about the program
-Nora's stupid letter to Callum
-Nora continuing to be a brat and LEAVING the program because of stupid reasons and not because she had no right to be there in the first place
-all the stupid drama over the email to Lena (that ends up being POINTLESS)
-Nora whining about not having a data plan and then conviently forgetting she doesn't have one for half a chapter for PLOT REASONS
-multiple things being a Hunger Games style battle when in reality it's getting on a bus or something equally mundane
-going to a museum wearing a dirty shirt and leggings
-the entire art show at the museum
-Nora getting MORE UNDESERVED credit for her mediocre art, where she continues to ride on her grandpa's coattails and has yet to do ANTYHING for herself to make a name for herself or even to PRETEND like she likes art
-the entire epilogue (and all of the final chapter)
-Nora not 'noticing' the final letter from her grandpa was heavier than the others until she's about to open it.

Good crap. I know all of this is without context, but I really don't have the energy to go through and give context. And I cut like half of the stuff I wanted to mention.

That being said. My biggest problem with Nora is she has ZERO character growth. She starts the book with an inflated ego, where her world only extends to her grandpa's and despite going to see art from some of the most famous artists in the world her grandpa is still the only person who can have any impact on her. She ends the book being even more entitled because she once again got something handed to her that she didn't deserve. Had she put her art on display on her own no one would care, but because her name is attached her grandpa's she's a household name right now.

Nora's mom is in desperate need of therapy. She's been divorced for two years and still cries about it. Wear's her ex-husband's old t-shirt and doesn't like talking about him. GET THERAPY.

Nora and Mom are both terrible people. They both take low shots at each other (the same ones over and over and over again) and instead of taking two seconds to have a real conversation and resolve something they pretend it didn't happen the next day and then the same argument happens again.

Nora wants to be an artist but aside from the gay fanart she's drawing and the assignments she's given she only goes out of her way to create something on her own ONCE in the entire book. And it's ends badly. That being said... I never believed Nora wanted to be an artist. She never seemed to care. She never went out of her way to improve her craft. She can't handle any criticism what so ever (thick skin is a must in anything that is subjective - espeically since she wants to go do school for art).

I'm going back to my original way to sum up Nora. Self-aware but stupid. Had Nora spent the book being a selfish teen who doesn't realize she's being a brat it could have worked so much better. It would have given her room to grow and reflect. Instead she acknowledges she's a brat and then decides to keep being a brat. Even at the end of the story she's still selfish and stupid.

That's about all I want to say. I could write about all the editing issues. Or even the misspellings. But at the end of the day, the only thing that could have honestly helped this book was for it to never have been published.

[Lisa (lifeinlit) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Travel - check! A swoony guy - check! An annoying, intruding mother - check check!

Nora loves art. Her very successful artist grandfather has always encouraged her passion for art, yet her mother doesn't offer up the same support to Nora. When Nora's grandfather offers her the chance of a lifetime, an all-expenses-paid trip to Europe to study art, Nora is beside herself with excitement. That is, until her mother drives her to the airport to drop her off, and at the last minute decides to accompany Nora on the trip. Well, let's just say Nora and her mother, Alice, don't have the most warm and fuzzy relationship. You see, Alice doesn't approve of Nora's passion for art, as she feels it isn't a successful career and that Nora should be focusing on something that will bring her more success in her future. The last thing Nora wants on her trip is her mother's company... but without a choice, the two set off to travel Europe together, in hopes of finding what they're each looking for.

As you can imagine, the settings in this story were a lot of fun!! I've always wanted to travel to Europe myself, so any time I can travel through the eyes of characters in books, I'm all there! This story was cute and exactly how I thought it would be. Nora is the typical teenager, hoping to find a tall, dark and handsome boy on vacation to sweep her off her feet. I mean, really... what teenager traveling alone wouldn't want that?! But with her mother always around to cramp her style, Nora is finding it harder and harder to have the trip of a lifetime that she really wanted.

My favorite thing about this story was the writing style. I loved Dana Schwartz's sassy, witty and fun writing! When you open a book and immediately connect with an author's style... it's such a wonderful feeling!!

My issues with this book surround the characters themselves. I was expecting more growth for both Nora and Alice. I thought the last few chapters would have been more impacting, leaving more of an impression about how these two had grown from their experiences together. It was definitely missing something there, something that would have brought this story up a few notches for me. I also struggled with Nora's and Alice's behaviors on the trip. I can completely understand how Nora was bothered by her mother basically taking over their trip... but I struggled with how she let it impact her entire trip. Instead of acting like an adult on taking over the trip like she had originally planned, she let the fact that her mother tagged along affect her entire attitude day after day. I also thought it was pretty crappy of her mother to basically just crash her trip, and then take it over, planning out their days entirely. The behavior of these two day after day on their trip made it hard for me to really connect with them. Honestly, I wanted to smack them both a time or two. Get it together, ladies!

Overall though, this was a really fun contemporary story involving travel, one of my favorite things! Since I don't travel a lot myself, I adore reading books about others venturing out in the world. This was a cute story that would be perfect for a day at the beach. A quick, easy read. And just look at that cover!! *heart eyes*

 


This type of story, one involving travel, particularly, is a lot of fun on audio. I tend to really enjoy travel, road trips, and other stories of discovery on audio. I feel like I'm right with these characters, taking in the sights myself. I had the opportunity to listen to this audiobook, as well as read the physical copy, and I enjoyed both formats quite a bit. Whether you want to go the audio route or the hardcopy, this is a cute story to add to your Summer tbr!
 


(Thanks to Razorbill and Penguin Audio for the review copies!)

Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

[Cortney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was mediocre at best.

There was not a lot of depth to the characters and the relationships between them did not seem genuine. I expected a little more from the mother. The characters just seemed to be written and not well developed.

The story itself was sufficient. I didn't feel the need to pick the book back up as soon as I put it down, but it help my interest enough to be curious as to what would happen next. I truly felt like there was going to be a HUGE deep dark secret from the mother towards the end, so that was a bit of a let down.

The ending was neatly tied up in a nice, quick little bow that left me feeling "eh". I was really hoping that this would be a book that made me feel like I was traveling with Nora, but it didn't. Looking back at the length of the book, I should have known that it would be lacking in details and everything that happened, happened fast.

I might recommend it as a light, quick read. I will typically read books like this when I have a book hangover because my expectations are minimal and I am not looking for something comparable to my previous read. But as a high recommendation for a "must read' this would not come close.

[Maude VM · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75⭐️ While this book was nothing exceptional, it was a well writing book about growing up and knowing what to do with your life. The MC was a bit annoying and selfish sometimes, but I liked the story very much! Plus, Irish accents 😍
#audiobook

[Hannah Bierwirth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little young-adult read about a high schooler and her mother trying to find themselves in a summer trip to Europe. Some typical teenage angst clouding the narrator's judgment that also allows her to find personal growth. Easy but nothing super special.

[Anisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Sarah Hamatake · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were many contradictions in this book that got under my skin. And the main character was unbearably childish, even for a teenager.

[SaturnsKeyring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little Summer read about the struggle of growing up and pursuing your passion. Nothing special, but Dana Schwartz's writing is just enjoyable.


3.5 Stars + 1 extra because I am jealous of a closed off parent coming around and saying "I am proud of you"

[kit · Rating 2 out of 5]

i'd be a lot more disgruntled if i didn't use my free audible credit and paid actual money for this

the good
- #ownvoices jewish rep
-the scene where nora and alice decided to sneak into the wedding was delightful
-clearly there was a lot of research done

the bad
-uhhhhh
-everything else

part of the reason i didn't enjoy and we're off was because of the audiobook itself. lauren fortgang did a fine job narrating but she sounded too old to effectively get me to believe she was 17 year-old nora. though that's a problem i've encountered before so i'm willing to overlook it. the real problem was that the book was lackluster and the characters were all utterly unlikable. i enjoy schwartz's parody twitter accounts (@GuyInYourMFA and @DystopianYA) and was reasonably excited for her to release a novel that would be, by all accounts a feel-good summer read, but fell flat. she's much funnier in 140 characters.

nora and alice were two-dimensional narcissists who were less sympathetic than the characters in my previous read who literally committed murder. there was hardly any character growth, oh and btw, wrapping all the loose ends up in the last five pages of the book doesn't count as an ending it counts as lazy writing. the writing was fine. it was there. it wasn't world-class but wasn't so bad that i actively wanted to die reading it. the "tumblr-speak" trend that's gotten into YA writers recently is alright if used sparingly and, say, within internet-related contexts but when dropped like breadcrumbs every second sentence like schwartz does it gets old very, very fast. we get it, you're down with the kids, you're a millennial, that's how young people talk. i'd rather take john green's pretentious 'pain demands to be felt' unrealistic bullshit. at least it doesn't always read like a seventh grader writing their first novel without a grasp of interesting syntax.

mostly, i was let down because i was promised a roadtrip novel between a mother and daughter and, while i got that, there was also an inevitable heterosexual romantic plot tumor shoehorned in there. the romance between callum and nora was about as half-baked as a stoner trying to blaze it behind school without getting caught. i hated it. i dislike romance in general, but because schwartz said that romance wouldn't be the focus of the novel i felt outright betrayed when callum showed up because i knew i was about to like the book even less. it was like the music leading up to the shower scene in psycho except instead of a murderer it's a smirking irish boy with generic nerdy interests who can't take no for an answer. spare me.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seriously, who doesn't love a book about traveling to Europe? I was so excited to pick up this book, especially since our main character is an artist and has to complete certain projects for her Grandfather during her trip. I couldn't wait to see what she created and what she discovered on her trip!

With a strained relationship at home with her mom and her father getting remarried, Nora Holmes can't wait to take off across the world and immerse herself in an art experience she'll never forget. Nora has dreamed of going to art school and being an artist like her grandfather, but her mother has never taken her art seriously. As Nora is walking got her gate to take off on her grand adventure, she hears someone calling her name. Her mother has decided to join her. How is Nora supposed to be independent with her mom behind her at every step?

When I picked up this book, I was so excited that we actually had some parents in a YA novel. Normally, parents are MIA and the main characters are allowed to run around and do whatever they want. I don't know what kind of childhood you guys had, but my parents were definitely around and definitely had some rules. While mine never followed me on a trip last minute, I definitely connected with Nora in the sense that her mom was around and was trying to be a part of her life. While Nora did act a little immature at times, it's because she was. When you're annoyed with your parents, you may start to get a little whiney and short with them, which makes you seem mean and immature. It's just how that relationship works, especially when you're a teen with an already strained relationship with your mother like Nora was. I thought her mom was a little excessively not understanding (especially with the mean things she said about her art), but I guess that was necessary for the plot line the author was going for.

Aside from the main relationship, I really loved Nora's trip and how her grandfather gave her certain assignments. I wanted to hop on a plane myself and visit all of the gorgeous (and not so gorgeous) places that Nora visited. This was definitely a quick read and gave you a realistic look at a mother/daughter relationship while throwing in some art and travel.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5
My original rating for this was three stars,. but after sitting back and thinking about it the more, I realized that the main character, Nora (I had to look up her name), bothered me. She was very annoying and was hard to connect to/ feel bad for. She was very whiny for a seventeen year old; she complained about a lot of different things and was very judgmental of everyone. At one point (not going to go into detail because spoilers), Nora judges a woman for wearing her glasses at her wedding. Not sure about everyone else with glasses, but I wear my glasses to see because everything is hella blurry without them- not because I want someone else's opinion. Maybe that woman didn't like contacts or couldn't wear them. But who cares because it was her wedding, and she could wear whatever she wanted to wear (a statement that applies to everyday life as well because their body their choices). And Nora's mom was the same way.

I wish I had liked it more because I love books about traveling, as I want to go back to Europe (I've been to Italy and Germany before). But this kinda fell flat for me. Be it that it was the MC or something about the writing, it just wasn't for me.

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trigger warnings: mentions of cheating, alcohol abuse. I think that's all???

The second I saw this being described as like Gilmore Girls but travelling around Europe, I was sold. Unfortunately, this turned out to be more teen drama than mother-daughter relationship. Nora spends probably three-quarters of the book being pissed off at her mum and not actually listening to anything her mum is saying. And the last little chunk didn't really make up for it.

Nora was a reasonable protagonist, but I just sort of...didn't care about her. Which, you know, isn't ideal. It almost felt like there were too many plots going on at once (travelling with her mother, going to art school, summer romance, doubting her art talents, doing projects for her grandfather) and it didn't quite do any of them justice, especially seeing as it's only 250 pages.

So basically, I wanted to really like this book but it just ended up being a big pile of meh for me.

[Kara]

I read about half of this. I'm DNFing because it's pissing me off. Both characters are insufferable and annoying, plus this is really triggering for me as my mother and I did not have a great relationship when I was this age. I understand Nora being pissed off because her mom is being selfish and sabotaged her trip, but at the same time, you're traveling through Europe for the first time, and all she does is complain about how horrible everything is. I hate both of them.

The writing is fine. I still think this would be a great book for the right person, but I am not that person.