Schmetterlingswochen

by Sarah Combs, Eva Müller-Hierteis (Translator)

Die Magie der Schmetterlinge

Als die 17-jährige Gloria im Sommercamp zum ersten Mal auf Mason trifft, hält sie ihn für einen egozentrischen Schwachkopf. Überhaupt, wo ist sie hier bloß gelandet, wenn ihr gemeinsamer (anonymer!) Literatur-Dozent sie auf seltsame Schnitzeljagden schickt? Doch was turbulent beginnt, wird zu einem unvergesslichen Sommer der überraschenden Freundschaften und der beflügelnden Selbstfindung.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Coming Of Age, Romance, Summer

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 8, 2014

About the author

Sarah Combs leads writing workshops at a nonprofit literacy center in Lexington, Kentucky, where she lives with her two young sons, two pacifist bird dogs, and her modern-day Atticus Finch of a husband, whose acquaintance she first made at a geek camp not unlike Gloria’s. Breakfast Served Anytime is her first novel.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 1 out of 5]

I LOVE this cover. Sadly, though, that's where my love affair with this book ends.

You know when you discover a book that just calls to you? With the title and the description and the total lack of hype. No expectations or demands... just the possibility of finding a little hidden gem with an extremely pretty cover. That was this book for me. I knew nothing except the sweet little promises it made:

A coming-of-age debut evokes the bittersweet joys and pangs of finding independence in one unforgettable summer.

Ooh la la, sign me up.

Now would be the absolute perfect time for me to drown myself in some bittersweet tales of growing up, gaining independence and leaving a little something behind. I'm weeks away from finishing my final exams, just two months away from graduation. The British sun is fighting its way out from behind the rain clouds. The friends I've lived with for the past three years are all going off in different directions. I am sad and happy and I can even do my own laundry (go me!). This book didn't even need to try that hard to please me...

But, instead I got an unrealistic, melodramatic and immature portrayal of teenagers away at summer camp. Teenagers who speak in that way which is how the elderly think teenagers speak:

"I know, right? She is literally right down the hall from me and I am not kidding he just dropped her off and he kissed her on the mouth in front of like fifty people oh my God."

Like, oh my god, that is literally, like, an actual quote.

Then there is the main character - Gloria - who is so high and mighty I want to strangle her. Immediately labelling her roommate a "Barbie" and mentally texting her friend back home about her disdain for a guy who wears a funny hat:

He looked right up at me, grinned, and, twirling his hat toward the ground, gave a deep and infuriating bow. I spun away from the window and had to actually sit down because that’s exactly the extent to which I felt like the air had been stolen from my lungs. Suffice it to say that, officially and irrevocably, I hated the Mad Hatter.

You... hated him? Because he twirled his hat and bowed at you? Is the author even trying to get me to care about you? The book is sadly full of this kind of melodramatic, immature bullshit. I find it difficult to believe anyone actually behaves like this.

And before anyone tells me I didn't get it... I DID. I get that the author was probably trying to show how we can have incorrect impressions about people. Maybe there is a message in this book about learning not to judge people. But it gets lost in the completely cliche and caricatured characters and the fact that I couldn't find a single reason to like the protagonist. I think perhaps everything was exaggerated and the characters were portrayed as caricatures to more effectively make a point... but it fell flat for me.

Beautiful covers lie.

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[Emery Lord · Rating 5 out of 5]

BREAKFAST SERVED ANYTIME is one of those books that makes me want to be a better writer. The characters are so well-drawn, and Sarah Combs's writing is absolutely gorgeous. I'm sad I have to pass it along on an ARC tour because I want to reread it before it comes out :) Absolutely recommended!

[Carlton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had the ONE thing that I hate: that oh-so-clever 16 year old AV/Drama Club witty banter (full of 19th century literary references, of course) that you would expect from a modern coming-of-age book written by an adult. But ya know what? I DON'T CARE. Ya know why? Because this book was beautiful. Gloria, Calvin, Chloe, and Mason were beautiful. Jessica and Sonya were beautiful. Kentucky was beautiful. It totally captured that moment when you are young and you start to really see the world for the first time. A world where blue butterflies (peleides blue morpho) are the heralds of magic moments.

[lucky little cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a likable, tame talented 'n' gifted nerd love story. It's proudly regional (Kentucky) and



unashamedly idealistic (lots of poetry quoting, puppy patting, and late blooming). It's so quiet and anguish-free that it's basically comfort-food reading. If you're nostalgic for tales where teens hang out in a diner and are nice to each other, then hey, look no farther.

Reminded me of Creech's Chasing Redbird, Horvath's Everything on a Waffle, and E. Lockhart's Dramarama.

Set around 2010, but as is common with this kind of book, feels as if the story is taking place much longer ago.

[Hazel (Stay Bookish) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah is a talented writer- her prose is lovely! Her characters are fleshed out and really interesting. While the story itself is quieter than most contemporaries or YA books, I really liked how slice-of-life it felt. It didn't drag at all and I finished easily and with a smile after one sitting. :)

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's abundantly clear that this is a debut novel. It's filled with good ideas and plot threads, none of which particularly go together and all of which get left underdeveloped--much like the characters themselves. Gloria is an unlikeable protagonist: judgmental and hypocritical in most of her thoughts and actions, as well as lacking any connection to the rest of the world. She's also determinedly wishy-washy. She hates kids, but after a few minutes with one, she likes them. She hates dogs, but after a few minutes with one she likes them. Anything she feels strongly about one way, she then feels strongly about another way, generally in about the same amount of time it takes to sneeze. Creating a flawed protagonist with which the reader can identify is a careful tightrope walk, but Combs fell into the safety net in her attempt. Perhaps some of her unlikeability (or ambivalence) could have been tempered with just a little bit of character development. With only 261 small pages with generous font and margins, there's just not enough content to give the reader a deeper view of Gloria. She states that she misses her grandmother, but that longing isn't really felt. It's just a statement of truth. Much like that her mother left. It's there, but we don't have a grand sense of how it affects her because it's simply a piece of her back story, a part of the checklist of the character profile.

The other characters fare little better. They're given paper thin personalities and histories that could be so much more, but no, they're just personality points to keep things "quirky." It's a shame too, because some of Gloria's classmates have the making of interesting characters, except that's all the farther they get in their development. Except for when extra pieces are randomly crammed in at the end as if Combs realized that she wrote a teen novel and forgot to make sure all of the characters had romantic partner.

The story itself is an equal flop. It feels like it should be a coming of age story, but instead it's just a love story to the state of Kentucky with all nuance shoved under a rug to talk about how Kentuckians should come back home and support the beautiful state they left. There's nothing wrong with showing the love of a place in a book, but it's supposed to be in the subtext, not a figurative billboard that collides frequently with what was supposed to be the plot of the book.

Overall, Breakfast Served Anytime is a clunky and uninspired novel. The target audience will likely find it patronizing while older readers will likely find it cloying and heavy-handed in it's approach. From after school special moments to "I love Kentucky and you can too!" propaganda, it's a mess of a book that I can't really recommend reading.

[oliviasbooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stopped reading around the 20% mark.
Don't bother, Nomes, really . Sometimes I do wonder what publishers are thinking, when they decide to acquire a manuscript that finally results in a book like 'Breakfast Served Anytime'.

- Four certified brainiac kids visiting a dinner and ordering breakfast, but only one of them has thought of bringing a wallet.
- Brainy, I-am-not-so-young-anymore-that-you-would-catch-me-eating-fudgecicles heroine planning to not accept a perfectly good university scholarship, because she wants to experience New York preferably in form of a steep acting career alongside her ballet dancing BFF - without realising the financial strain her preference would place on her single father.
- Childish wanna-become-actress choosing a mysterious course about the importance of the written word at the Kentucky gifted-kids resort instead of pursuing something that would add some substance to her daydreaming.
- Genius girl hating a hat-wearing boy on first sight just because he had the nerve to grin and bow.
- Ehhh ...

Letting the readers watch a character grow up in front of their eyes doesn't mean the character has to be a silly-beyond-her-peers, rhino-skinned, dense and altogether unlikable member of her species first. We readers also notice the fine differences. We are tuned to supple signs and tiny, realistic changes that mean so much. No need to hammer it home by blowing everything out of proportion.

[Jennifer Mathieu]

What a beautiful, special book full of well-crafted sentences you'll read over again just to make sure they really happened. This book does not have a huge "hook" or shocking "twist" - but it is a book where *everything* is happening. Set in a "Geek Camp" for gifted Kentucky teenagers, we follow characters as they face their childhood demons, ponder their futures, and develop relationships with one another that are achingly real and life-changing. I cried at the end. Every character in this book - even minor ones like Calvin's parents - jumps off the page and into your heart because each is so beautifully drawn. Loved this one and loved its sense of place as well.

[Ginger at GReadsBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that sometimes you can love a book not so much because of what it's about or what happens in it, but because it belongs to a certain time or person in your life -- like you'll always remember where you were when you read it for the first time, or who gave it to you, or what season it was, or who you were before you read it and how you were different when it was over." (Combs,p. 246)

This book will always hold a special place in my heart because the person who gifted it to me is also the person who wrote it. Thank you, Sarah Combs, for bringing Gloria and Co. into my life.

[Full review below. Also found at my blog --> GReads! ]

This exquisite debut novel, written by the very talented Sarah Combs, captured my heart when I least expected it. I believe books are brought into our lives for a purpose; their stories reaching us by surprise, yet lingering with a sudden calm. BREAKFAST SERVED ANYTIME was given to me, as a thank you for promoting books and authors through my blog, yet I feel as though I'm the one filled with gratitude after experiencing such a stunning debut.

Gloria is spending her summer before senior year away at Geek Camp, a summer camp for the Gifted & Talented set against the back drop of a Kentucky college campus. She's a girl who has kept mostly to herself, except for the close relationship she has with her dad who has been her single parent, and that of her best friend Carol, who she plans to run away to NYC with as soon as they graduate. She is also grieving the loss of her grandmother, who she refers to as GoGo, a woman she so desperately misses and thinks of quite often.

During her summer at Geek Camp, Gloria is introduced to many new firsts. She learns to not judge people by her first impression of them, rather to allow herself time to get to know them. In the process she befriends two girls in the dormitory that normally would fall way outside her spectrum. Through the process of expanding her mind, and her heart, she discovers a true friendship in both of these girls. But it's the relationships she forms with her classmates, the only four students including herself signed up for Secrets of the Written Word, that ultimately push Gloria into discovering new-found friendships and in the process discovering her own self.

Combs's writing brings forth a sense of nostalgia from my own teenage years, during a time of wondering what my life is meant to be and which path I should take in order to discover it. Through Gloria's witty banter among her friends, and her own personal dialogue within herself, this novel delivers an unforgettable voice. The beauty of Kentucky, rich with its landscape and uniqueness in society, is portrayed page after page. I felt a strong connection to the characters, the writing, and the overall feel that this book possesses. It's a novel one might gather first impressions about based on the cover, title, or something else that caught their eye. But it's also a story that deserves a closer look, a message within its pages with the prospect to deliver a memorable reading experience.

[Jaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written contemporary about the sweet, ephemeral, but also lasting moments that come with a summer camp experience. In this case it's a "geek" camp at a university, so the cast of characters are smart, smarter, and smartest, but I loved the way Sarah Combs wove these seemingly disparate kinds of kids into a cohesive unit. It's a gorgeous look at friendship in all its facets, as well as that moment when you realize you're crushing pretty hard. The bonus is lots and lots of highlight worthy writer-swoony sentences.

Recommended for savvy teens that like stories about real life and real friendships. Also writers who want to see the written word done well ;)

[snowplum · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got off to a rough start with this book, because the main character who is obviously the author tells you that her favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird, and I don't think I've ever liked anyone whose favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird. (You don't have to hate it... but favorite? Seriously? It's like asking for vanilla ice cream, hold the vanilla.) But I persevered because this book is about geeky kids at geek camp and some of the happiest times of my life were as a geeky kid at geek camp; and it seems that all the people who don't like this book don't like it because "What kind of kids actually act/talk like these characters?" which is usually like saying "This book is for cool geeks only," so that's more of an endorsement than a criticism in my book. In the end, I'm glad this book exists, but it didn't really move me like it should have.

My ultimate feeling about Breakfast Served Anytime is rather mild, except for the nostalgia it triggered, which is wicked, indeed. It's a slice of life story, nothing really drastic happens, there are a lot of nice people, you see a narrator taking in their various perspectives, learning little bits about and from each of them, and in the end you're left with a rather pleasant and mildly uplifting feeling about humanity. It's a very short book, and you could argue that it's as short as it should be because things like Perfect Summer Programs are over way before you wish they were and are only a blink in the course of your life; but you could also argue that it's too short because as a novel reader, it's frustrating to feel like almost no scene or interaction is fully fleshed out. It reads more like a grown-up's recollections of a teenage summer than like the teenager's in-the-moment experience of and obsession with every detail of what's happening -- you're treated to a few extremely vivid images that stand out from the mostly fast forward feeling and the obvious omissions of things that slipped through Combs' memory.

At one point Gloria says, "I was starting to realize that my own keen Powers of Observation, on which I prided myself beyond reason, were selective and mostly ridiculous. The truth was that I noticed things if I cared about them." I know this to be true of myself, so I appreciate the lines. I also think it's true of Combs' memory, and I'll leave it to other readers to judge for themselves whether they appreciate the work that is a product of her priorities and interests. It's selective, certainly, and ridiculous (to me) in an endearing way. But once I press submit on this review, I'll be thinking about CTY (my geek camp), not Breakfast Served Anytime. I suspect that will happen for a lot of people who read this book -- it will be more powerful as a trigger for your own nostalgia than as a piece of art.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Geek Camp! That was all it took to make me want to read Breakfast Served Anytime. I also liked the idea of this mysterious professor. Sadly, I was just bored instead of entertained. Gloria heads off to this summer education program, is introduced to people different from her, then goes home. That's it. There's no plot, and no real character growth. She just goes away, does stuff, and comes home. It also didn't help that Gloria annoyed me.

I'm pretty sure the only things in the entire world that Gloria likes are words and butterflies. Although the butterflies are up for debate. Within the first third of Breakfast Served Anytime we learn that she hates flatirons (on principle, seriously! what?!), mirrors, social media, fortune cookies, whistling, flip-flops, dogs, and babies. I'm not a fan of fortune cookies or babies, and it's humming that grates my nerves rather than whistling, but come on! I'm pretty sure she points out something she hates in every single chapter. This girl is not happy about anything! I mean, none of her dislikes are over-the-top, but her negativity just frustrated me. And I generally don't like people who don't like dogs, but luckily she admitted that puppy Holyfield was cute. He was the best part, actually.

Nothing really comes of anything in Breakfast Served Anytime. Gloria is suddenly all interested in mountain top removal, and thinks it's horrible. Her roommate's family is like a coal tycoon or something, so Gloria gets confused on the issue. Then that's it. Gloria instantly hates "the Mad Hatter" aka Mason, they get to know each other because they're in the same weird class, and that's it. Gloria talks about missing her grandmother a lot, and other than hating everything is her only personality trait. Really, nothing happens!

I was also annoyed at this whole geek camp program. Apparently these kids attend this summer program and automatically get a scholarship to the University of Kentucky. But all of them are whining about wanting to leave the state and not taking the scholarship (except Sonya, who is the only smart one). So why the heck are they there?! Kids who actually want and or need the scholarship could be in their place! I totally get that UK isn't their dream or whatever, but stop complaining about being offered college for free!

In the end, Breakfast Served Anytime mostly annoyed and bored me. It's not awful and I did like parts of it, mostly puppy Holyfield. But that's really it. It just wasn't my thing.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

One star might seem a little harsh, maybe it is, the fact is, by the end I was annoyed on so many levels I couldn't give it anything but 1 star.

1. Gloria
B-R-A-T. Gloria is horrendous. She's SO annoying. She's judgmental and thinks she's better than everyone else. She also likes to think she's super deep and smart, but she says and does the dumbest things. I suppose that could be typical of teenagers. I'm sure when I was 17 I thought I was heaps smarter than I actually was. Still, I can't get behind a book where I want to strangle the main character. I hated the way she thought and the way she acted. Let me get out my tiny violin for all her first world, entitled, teen problems.

2. Melodrama
This entire novel is chockfull of pretentious, melodramatic characters. Good lord. I didn't think it would ever end.



All the adults came off as stupid and naïve compared to all the DEEP, SOULFUL teens around. That's one of my least favorite things in YA books.

3. The Writing
At the beginning I was actually intrigued. When Gloria was meeting her new friends and they were following the clues of the mysterious X - that was interesting. It was straight downhill from there. Foreshadowing at the beginning made it seem like the mountain-top removal debate would be a key feature- it was hardly discussed. The "new love" mentioned in the blurb was anything but. Probably because through most of it Gloria was rolling her eyes and acting like a bitch.

4. The Point???
There was none. There were so many interesting themes the author could've run with, but instead there was a smorgasbord of random "deep" thoughts and obscure incidents.

Such an annoying book. I'm glad some people love it, but I certainly don't.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many YA books seem to be about dating relationships, and I thought this one would be more of the same, but I picked it up at ALA because I was intrigued by the cover. I was actually pleasantly surprised to realize the book is about relationships, but not just ones with a significant other. It's about friendship, family, (and yes) love...making the transition to life after high school, paying attention to the small moments that make up our best memories, identity, relationship to place (in this case, Kentucky), class, race, and strip mining (!). A topic dear to my mountain-born heart, this book actually takes on, briefly, the complex struggle of towns desperate for money and jobs who are strip mining for coal, and presents a balanced view of the issues involved. Impressive.

The characters, for the most part, are well drawn, a queer character comes out sweetly and with no fanfare, and if anything, my only criticisms would be that the teacher, Mr. X, is a bit of a caricature, the blue butterfly metaphor is maybe just slightly heavyhanded, and that "yall" (her spelling) is sprinkled a bit too liberally throughout the book. But overall, those are quibbles. This one is a real keeper.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious and good and... ahhh. Great book about camp, friends, love, and more.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I'm a contemporary YA girlie because this was charming, it had coming of age movie vibes, reminded me of a lot of things. Had a good time, made me feel summery in the middle of January, very sweet and earnest.

[marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It's too hard to explain. I can't say why I love the book. I just do. You don't pick the books you fall in love with. It just happens, and when it happens, you know. Who's to say where love comes from?

Oh my gosh. Oh my GOSH. I am c r y I n g
I was not expecting this book to be that beautiful. I thought it'd be so so. Another weird and annoyingly inappropriate contemporary read.
but instead I am in love. I want to read this story over and over. I need to buy it and drown again in it's words.
I mean it's not for everyone but for some reason this book spoke to me and I just related to Gloria and her journey.

Maybe it's just me perhaps everyone else will dislike her and the book but this book hit me hard.
Like I can't even write a review but I will try.

Ok basics. The words. Were beautiful.
GRANTED. Certain bits did seem a tad forced, like the author was trying REALLY hard to be poetic and quotable. She certainly did succeed but some things did not.
The characters. I related to Gloria insanely well. Everything she felt and did was me.
The charactersssss. All of them. I loved every one of them. Some came in seeming like stereotypes and bam. They changed. Every single character was real, and beautiful. A lot of people stopped midway through because they seemed lame and typical but thatttt is one of the problems with stopping a book midway for that reason. This book had a lot of character development that you get to watch, so you really have to stick with it if you don't like the characters at first.

Reading through reviews so many people described Gloria as self absorbed, shallow. And that is opinion of course but to me she isn't. She is actually very relatable. She's anxious, scared to do a lot with her life. She thinks she knows herself, life, she thinks organizing everything will work out and make it all easier. She thinks categorizing people will make it easier. She is caught up with wondering why people like her and that may sound selfish but pls. Who hasn't thought that.
She did not say it outspokenly but really that's why it was pretty. Gloria had anxiety. Self esteem, even. Maybe. But it never really SAID that and that's why I love it because most of the times you don't put titles on problems they just are and you cant explain it.

The story was REALISTIC. So it had swearing but wasn't a gross gritty realistic. It was REAL and beautiful and inspiring.
There was romance but it never really happened which I appreciated. It was far from insta-love, but cute but far from fluffy. It was...real.

I really cant explain it but this book means a lot to me. This book struck me hard and I am in love.

The quote at the top describes it perfectly anddd here's another

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that sometimes you can love a book not so much because of what it's about or what happens in it, but because it belongs to a certain time or person in your life -- like you'll always remember where you were when you read it for the first time, or who gave it to you, or what season it was, or who you were before you read it and how you were different when it was over."

content: Ehhhhh PG13 just because of swearing.

[Melissa Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the premise of this book and it involved some interesting characters, including a boxer puppy. It involves a summer of growth and change for a group of talented young people who attend a month long camp at state college. The novel centers around one teen-aged girl and three new friends who end up in the same strand of the program. It includes some of the teen angsty stuff that I have grown a bit tired of -- Really -- how can you fall in love hate-love with someone through the window of your dorm? And Gloria (the main character) was at times a bit overly reflective about things, which lent a sense of drama to the whole narrative that was a little tiresome. And I could have done without the butterfly sub-metaphor that ran through the book.

At the same time -- boxer puppy! So cool that a dog got to play such a key role in the formation of these young people. And the adults, while rarely in the picture, are rather cool people when they are -- not in a "We all want to be your friends way," but in a "We have lives of our own and we will share those lives with you if you let us" way. There are also some great literary references in here and good conversations about books and the importance of reading in shaping lives.

Overall, I liked the book. I didn't love it, mainly because I found it so hard to relate to Gloria, but I did find it a nice quick read. I am also not this book's intended audience, so readers who are in their teens may find in this book a dear set of friends. I would certainly not hesitate to recommend it to my young adult readers.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love a good coming of age story, but Breakfast Served Anytime definitely left me wanting. I found myself reading faster and faster just to finish it. While technically sound, the story was just...boring. Nothing happens. Some smart kids go to geek camp, but nothing happens to them. They don't even seem to learn anything or grow in any way. The dialogue between characters feels very forced - very much like what adults think teens sound like. I work with teens, and they do not talk like the teens in this book. The phrase "like ohmygod" was actually used.

Gloria, the main character is incredibly annoying. She is very stuck up, judgmental, and melodramatic; to the point where I cannot relate to her at all. She spent most of the book worrying about her hair and hating Mason, the boy who she actually loves hates loves. There is also a lot of gratuitous name dropping; Salinger, Nabokov, Harper Lee - yeah, we get it. They're at geek camp.

The only person I would recommend this book to are ultra conservative mom's who come in looking for a gentle read for their teen daughters.

[Mariah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned. Did not want to submit myself to any more of Gloria's lecture-like monologues of rapid-fire-judgements-of-disdain and her ongoing 24/7 commentary of pretty much the entire world around her (in an extremely melodramatic fashion).

I get that this could appeal to the middle-school audience because it certainly did not to me. It had that over dramatic behaviour and dialogue that's used to portray the lesson of not judging a book by its cover. I get it. Middle-schoolers exaggerate and are temperamental. I know I was. I could swallow this down like cheesecake if I had read this in 5th grade.

I mean, flouncy, self-confident, hug-at-first-sight roommates is the definition of a 17-year-old "barbie" right? Everyone is like this surely.

And, everyone has a basis to hate a person just by a quick glance out of a window right? No humane interaction needed?

I bet my 5th grade self would be nodding her head off. Pathetic.

It honestly screamed like it was written by a Ti PoLR as it was filled with tons of contradictions. I couldn't bear it. It was grating and miles away from the promised blurb (and hype).

[Paula M]

DNF at 75%

Breakfast Served Anytime allured me with it's beautiful cover. But man! I was so disappointed.

I'm blaming Gloria. I think the author wants Gloria to come out as poetic because of her way of telling the story but that's not what I got at all. Gloria rambles. She wants to talk about everything and she makes simple things complicated. So I thought, hmmm okay, the protagonist is annoying me but maybe I'll get something from the plot.

I was bored. I was dozing off the whole time. I tried, really tried. Then I just decided that it wasn't worth it anymore. I have a lot of books to read and I don't have time for this.

[Trisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. if you ask me why I loved it, I really don't have an answer. But it have me the sweet butterflies in the stomach feelings of the first crush. that lumpy feelings in the throat of my last day at school. if made me sad happy.. the aching in the heart feelings when you see rain from your window and suddenly remember a school day with friends which had a similar weather....

[Charmaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is—at once—both poetic and substantial. The words weave an eloquent, elegant tale that makes you laugh and cry along with Gloria. It's comprised of all the wonderful moments that make up childhood, youth, and life in general. It's made up of the things that you look back on; the memories of a lifetime. It's introspective, innocent, and hopeful after discovering the vast new world, despite starting off jaded and "SO Over It."

I've been to my own version of a Canadian Geek Camp, so I found this particularly bittersweet. The book captured the feeling perfectly—meeting people who just GET YOU, who don't care about the pettiness of pop culture and social circles. Meeting people who are passionate about THINGS, even if they're so vastly different from your own passions. Meeting people who keep an open-mind about your passions, and are willing to hold intelligible conversations about them. Meeting people who are curious and ready to explore the world.

This book was The Breakfast Club (intentionally, I'm sure) meets the Dead Poets Society. It was such an eclectic bunch of people who wouldn't seemingly fit together, but worked so well. I fell in love with each of them. I loved how their quirks came out little by little, so they didn't DEFINE the characters—they became afterthoughts, because we got to know each of them so well. In fact, none of the characters fit into neat little stereotypes. They were all so fleshed out and REAL.

There were so many beautiful moments, and Gloria savoured each one: Plato's Myth of the Cave, having your own "spot" somewhere, passion, wholesome goodness, blackberries, 8-ales, the fourth of July, the Mystery Machine, helicopters, butterflies, sunsets, ideological disputes, real snail mail, stumbling upon something secret, and even downtime in a laundry room.

The book started kind of slowly, but it grew on me. It felt like one of those books that MATTERED, that tried to look into what life is all about... and managing to glean some insight to that genuine human experience.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peach Award (3 stars)

I wish I had liked this book as much as it wanted me to like it. It practically begged me to see it as deep and meaningful and life-changing, but... I just wasn't feeling it. Gloria, the main character, and her inevitable slap-slap-kiss love interest seemed as vague and undefined at the end as at the beginning. The attempts at creating some tension in the plot- i.e. a mysterious professor, two polar-opposite roommate friends, mountaintop removal- all just dissipated without ever amounting to anything. Gloria was reaching for some truths about life, grief, and growing up, but since nothing ever really changed, any conclusions drawn felt like platitudes without meaning. I wish I could just have read a book about side character Calvin Little, who actually piqued my interest every time he was on the page.

Also, 260 pages of failing to punctuate "y'all" correctly at a density of about two per page makes me want to grind my teeth.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initial thoughts: My first sentiment after closing this book was relief; relief that after more than two months I'm finally done reading. I did take a break in between because the book was due, then I had to wait until I got my hands on it again. The first third of the books was interesting enough—amusing even. I liked the Alice in Wonderland references. But by the half-way mark I got bored. I remained bored right through the end. Nothing much happens plot-wise. When that is the case, I expect exceedingly good character development or exquisite prose. Breakfast Served Anytime had neither.

[Jen Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brought me right back to high school, when I was really trying to piece together who exactly I was and every observation felt Important with a capital I. There were so many beautiful phrases in this book and whole paragraphs where I just sighed "yessssssss" while reading. A quiet and lovely read I'm still thinking about days later.

[mylittlebookpalace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inhalt:Als die 17-jährige Gloria im Sommercamp zum ersten Mal auf Mason trifft, hält sie ihn für einen egozentrischen Schwachkopf. Überhaupt, wo ist sie hier bloß gelandet, wenn ihr gemeinsamer (anonymer!) Literatur-Dozent sie auf seltsame Schnitzeljagden schickt? Doch was turbulent beginnt, wird zu einem unvergesslichen Sommer der überraschenden Freundschaften und der beflügelnden Selbstfindung.



Orte: Das Buch spielt irgendwo in Kentucky in einem Sommercamp oder wie es die Protagonistin Gloria liebevoll nennt „das Sterbercamp“, in dem myteriöserweise immer wieder dieses blauen Schmetterlinge auftauchen. Ich mochte den Ort total gerne, da er in den Flair des Buchs gepasst hat. Ich habe mich sofort in die Idee von diesem Internat verliebt, da ich es total cool fand: vier Wochen ohne Eltern, ohne Internet, mit Leuten, die genau die gleiche Interesse haben.



Personen: Ich mochte Gloria sehr gerne, da sie mich total an mich selber erinnert hat. Wir zwei haben zwei ähnliche Charaktere und ich wäre mir sicher, wenn wir uns mal begegnen würden, würden wir uns sofort gut verstehen. Die anderen Personen mochte ich ebenfalls sehr gerne, da sie alle ganz unterschiedlich und doch irgendwie gleich waren und diese Personen die Geschichte um so ein großes Stück bereichert haben.



Gestaltung: Mich hat das Cover sofort angesprochen und allein daraus habe ich mir schon mehr erhofft. Nach dem Lesen passt das Cover nochmal ein Stückchen mehr zum Buch, auch die Kapitelgestaltung hat mir sehr gut gefallen und ich habe die kleinen Kapitelanfänge sehr gemocht.



Schreibstil: An den Schreibstil musste ich mich am Anfang erstmal gewöhnen, da er anders war, als die Schreibstile in den Büchern, die ich sonst lese, doch nach einer Weile habe ich den Schreibstil wirklich genossen und gemocht. Auch die meisten Dialoge und die Sicht und Denkweise von Gloria hat mir sehr gefallen und war sehr verständlich rübergebracht.



Geschichte: Vom Klappentext habe ich mir sehr viel versprochen, doch leider konnte mich das Buch nur zur Hälfte überzeugen, da es zwar viele witzige, spannende und auch emotionale Szenen gab, aber das Buch zwischendurch auch ziemlich langweilend und nervend waren, außerdem haben die Szenen nur wenig zu der handlung beigetragen, die ich eigentlich wirklich sehr gerne mochte. Dafür mochte ich den Anfang und das Ende sehr gerne, allerdings wird es hier einen Punktabzug geben.



Fazit: Alles in allem war ich sehr zufrieden mit diesem Buch. Mir haben viele Aspekte, wie: Orte, Personen, Schreibstil, Gestaltung und Schreibstil sehr gut gefallen und ich habe es wirklich genossen, dass Buch zu lesen. Allerdings hatte ich ein paar Probleme mit der Handlung, da es oft sehr langweilig geworden ist, weshalb ich nur 4 von 5 Sternen gebe und mich hier beim Verlag für die Bereitstellung des Rezensionsexemplars bedanke.

[Ashley Wang · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars //

The blue butterflies sprinkled across the cover advertised a sweet summer read. The jacket blurb bragged a coming of age story from the unique perspective of a gifted seventeen year-old girl. I was entertained by the idea of "Geek Camp," of a cryptic scavenger hunt, and of potential character development. Despite these predictions and expectations, Breakfast Served Anytime fell flat for me because of its problematic writing style.

It's evident that Combs truly tried to emulate the thought process of a teenage girl; however, this attempt is unsuccessful. Our protagonist, Gloria, is an aspiring performer, headed to a summer camp for her state's Gifted and Talented students. Yes, Gloria is smart, and she is also a teenager, but that doesn't mean that her thoughts are a blatant and unincorporated juxtaposition of the two. A gifted student does not equate an individual who interchangeably uses various "SAT-esque" words, so deeply different to her run-on, "teenagery" thoughts. Rather, a gifted student, or any individual for that matter, uses the common vernacular to express complex thoughts. Instead, many of the characters came off as melodramatic and pretentious. If Combs had stuck to this approach, Gloria's voice would have been much more realistic and enjoyable.

Combs often left some of the most crucial aspects of this novel underdeveloped. Yes, there were some interesting moments of interesting teenage insight; however, these thoughts were never reconnected to the storyline, giving this novel a disorganized feel.

However, there indeed were some parts of this book that I enjoyed. I really respected the incredible homage paid to Kentucky as a setting. Combs's clearly holds pride in her state, and it truly made this book unique. The writing style of the last ten pages was also quite beautiful and touching; because Combs had devoted much time to cultivate the Kentucky setting, when Gloria left Camp, I could truly empathize with her longing.

Overall, Breakfast Served Anytime is a novel with an interesting premise but faulty writing. Sure, one could see this writing style as a raw depiction of teenage thought, but for me, it felt pretentious and unclear. Nevertheless, Combs adds unique and charming accents about Kentucky lifestyle that cannot be overlooked.

[J.C. Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this. It's offbeat and unexpected and the characters all have some heft to them. I am intrigued with the recurring motif of the blue butterflies that are actually never explained. What is interesting to me about this book is how little plot there is, all told. Yes, Gloria goes to this summer camp for gifted students and things happen, obviously, including an understated, potential romance with Mason, but this isn't a plot-driven story I guess.

If I have any complaint it's that the end isn't much of a resolution. It ends... but I'm not sure what the takeaway is. It would be great if she wrote sequelish thing with Calvin as the main character... Hint, hint, Sarah Combs...

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Very cute but also quite silly