Like Mandarin

by Kirsten Hubbard

It's hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything to be like Mandarin. When they're united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town's animal-head trophies, and searching for someplace magic. Grace plays along when Mandarin suggests they run away together. Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds plaguing their Badlands town. Because all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin's unique beauty hides a girl who's troubled, broken, and even dangerous. And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, no friendship can withstand betrayal.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Teen, Coming Of Age, Young Adult Contemporary

320 pages, Hardcover

First published March 8, 2011

About the author

In search of transcendent backdrops for her novels, Kirsten Hubbard has hiked ancient ruins in Cambodia, dived with wild dolphins in Belize (one totally looked her in the eye), slept in a Slovenian jail cell, and navigated numerous desert apocalypses (her cult is satirical, she swears). But she always comes home to California.

Kirsten is the author of the young adult novels LIKE MANDARIN and WANDERLOVE (Delacorte Press/Random House Children's Books); the middle-grade novels WATCH THE SKY and RACE THE NIGHT (Disney-Hyperion); and co-author of the SECRETS OF TOPSEA series as Kir Fox. She is also author of the picture book DEAR STRAY (Nancy Paulsen/Penguin).

Reviews

[Tatiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Disturbed women is something I definitely enjoy reading about, especially when they are portrayed through the eyes of slightly over-involved observers. It is fascinating to get to know such women who think they have it all figured out but who in reality grossly underestimate the depth of their own wretchedness. Breakfast at Tiffany's and to some degree Girl, Interrupted are the books that explore this premise. And so does Like Mandarin.

High-school senior Mandarin is the famous slut of the town, an object of gossip, envy and lust of many residents of Washokey, Wyoming. 14-year old Grace is mesmerized by Mandarin, by her beauty and her strange charisma. Grace constantly fantasizes about being just like her. A school assignment brings these two girls together and finally Grace has an opportunity to get close to her idol. Where will this unlikely friendship lead both girls?

The book's synopsis promises dark secrets and revelations about Mandarin, but surprisingly enough, Mandarin remains a very secondary characters throughout the book. She is described as a troubled, damaged girl, but somehow she comes off as much less complex on the pages than I expected. Like Mandarin is, instead, mostly Grace's story and, unfortunately, she, as a character, is not as interesting as Mandarin. Grace's musings about the badness of her town, her desire to break free and the lack of connection with her pageant-obsessed mother slowed down the story for me. I couldn't stop myself from wishing the book were more about Mandarin, about her wickedness. I needed more drama and intensity, more sordid details of Mandarin's life.

Like Mandarin is a respectable debut. The writing is good, very atmospheric, especially when it comes to describing windy, isolated, stagnant Washokey that, in a way, becomes the main character of this story.

However, and it might be just a reflection of my reading taste, I felt the narration was occasionally overly descriptive when it didn't need to be and a little overburdened by semi-awkward similes. To give an example:

By Thursday, Momma's pageant fever was worse than ever, though the tri-county pageant wasn't until early June. She hadn't even bothered to get dressed. She bustled around in a baggy satin muumuu covered in a pandemonium of butterflies and flowers against a royal blue background. Her bosom jiggled underneath like smuggled water balloons.(p.151)

If such descriptive writing doesn't bother you and doesn't make you want to shorten this paragraph to one sentence, you will definitely appreciate this novel much more than I did.

[Flannery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grace Carpenter has lived in the same small town her entire life. Her mother forced her into pageants when she was younger but Grace sabotaged her way out of them. Now a sophomore (after skipping a grade), Grace has a few interests (collecting rocks, plotting how she might get out of her tiny town) but she spends a great deal of time stalking being mildly obsessed with Mandarin Ramey. Mandarin, a senior, is rather mysterious. She is known around town for her...loose moral character. Grace finally gets her chance to get to know Mandarin when she begins to tutor her. (If you can call it tutoring, because there really wasn’t much tutoring going on.) The two of them cause trouble around town and Grace learns what it is like to have a reputation. At the same time, Grace feels alienated from her mother. Grace’s father has been out of the picture since her birth and she feels like she lost her mother’s love when she left pageants. Now that Grace’s younger sister Taffeta (no joke) has taken up the pageant rein, Grace feels forgotten.

Okay, enough about the plot. I found the writing to be rather heavy on the description but I didn’t mind. I read this book in a day—and I wanted to finish it, which is more than I can say about a lot of books I’ve been reading lately. I wanted to find out if either Grace or Mandarin came to some life-altering realization about life. I guess they do. I was more satisfied with Grace’s ending than Mandarin’s but I will NOT spoiler the ending for you. Throughout the story, I was more fascinated with Mandarin than with Grace. This book suffers from Secondary Character Syndrome—when the side characters are more interesting than the protagonist. John Green seems to want his books to have this affliction. (Tiny Cooper, Alaska, Margo Margo Roth Spiegelman) Anyway, I wanted to know more about what made Mandarin the way she is. Her story seemed like it was begging to be told but he could only grasp onto small bits of it through Grace’s perspective. It was frustrating.

There are several aspects of this book that just didn’t do it for me. I don’t want to spoil anyone’s read so I’m going to put them into a spoiler. Read at your own risk:

+I really didn’t feel Grace’s alienation from her mother.
+Why didn’t anyone in the town try to help Mandarin if all these men were sleeping with her? Especially when all she had was her father and he didn’t care. It seemed like it had been going on for a while.
+I thought Davey was a rather ridiculous character. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I thought he was mentally other-abled for a large portion of the book. What was the point of his presence in the book? I was kind of hoping he would be proof that nice guys did exist in Washokey but that one never really crossed the finish line.


I find it rather amusing that I read Unearthly last week and remarked on how few books are set in Wyoming. What are the chances that I'd read another in the same week? Like Mandarin is set in Washokey, a fictional town that seems to be located in the Northeast corner of the state. (Just about every town in Wyoming gets a mention but I couldn't pin it down) Kirsten Hubbard describes the town, environs, and weather in such a way that I could absolutely picture it all in my imagination. Then again, I've been through that area of Wyoming several times and I think seeing some of those tiny towns in the middle of nowhere really helps form the picture in my mind. Even if this book wasn't my favorite, I'd really enjoy reading more books set in this town from the author.

Overall, though, I just didn’t find Grace’s story engaging. However, it seems like many other Goodreaders did so it might be a case of wrong book, wrong time.

[Steph | bookedinsaigon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone raved about this book months before it came out. Melina Marchetta blurbed it. It has a stunning cover. Suffice it to say that my expectations going into Kirsten Hubbard’s debut novel were really high. And while LIKE MANDARIN didn’t quite live up to them, suffice it to say that it is still a lovely and evocative book that deserves to be read and beloved.

It is a very risky thing to try and create a MPDG—a “manic pixie dream girl,” the kind of character who seems to embody passion, mystery, adventure, obsession, the forever wandering soul. There’s a negative connotation associated with MPDGs in films, but in literature I think of Alaska Young and Margo Roth-Spiegelman. Does Mandarin take a spot alongside these legendary literary girls? Not quite, but not without trying. It’s easy to see Mandarin, sexy and fearless and disdainful, strolling down the Wyoming streets with her jeans slung below her hips and her hair tumbling down her back. It’s clear that Mandarin is Grace’s MPDG—but she wasn’t entirely mine. Grace and our assumptions of MPDGs hint at Mandarin’s troubled life—abuse, misdirected sexuality, and so on—but they don’t feel completely realized in Mandarin’s character. Throughout the book, we remain firmly in Grace’s point of view, which, since this is first-person narration, makes sense, but the narration didn’t allow for the possibility of Mandarin developing as a fully complex character for me, the reader. What I mean is: Grace says Mandarin is fascinating and the representation of freedom and beauty, but I didn’t entirely see it in the story.

Grace is not a bad character—I can’t help but like a girl who, at six years old, flashed the entire audience at her last beauty pageant—but her focus on Mandarin does color our view of her a bit. Because Mandarin never quite lived up to her reputation in my opinion, I found that I also became a little skeptical of Grace’s, um, judgment. I guess that this kind of thinking and behavior is understand in a restless 14-year-old; I always got this impression that Grace was older than that, which may also have contributed to why I didn’t entirely empathize with Grace. She was pretty much fixated on Mandarin to the point where it became a bit uncomfortable and perhaps even boring for me.

My favorite character was, unexpectedly, Grace’s little sister, Taffeta. Now that is a girl who has the potential to grow up to be the Mandarin Ramey of her generation, if she wanted to be so. If you’ve read the book, maybe you’ll know what I mean. If you haven’t read the book and intend to, look out for her. She’s adorable.

I was mesmerized by Kirsten Hubbard’s writing, although at times the descriptive language did feel a bit excessive. I loved the way Grace thought about Wyoming wildwinds: it made me want to go to Wyoming and experience that for myself, the restlessness that a landscape and climate can create. At other times, however, I felt like the writing tried a bit too hard to be “pretty,” to the point where the descriptive language didn’t actually make sense, or made me stop and scratch my head and try to figure out how in the world that simile was supposed to work.

Overall, LIKE MANDARIN didn’t entirely give me what I wanted, but I still finished the book with a little bit of a “wow” feeling in my chest. I think the cover, writing style, and premise will really draw contemporary realism lovers, and I don’t think that the appeal is misguided at all. This is a good debut novel, and I am interested in seeing what Kirsten Hubbard writes next.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't just read this book; I absolutely devoured it. Like Mandarin is the stuff of what a teenage girl's life is made of: a whirlwind of jealousy, desire, ambition, low self-esteem, adventure, betrayal and acceptance, and not a bit of it is written in a shallow way. Whether you've been the odd girl out, that girl, or somewhere in between, this is a book that will have you thinking about the importance of relationships among females: how we get into them, how they shape us, support us and rip us down.

Grace Carpenter is the daughter of a disappointed mother with illusions of grandeur. Her father is dead and she never knew him anyway. Her little sister, Taffeta, is the delight of her mother's world and almost the sole focus of her attention. Grace has no true friends to speak of, only a group of lunch table pals. She's been skipped ahead a grade, so at 14-going-on-15, she is the youngest sophomore and the brightest student in a class full of cowboys and their pickups.

Yeah, you could says she's lonely.

Enter Mandarin Ramey. She's 17, also alone, but prefers it that way. She doesn't give two cents about what anyone thinks of her. She's promiscuous, openly defiant, has a reputation for fighting, and the only thing she does is exactly what she wants. She's the Angelina Jolie of her school, and no one knows it better than Grace:

"Sure, maybe most of the attention Mandarin got was negative. But it wasn’t the kind of disdainful brainfreak attention that I got, when I got any at all. Hers was lustful. And jealous. Because even as they condemned her, every single girl wanted to be her.

But nobody more than me."

-Grace, Like Mandarin

Once the friendship ignites, what follows is Grace walking on a tightrope to keep Mandarin 'happy' and 'interested' in her. If that sounds like more like a romance, then you kind of/sort of have it right. Grace immerses herself into Mandarin's personality exactly like a lovestruck girl does over the guy of her dreams. Except that Grace doesn't harbor romantic feelings for Mandarin; it's much more a tale of wanting to be her, so much so that Grace studies the way that Mandarin walks, holds herself and dresses. What Grace doesn't realize is how very damaged and fragile Mandarin is. . . and, like all wounded creatures, Mandarin is also unpredictable and manipulative. She puts Grace through little quirky conversation tests, and very much adopts a, "if you're not with me, you're against me" attitude when it comes to Grace. However, while the turbulent friendship between Grace and Mandarin takes center stage, the book is really about all sorts of different relationships between women: teenagers, middle-agers, mother-daughter (or lack thereof), there's even a teacher-student relationship for Grace. Hubbard does an excellent job of showing how these different relationships shape who we are, and how past and present ones can help lead us to our new ones.

Then there are the characters, and all of you know how much I love a character-driven book! Grace is definitely her own person, although she doesn't think enough of herself to be it sometimes, especially not when a twister of a character like Mandarin enters the scene. DO NOT get her mixed up with the vapid, feel free to [insert yourself] female protagonists that we sometimes are confronted with in YA lit. Grace is intelligent and knows what she wants in her future, but loneliness does funny things to people, and it's easy to get sidetracked when you are 14. Mandarin is an incredibly well-drawn character, although it does take time for vulnerability to show through, but her magnetism is palpable through the pages (I think we've all known a Mandarin-type). At times, she felt one part Rizzo from Grease, one part Dicey Tillerman from The Tillerman Family Cycle and one part Stepmother from Cinderella. She's extremely complex, and any answers you get about her mysteries are hard-won and bitterly bequeathed.

Besides the two main characters, the ones you will see the most of are Grace's mother and younger sister, Taffeta. Grace's mom is a very definite sort of person and lives vicariously through Taffeta's success on the beauty pageant circuit. Grace feels forever worthless in her eyes do an incident that happened almost eight years ago that crushed her mother's hopes for her. Mother Dear also has the unfortunate characteristic of phrasing things precisely so they simultaneously shame you, but also leave little room for argument. On the other hand, Taffeta might be the most intelligent six year-old I've ever read, and if there is one fault that I can find with the book, it's that she sometimes seemed more like a ten year-old, rather than a small child in kindergarten.

I cannot begin to tell you what a good writer Hubbard is. . . when I read the synopsis, I was like, ehhhh, this could go either way. Well, it went all the way to the brilliant side of the scale. Hubbard writes with simple elegance, but there is always this feeling of constantly being carried forward. You aren't rushed, but you are anxious to read what happens next. Normally, I will drift through a book this size over a couple of evenings, but all of the sudden, I realized that I had far more pages held in my left hand than in my right. It was a pleasant surprise and a testament to how smoothly the book moves along. And in case you were wondering if you can have good time in Smalltown, Wyoming, hold on: Grace and Mandarin show you how it's done. For a place that most of us likely are not famaliar with, Kirsten does a wonder of world building, and I don't doubt that Washokey is the beautiful, barren landscarpe with splaces of color and high winds that Grace so vividly describes for us.

You're not going to find any romance or nookie in this book, although the boys do try. What are you going to find is a path that most of us travel at one point: the area of our lives where friends can overrun our affection for family and sense-of-self. Where living in the moment and thrill of getting caught was all you needed for a good time. When you finally learned to look at people and saw them from precisely who they are, and not just who they are in relation to you. Like Mandarin is a beautiful debut, an exquisitely written book about the people, places and emotions that hold us down, and the ones that urge us forward. I can't recommend it enough.

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Short Version:
Striking and fluid, Like Mandarin brings a new voice to YA with vivid, highly developed characters and a no holds barred plot. Grace is a perfect compliment and contrast to Mandarin, and the connection and dynamic between them is handled flawlessly. Fleshed out with Hubbard’s stellar writing, there are some strong messages and a poignant realism within this book.

The Extended Version:
Grace is intelligent and mature for her age, but still on the cusp of strong breakthroughs in maturity. Advanced a year in school to a sophomore but at the age of a freshman, Grace is quiet and keeps to herself. She has a very distinct voice, reflecting this intelligence but still holding the naivety that helps characterize her and factors into some of her decisions and reactions. Grace shows tremendous growth on several fronts, some coming more rapidly than others but each one timed perfectly. Her relationship with her mother is trying and far from perfect, bringing in the strong note of realism Hubbard has infused throughout.

Mandarin is a bold and breathtaking character, certainly strong enough to hold her own book and perspective, even through the eyes of Grace. She carries a good front, holds her head high, and remains shrouded in the mystery the town puts her in. Passionate, multifaceted and intense, while seeming to shirk all social norms and hiding her flaws, Mandarin is just as intriguing for the reader as she is for Grace and the rest of the town. Her home life is far from perfect, and she is a destructive mess inside and out, holding as many layers and secrets as anyone, but also goes through notable strides in personal development.

The way Grace’s view of Mandarin changes as the book progresses is a strong feature, giving beautiful insight into not only Mandarin, but Grace as well. Mandarin reflects on Grace and changes her in ways both sad and telling of the ages, but it goes the other way as well. The subtle shifts in Mandarin come through strongly, more than Grace maybe realizes, leaving a lasting impression on the reader. As things unfold, the reader will come to care about Mandarin as much as they do Grace, and this aspect alone speaks volumes as a reminder to not judge someone simply from the rumors and impressions made without meeting them.

The plot is perfectly paced, explosive at some parts and light at others, with both speeds blended masterfully to give the biggest effect. Grace’s captivation with Mandarin is deep rooted and well explained, now as much a part of Grace as anything else that makes up her personality and history. While this infatuation with Mandarin and sudden connection to her is the central premise, it doesn’t overpower the subplots, or continue needlessly. There are lighthearted and funny moments, and a freeing feeling is attached to many events, but Hubbard also inserts plenty of emotional, more pressing scenes that give an overall solemn air to the book.

The setting is incredibly telling and vivid, bringing to life the small town in Wyoming where Grace lives. From the obsession with pageants to the endless rumor mill, the way of life and physical locations are all very well described. This is certainly an example of the place almost becoming its own character, and the way it’s shaped both Grace and Mandarin comes through just as strongly. The desperation to escape not only the trapping town but the people in it is often present, showing in sometimes subtly striking ways, and helping drive home the deeper messages of the book.

Hubbard’s writing is gorgeous, giving a strong narrative voice to Grace and building her mentality while still giving the reader insight into other characters, the setting, and the events. Few clichés in wording are present in this book, making some of the unique phrasing to stand out even more. This, coupled with explosive scenes, a distinct setting, and phenomenally built characters, makes Like Mandarin a stunning and memorable novel.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five pages into this book, I looked at my mother and said, "This is depressing. I will never write anything this good."

As I've mentioned before, Kirsten is a master of lyrical, gorgeous prose that still doesn't quite lose the awkwardness and uncertainty of adolescence. Grace has a very grown-up voice, but underneath her intelligence, her obsession with geology and her lonely nature, Grace is a fourteen year old girl. She wants someone to see her. To adore her. To challenge her. To lust after her.

Mandarin offers all of those things, and none of those things. Mandarin is everything Grace wants to be, everything she shouldn't be. Mandarin is One of Those Girls who seems to have it all together, until you get close enough to see the cracks.

There aren't enough girls' love stories in the YA world. I'm not talking about coming-out stories, or stories about gay/lesbian kids finding love - I'm talking about the awe and idolization that comes when you're a young woman and you see another young woman who is everything you wish you could be. I'm talking about the look on a thirteen-year-old's face when she runs her fingers over her big sister's perfume bottles and mascara, wishing she could make the boys follow her around like lovesick stray dogs. I'm talking about those moments when you're sitting with your boyfriend as he idolizes some stunning actress on tv, and you're quietly doing the same.

Kirsten nails this kind of love story.

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading Kirsten Hubbard’s Like Mandarin was such an odd experience for me. It was so clearly this mental image of a place I know so well painted by someone who had only visited. I’ll admit, this made it impossible for me to not be constantly thrown out of the story by the tiniest details that were just plain wrong, whereas the vast majority of those reading would fly by these pieces without thinking twice. For example, being in school mid-June? Yes, large parts of the country do attend school well into June, but Wyoming doesn’t. We finish somewhere around May 20th. And this is just a sample of the tiny details that jolted me, making it impossible for me to sit back and really appreciate the story Hubbard has created–and that’s not even mentioning the major details that were impossible to overlook.

So let me go ahead and apologize for this “review”. I admit, I’m completely biased and I’m too close to really judge this book fairly for its merit. Please don’t let me sway you not to read it if you were already planning on doing so. Kirsten Hubbard does a fantastic thing in Like Mandarin that really isn’t seen enough in YA–she focuses on a friendship between girls. There’s no romance, there’s an emphasis on family, and Grace’s idolization of Mandarin spoke so loudly even if it was borderline stalkerish and difficult to understand.

When Mandarin and Grace find one another–or rather Mandarin decides they will be friends, it becomes clear how different and special these two girls consider themselves, because they want to get out. When you grow up in a small town in the middle of nowhere there are generally two types of people: those who will never leave, and those who will never come back. As an adult with the advantage of hindsight on my side, it’s so interesting to look at these characters and think that despite their dreams, they’re far too young to really understand what it is they’re asking for. I feel that Mandarin is looking for an escape from something bigger than her small town, and that she may never find it because it’s something that has to come from inside. For Grace, I couldn’t help but think that she would get out, and then want to come back. Her love of the land, geology, and history of Wyoming was so strong, even if her love of the place as a whole wasn’t there. I mean, the girl loves rocks–if you want to be a geologist, Wyoming’s Big Horn Basin is one of the best places in the world to do that.

Upon reflection, I decided that I’d be incredibly interested to know Grace as an adult–I feel like I already know Mandarin. It’s funny how, for Grace, Mandarin was this ultimate girl of intrigue and mystery, something to aspire to and admire. In reality, it was Grace that had the more admirable traits, if only she weren’t so spineless as to avoid using them. Hubbard was so subtle in showing this, such as the notion that while Grace was busy idolizing Mandarin, her little sister was busy looking up to her. I felt that largely, Like Mandarin was a book about realizing that you’re never as alone as you think, or maybe that you’re only as alone as you allow yourself to be.

But then, I’m afraid, I do have to spend a little time with my ranty pants on over Hubbard’s insulting inaccuracies of the area that is my home. While Like Mandarin is set in a fictional town, Woshokey, that town could basically be my home town or the next town over (in fact, my town and the next town over are mentioned as kids from our high schools hang out with kids from Washokey). So yeah…here’s some things: at one point they pull over to look at pronghorn antelope. As if antelope are something you don’t see literally every day. In this region, you do. They outnumber people in Wyoming 14 to 1. Natives do not bottleneck to look at them like they’re bears in Yellowstone. And then there’s Washokey itself–the name is a bastardization of Washakie, which is really hard for me not to be insulted by. Chief Washakie was a Native Shoshone leader who negotiated land and education rights for his people–in these parts he’s a bit of a hero. I grew up in a county named for him, we have a statue of him, an exhibit at the museum, and it is his image we as a state chose to represent us in Statuary Hall in Washington D.C. Every time I read the word “Washokey” on the page, I twitched. Then there’s the fact that Grace, who grew up seeing the Bighorn River flow by her town doesn’t know what direction it flows. Are you kidding me?! I was literally ranting aloud when she talked about its flow pattern. Hubbard covers this later by making it a ‘thing’ in the story for Grace to tell Mandarin that the Bighorn flows north, which she knows because she read it in a history book. Um…you mean she didn’t notice the freaking water flowing north?! What?! No. I’m sorry, when you grow up alongside the Bighorn, you know it flows north. It is ingrained knowledge. It would be like being from New York City and not knowing which was the East River and which was the Hudson. It’s inconceivable.

Like Mandarin was so clearly written by someone who had visited this area, but didn’t really spend enough time here to get it. I respect the reality that most authors set books in places in this same way. I read books every day that are probably just as riddled with these tiny inaccuracies, but I never bat an eye because they weren’t my childhood and home. I really don’t blame Hubbard for not really getting this area (and believe me, I could go on about things that weren’t right), but at the same time I can’t excuse them enough to say I enjoyed this book. I believe Hubbard’s mother is a Wyomingite, and I do love that there is this book out there that so accurately reflects the trapped and restless sensations that can arise when growing up in a small town. If you want to experience this, or a fascinatingly messed up friendship, Like Mandarin is certainly worth the time–I’m just personally too close to appreciate it.

Original review posted at Bunbury in the Stacks.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

full review on my blog, holes In My brain

This book is… full. It’s hard to describe, it just feels like it’s brimming over with essence and energy from the moment you’re whipped into the story by the winds in Washokey. It feels almost surreal to be so caught up in a complexly simple storyline; Like Mandarin is explosive and impulsive like a shout of laughter, yet reins it all in within a dustbowl of brilliance. This book is damn good.

With a rather simple and somewhat predictable plot, I had to wonder if Hubbard could pull it off. I already knew some of the main events, I could tell where the story was headed… but this is not a story about the ending. It is one about the journey and Hubbard created one that was worthy of Narnie Schroeder*.

Kirsten Hubbard’s writing is impeccable; she manages to create people and places with disturbing ease and elegance, her gritty setting of Washokey is pitch-perfect and intensely atmospheric. Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and stand-out fictional locations in my recent memory. Let me say, it was not hard to find beauty in the badlands! The dialogue flowed smoothly and the adept descriptions of anything and everything enriched the novel greatly.

However at the crux of this novel, it’s the characters that count and this is where Hubbard truly shone. Mandarin Remey, who is somewhat a supporting character on Grace’s journey of self-discovery, stole the show for me. Magnetic and alluring, it isn’t a surprise how Grace, who longs to escape from her confined life, is drawn to Mandarin’s naturally enigmatic beauty. The two characters are both half-lost, half-searching, which brings them together. There are flaws in their friendship, but this is what makes it work. Grace’s almost obsessive desire to be like Mandarin— to encompass her actions, looks and even her speech patterns— was the driving force of the novel.

This has a ripple effect on Grace’s equally fascinating relationship with her family, whether it was the sisterly affection with Taffeta or the stand-offish one with her mother. I believe it was through the juxtaposition of her family and Mandarin that was Grace ultimately capable of finding true beauty and discover herself. Lessons are learned the hard way as Grace will realize that even the most coveted friendships aren’t always meant to be. Also, very, very refreshing to find a book void of romance. You don't even notice it...yay.

There's so many things I still want to touch on and compliment, but I need to wrap this up... how about you just read it and find out?

4.5/5 – because this is a breathtaking contemporary debut with a ton of soul. While I wish there could've been a bit more to Grace, I think Mandarin Remey is one of the most memorable characters of 2011 for me, and I think at the end of the year, it won’t be the flashy dystopian novel that resonates with me the most; it would be a book like this. “A beautifully crafted, bittersweet story about an unlikely friendship that sets two very different people free.” –Melina Marchetta; I couldn’t have said it any better.

[Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmm. Writing this review is difficult for me, because reading Like Mandarin was a very personal experience and I want to do this book justice. I expected to full-on love Like Mandarin, to the point that the only thing I could do after finishing it was lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling for several hours because I couldn't believe it was over. That didn't happen - my staring contest lasted about twenty minutes and I was good -, but I can honestly say that I'm so glad I finally took the time to read this book, since it's been standing on my bookshelf for ages and every time I walked by, the absolutely gorgeous cover - I seriously think Like Mandarin has the most perfect cover I have ever seen - was taunting me with all its promises of beauty and epicness inside. From previous experiences, I've learned that guessing the quality of the content based on the cover is a dangerous business, but in this case, I didn't feel cheated in the least.

With that being said, I have to point out that Like Mandarin won't be for everyone. It's slow, a bit anti-climactic and some of the plot might be a bit random, but I usually don't mind randomness, because life and people in general are pretty damn random and that's just how I justify things in books I love. However, the writing had a beautiful, poetic quality to it without ever feeling overdone and that is unusual for me, because I easily think lyrical prose tries too hard for its own sake. Here, it was relevant to the story and the main character, and it didn't even come close to the purple atrocities I've come across in many a (YA) novel. As for the pace, a slow read generally doesn't bother me. Maybe it's because I'm not the fastest reader myself, but I never got distracted while reading Like Mandarin and that's one of my main criteria in judging books. If a story can keep me going, especially when I can't exactly pinpoint what made it so mesmerising, that's usually a sign it will end up being an all-time favourite.

I took me a while before I could figure out what the exact story was and why I liked it so much. I think Like Mandarin is an exploration of Grace's fascination/obsession with Mandarin and how she eventually grows out of it. To plead my case:

1. the first line:

The winds in Washokey make people go crazy.

So the winds in Washokey - "the wildwinds" as they are called - seem to be a minor motif in the story, but they are in fact pretty important. It happens a couple of times that Grace lays the responsibility of her unexplainable actions with the wildwinds and since I completely understand the fact that sometimes the weather inspires you to do things out of character, I feel this serves as a plausible explanation of the temporary "insanity" that is human fascination. However, if I'm completely off base here - which is a very real possibilty - it doesn't matter much, because sometimes you just have these obsessions or fears that aren't rationally explainable, but that's a story for some other time.


2. the title:

Like Mandarin. This is not a character study of "Grace", or of "Mandarin", or of "Grace & Mandarin", but of Grace who wants to be so much like Mandarin that she has a hard time not connecting the idea/memory of Mandarin to everything she does or wants to do. Like Mandarin isn't just the novel's title, it's also that of the second chapter and a couple of times Grace even states explicitly that there is nothing she wants more than "to be like Mandarin". And now that I'm on the subject of titles, I think they were chosen very well. One of my teachers once pointed out that the best titles are small phrases you just lift out of your text and in the case of Like Mandarin, I wholeheartedly agree. It's similar to my experience with Daughter of Smoke & Bone or Cinder and Scarlet, where there are these enigmatic quotes or fairy tale citations that always have me wondering and trying to anticipate what will happen, which makes the story that much better to me because I feel as if I'm actively involved.


3. the time-frame:

There is a before and an after chapter and they frame the entire story Grace had to tell at this point. While the fact that one person was used to shed light on the awesomeness of another character annoyed the shit out of me in The Fault in Our Stars, here it was right, plus that Grace doesn't only highlight everything that's oh so special about Mandarin, but actually grows enough as a character to see that Mandarin has some serious issues that make her do messed-up things. Initially, she was mesmerised by the idea of Mandarin, then she got to know the actual person, she had fun with that person but eventually saw another side of her which scared her a bit, while still not completely giving up on her.


4. the perspective:

And this is where I want to commend Kirsten Hubbard on her craft. So in the opening chapters, Grace mentions the first time she noticed Mandarin and how she's been fascinated with the person ever since, after which follow the first real interactions between the two of them. While it's obvious from the beginning that Mandarin has some disturbing things going on - the background Grace gives about her, Mandarin's mood swings, her tendencies to lie and twist the truth repeatedly, etc. - Grace kind of ignores these while also registering them at the same time, but she doesn't immediately judge or note on them. These instances come back to her at a later time and aren't just dismissed, but it's realistic that she needs some time to semi-objectively look at a person she has idolised for so long. However, the reader can already pick up on this from the very first chapters, and, once again, that is called craft. Honestly, everything is thought out very well and Hubbard obviously controls the narrative, to the point that, while Grace is going on about all the town gossip concerning Mandarin and how it would seem so amazing if she could just be in Mandarin's shoes for a day, I nearly cried because I genuinely felt sorry for Mandarin and wouldn't want to be her for a single minute. I'm a horrible reader at times - I overthink absolutely everything - and that can quickly get in the way of me actually feeling something, but here, it just worked, and not only that, but emotions were already raging through me after the first three chapters, and that, my friends, takes some serious skill.


Overall, Like Mandarin is a story with depth and ambiguity, which proves that the Young Adult genre isn't just fluff with rainbows and sparkles on top. There are no ground-breaking general truths about humanity in here - which mostly just annoy me anyway, because I highly doubt that there is something as a "general truth" to begin with - but the characters are fleshed out and ring true. I would've liked to have seen more Mandarin, but I think it was the right choice writing her as seen through the eyes of a first-person narrator, since I'm not sure if it would've worked had it been any other way. The four most important characters - Mandarin, Grace, Grace's sister Taffeta and their mother - all had my sympathy, and especially Taffeta was just too cute for words, but, and this is something I think is so important, while Taffeta still is a young child, she's not portrayed as the cute little girl that all young girls are because stereotype, but she has maturity and an opinion and emotions. She looks up to Grace the way Grace is infatuated with Mandarin - only maybe a little less extreme - but she can be disappointed in her and their mother as well and yell at them and then want to play with them five minutes later, which is something I recognise in the relationship I have with my sister so obviously that is how sisters are.

I think the best way to put it is that everything in here is relevant and I know Like Mandarin is a book I will pick up again and again, because it's one of those stories I will never get tired of and I can recommend it forever - it's maybe just not for everyone.

[Carolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The very first thing that captured my attention in LIKE MANDARIN was the prose--so lyrical and poignant and intense. Every page packed a punch and had me rereading lines over and over to better absorb the beauty. Hubbard paints such remarkable images with her words--images that are startling in their lush simplicity. There's one image in particular that comes to mind from the very beginning, that of Mandarin as a child looking intense and far too old-soulish for her young body--an image which just grabs you by the throat and sets the tone for the entire book.

The story is actually told through Grace's point of view, which was a bold move on Hubbard's part. For one thing, Mandarin appears to be (at least on the surface) the most interesting character. She's the one with all the problems, the attitude, and the mega guts sans glory. Grace, on the other hand, is not one to challenge the status quo, just getting by until one day she can go off and do something important (leaving her mother, an irritating, wealth of humiliation, behind). But even though the story is named after Mandarin, the issue at hand isn't really Mandarin at all. It's Grace and her search for identity (with and without her mother), which is spurred on (and possibly hindered) by Mandarin. For a YA novel, this was a brilliant choice. Establishing one's identity is the bane of adolescent existence. And as troubled and possibly dangerous as Mandarin is, she doesn't doubt who she is or what she wants. So even though Mandarin has a story, it plays out on the sidelines. Ultimately, we get to witness Grace's evolution, her coming into being and all the difficult steps and stumbles it takes to get there. Through Mandarin's eyes, this story likely would have felt more adult and more hopeless. But through Grace, just like her name implies, there is a sense of hope (even in those low moments).

So, let me just say...freaking fantastic characterization. So sharp, so genuine. Both Mandarin and Grace are such distinct characters, shaped from seemingly different molds. Yet their stories are so perfectly intertwined, often running parallel.

Here's what Mandarin does for Grace: just by her existence, Mandarin helps Grace to uncover how unhappy she really is. Mandarin embodies (and reflects outwardly) that discontent and pain that Grace carries around inside of her all the time, and Grace can't help but respond to that. Indeed, both of them suffer a claustrophobia which is so intense it's palpable--but it's in response to different things. Mandarin feels trapped in the rinky-dink town--a feeling I know all too well. That feeling of desperation to just get out, not because there's anything inherently wrong with the town or even it's size, but because you are wrong in it. Grace's claustrophobia is probably even more tragic, though, because the thing she's desperate to escape is herself. And she sees something in Mandarin that makes her think perhaps that's her ticket to do just that. But what she will have to discover, if she's ever to find her identity and self-respect, is that strength cannot be given from one person to another. It can only be borrowed.

LIKE MANDARIN is a soft, graceful sort of book, like the stir of a warm breeze, but just as eloquent and refreshing. So moving, and so breathtakingly timeless. It will resonate with teens and adults who remember their teens for years to come.

[Margo Berendsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm trying to find something non-cliche to praise this book, in honor of all the great original non-cliches describing Grace and Mandarin and their complicated friendship.

A taste of Mandarin:

She paused a second, backlit, as if surveying her realm. Then she sauntered across the classroom and fell into her seat

A taste of Grace:

Although I liked Ms Ingle [history teacher], sometimes I found myself sneering at our forefathers or extending my middle finger, unseen, in my lap. Then I felt guilty, as if George Washington were hiding underneath my desk.

And a taste of their friendship:

I wanted to ask her to be my blood sister, like back in elementary school, and sense the exact moment when her blood began to flow into my veins. I knew she'd think I was crazy if I asked, though somedays I almost convinced myself that it was happening on its own - Mandarin's spirit draping over me, like fairy glamour.

I wished for the power to destroy whatever monster made her sabotage herself. If one even existed. Maybe it was Mandarin's official mythological creature.

I sort of felt like a third person in the friendship because the writing doesn't just draw you in, it involves you.

Just like the setting: western Wyoming at its rawest, dustiest reality:

weathered old ranch wives yearinging to make themselves lovely for their livestock and husbands

the kind of place where men finished beers first and then paid for the empty bottles

No mention of the grandeur of the Wyoming mountains (I live in Wyoming, one of the reasons why I picked this book up). This story keeps you restless in the windy desert basins.

There is NO romance in this book, and I didn't even miss it. Grace is just newly turned 15 and Mandarin is 17 - a gap of two years at those ages is HUGE, there is bound to be some hero worship going on. Grace is so smart she's been forced to skip freshman year and starts high school as a sophomore; but as a result she's considered a freak by her classmates. Mandarin is considered to be a slut, and she's about to fulfill everyone's prophecy that she'll be a dropout and never amount to anything.

The highschool teams Grace up with Mandarin to tutor her. Grace wants to save Mandarin, but at the same time wants to lose herself into Mandarin's shadow. Nothing is simple or straightforward; Mandarin keeps you guessing. And throw into the mix Grace's controlling mother and a surprising little sister.

There is no fairytale ending but it's still very satisfying. One last favorite quote:

I liked the idea that we left pieces of ourselves everywhere we went, coloring all our important places.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like Mandarin was one of those books that I literally devoured from start to finish. It drew me in literally from the first page with Grace's description of her hometown and her life growing up. This book is everything that a normal teenage girl faces in her lifetime. From jealousy, to regret, right down to that awkward feeling you get when you just don't seem to understand the relationship between you and your mother anymore. Grace's life is so real, so palpable, that it's hard not to get wrapped up in who she is. There are so many different types of relationships explored in this book that it becomes a whirlwind read and before you know it, it's over, leaving you wanting more.

In terms of characters, this book is a veritable playground of different personality types. Those of you who love character driven books will melt into this book! Grace is nothing at all like a lot of the YA female protagonists out there. She is her own person, and you won't find one bit of whiny or vapid person in her. Grace is just...Grace. A girl who is a little lost, extremely intelligent, and just lonely overall. Enter Mandarin. To say that Mandarin pops off the page is a complete understatement. Where Grace is like a softly blowing wind, Mandarin is like a tornado. At 17 years old, she is promiscuous, openly defiant against all adults, and really doesn't seem to give a damn who sees it.

Grace sees it, and she wants it. She follows Mandarin's every move, watching the way she holds herself and the way she reacts to things. Grace becomes entangled in pleasing Mandarin and trying to continue to be interesting to her so that their "friendship" won't fall apart. If you're starting to think that this sounds like a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, you're kind of right. However it goes so far beyond that. Grace doesn't just want to be with Mandarin, she wants to be Mandarin. She craves that free spirit and the ability to let go of what everyone else thinks. Unfortunately people like Mandarin are often lost and lonely themselves, and Grace ends up in a very manipulative relationship.Truthfully the tension and chemistry between these two characters is beautifully written. If they don't draw you in, I don't know what will.

I'm rambling now so I'll wrap up here. Like Mandarin is a story about relationships of all kinds. Those between mothers and daughters, those between "friends", and even the relationship you have to learn to have with yourself. Kirsten Hubbard's writing shines of the pages in this book, and her characters are sure to grab you and draw you in. I cannot recommend you reading this book enough! Beg or borrow a copy, whatever you have to do. Grace and Mandarin are well worth your time, and I can't wait to get my own copy and read it again.

[Kali Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like Mandarin, Kirsten Hubbard’s debut novel, is about fourteen-year-old Grace Carpenter and her newfound friend, Mandarin Ramey. The story takes place in Washokey, Wyoming, a small, uninteresting town in the heart of the Badlands. Grace is very smart and insightful, but she doesn’t seem to have many true friends. She is different from the other girls who fit the stereotype of catty teenagers perfectly. She likes to read and has a passion for geology, which contrasts greatly with her mother’s beauty pageant obsession. Mandarin can also be considered Grace’s opposite. She is regarded as a wild child and the town whore. She also has a temper and can be very blunt. Despite this, Grace has always been fascinated by Mandarin and, as the title suggests, wants to be like her.
Kirsten Hubbard writes in a way that feels like poetry at times. Dreamy passages are broken up by Grace’s unique internal dialogue and her interactions with various characters. Like Mandarin is an easy read although some will find it to have a slow beginning.

I personally felt like something was missing. Grace’s complete adoration for Mandarin edges on obsession at times. While I was reading Like Mandarin I couldn’t help but compare Grace’s constant observation of Mandarin to Ligeia by Edgar Allan Poe. Although, to be honest her obsession is not nearly that intense and yearning.
I think the story would have been better suited as a romance of sorts; a tale of a shy girl who falls for the bad girl and in turn becomes a little bit bad.

" “It’s just…,” I began again. “You know I’ve never…,”
“Obviously.”
“That’s not what I meant. I’ve never even kissed a guy.”
“No big deal. Although…” Mandarin looked at me, her expression intense. “Do you want to practice first?”
I stared at her a little too long. "(Hubbard 245)

I think this passage really expresses the tension that I sensed between Grace and Mandarin. It is because of the moments like these that I was left with expectations of a forbidden romance between the two. Because of this I felt like something was missing when the story ended before their friendship developed into anything else.

Mandarin and Grace are both far too big for their small town and they bond over their desire to discover the rest of the country. Overall, Like Mandarin is a good book that will keep you occupied for a few hours. It is interesting enough to keep most readers interested but those who seek action or romance will not be amused. Hubbard has a way with words; I look forward to reading her other work.

[Samantha Boyette · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so so so good! I wasn't sure I would love this book when I picked it up, but it only took about 2 minutes for me to fall in love with it. As soon as Grace recalled the first time she noticed Mandarin (right after seven-year-old Grace turned her appearance in a local pageant into a bit of a dirty dance show) I was hooked.

Mandarin is every bit the girl I would have fallen for in high school. I'm not sure why I find myself so drawn to these damaged girls, but I do. (It's clear enough with plenty of my main characters. Heck, Dylan and Mandarin would have a field day together) Mandarin is wild, seemingly carefree, and ready for any sort of excitement. Grace is a lot more like I was in high school. While I was never as quiet as Grace, I had the same longing to be everything I saw in someone like Mandarin. If I had read this book fifteen years ago (Oh God I'm getting old) I think I would have utterly lost myself in it and probably read it until the pages fell out.

Hubbard has written something beautiful here. She's captured every moment of high school torment without ever making it obvious. It's awesome because for so many of us that's what high school was. It wasn't that we were targeted and picked on by our peers, we just felt lost, invisible, and filled with a longing to be more. She's stuffed Grace so full of those feelings that she's about fit to burst by the time Mandarin befriends her. Of course, while Mandarin comes off as the most confident girl ever, it's not long before it becomes clear she is even less sure of herself than Grace. A lesson we've all learned at some time.

This was just a great book, one I would recommend to any teenage girl who thinks she's the only one feeling this way. I'd also recommend it to anyone who loves a beautifully written story, which this for sure is. The characters are all expertly drawn and you feel like you're walking the streets of their small town with every word.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the Blog I gave it a 4.5 but I like to round up!
Like Mandarin is, in my opinion, way underrated. This one almost escaped my attention and I am so glad I did not miss out. Grace is a 14 year old girl stuck in a small town. Even with a mother who has stars in her eyes in the shape of pageant Tiaras, Grace decides at an early age that the pageant life is not for her. Now she relies on her grades to plan her escape from the small town she loathes. Mandarin Ramey is the local wild child. She has a big reputation in a small town. When these two are paired together on a project, they begin an unlikely friendship.

I feel like there is nothing that I can really say that can prepare you for exactly what this book is about. It is about so much more than a girl that rebels against her mother and her love of pageants. It is about so much more than the other girl with a bad reputation in a small town. Those might be the surface issues, but this book has depth. It is sweet, it is subtle and it is beautiful. Grace is a girl whose story is relatable but special enough to deserve to be told. Beautiful, broken Mandarin steals my heart. I ache for her and I root for her. It is all too easy for a girl to get to where she is in life.

The world of teenage girls is ever changing and scary. You can be friends one day and enemies the next. Your worst enemy can show you kindness and your best friend can stab you in the back. This book captures those dynamics beautifully. And with the family dynamics that represent what families actually may look like today there are just so many layers to love. I don't want to go into detail about what happens because you need to experience it the way it was written and in the time the author intended. This is a great contemporary novel, I loved it.

BOTTOM LINE: DON’T MISS OUT ON THIS ONE, I LOVED IT.

[Margo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grace Carpenter, the book's main character, lives in Washokey, Wyoming. She's a failed beauty queenlet (by choice), a year ahead in school (not by choice), and has an obsession with dead things. Well, rocks. But rocks have to be the most dead things on the planet, right?

Most of all, Grace wants to be – you guessed it – like Mandarin Ramey.

The story follows an unlikely friendship – one girl wants to leave town, the other seems to own it. I found the book so utterly readable, and I admired every page because I know how much work that sort of writing can take.

Though Grace and Mandarin start out as different as peanut butter and glass, both characters stood strong. In other writers' hands, Mandarin could have overshadowed Grace, but Ms. Hubbard gave Grace the solid characterization and authenticity that makes you root for her like you know her. Like you are her. And just like the rocks Grace kept so carefully and carried in her pocket, she knew herself. She just didn't know she did.

The book's third main character seemed to be the town itself, Washokey, WY – if only through its effect on people: its crazy-making wildwinds, its "badlands" (Grace's hiding spot), its power to persuade Grace's mother she belonged nowhere else. In Ms. Hubbard's deft hands and through her clear, flowing style, Grace's breakthroughs and Mandarin's stormy episodes came to life. Even though she seemed so exotic at first, I think we're all a little like Mandarin.

[Kaitlin Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it is finally time for me to write some actual thoughts to go with my five star rating. So. I have read this book three times now. And every time, it is as beautiful as the last time. It's beautiful in so many layers, you almost NEED to read it more than once to truly appreciate it. Or at least, I did. The most obvious way in which this book is beautiful is the writing--the similes and metaphors, the way the setting creeps into the smallest details. And of course there's Mandarin. If Mandarin had been at my high school, I think I would've been as awe-stricken by her as Grace is. And Grace. I could relate to her. I could remember well, being her age, feeling the way that she feels in this book. And then there are jackalopes and child beauty pageants in all their creepy glory and Grace's quirky mom and adorable younger sister. Her friends, who you can tell feel as adolescently confused as Grace, even from their small interactions with her.
It's just a gorgeous, amazing, inspiring book. I don't know how to say it any better than that.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a beautiful, beautiful book. Right now, my emotions are whirling as strong as the winds in Washokey.

This book was quite a bold move from the author. I found Grace and Mandarin's friendship intriguing. Never would I have thought that two people so very different would bond in the most intricate circumstances. I had a really hard time reading this novel though, because I could not stand the way that Grace was acting. I understand that she wants to escape her boring life, change the way she is, be like Mandarin, etc. But I just couldn't see why a girl so smart like her would find comfort with Mandarin. I felt sick at how Grace would just do whatever she thought would please Mandarin, whether it was drinking alcohol or dressing like a slut. Nevertheless, I felt captivated by their friendship, and that's what made me want to continue reading.

"Like Mandarin" is one of those books that impact the perspective you have on friendship, and makes you realize just how complex human emotions are.

[Kathleen Peacock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the best books--like the best songs--are all a bit lonely. They slip under your skin and, somehow, manage to make you feel connected and adrift all at the same time.

Like Mandarin managed to do it in under a chapter.

There is genuine beauty to Kirsten Hubbard's prose. Washokey, Wyoming (and the surrounding area) is so vivid and present that it goes beyond setting and almost becomes an additional character.

Ansel Adams reportedly once said, "I know of no sculpture, painting or music that exceeds the compelling spiritual command of the soaring shape of granite cliff and dome, of patina of light on rock and forest, and of the thunder and whispering of the falling, flowing waters."*

I think Hubbard's similes and descriptions could come close.

* Source: The Portfolios Of Ansel Adams (via Wikipedia)

[Debra Driza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I picked up this book at ALA Midwinter, and just...wow. This is a beautifully written story that will stay with you, a story with depth and memorable characters and lush descriptions that make you feel the setting more than visualize it. Grace is a completely likable and believable narrator, and it's easy to see how Mandarin seduces her into becoming a different person for awhile.

This is a story I fully expect to endure the test of time, a fantastic piece of literature that should make the critics who look down on YA eat their words. Can't recommend it enough.

[Sarah (YA Love) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review originally posted at http://addicted2reading.wordpress.com

Like Mandarin released back in March, and to be perfectly honest, I’m mad at myself for not having read it sooner. This book felt like it was meant for my students; I’ve met quite a few Graces and Mandarins over the past four years.

Grace is living in a small town with her single mother and her half-sister, Taffeta. Living in Washokey, Grace has never felt like she fits in. Many of the girls competed in beauty pageants, but Grace gave that up years ago. Now her mother is focusing on Taffeta with high hopes that Taffeta won’t be a huge disappointment. Grace is also incredibly smart for her age and has been moved up a grade, so she’s starting high school as a sophomore. She constantly feels like an outsider and wishes she could be carefree and beautiful like Mandarin. Grace hears the bad rumors about Mandarin, but she still wants to be like her. She wants to be noticed, to be seen.

Every year the students in Washokey are required to complete a service project. This year, it’s requested that for her service project, Grace helps Mandarin graduate. Can you imagine being a freshmen, but bumped up a year to a sophomore, helping a senior graduate?! If this didn’t make Grace feel more out of place, I don’t know what would. But she considers it and decides to go with it. This is her chance to get to know Mandarin.

I loved this book because it has so many layers. The biggest aspect of the story is about Grace discovering who she is as she becomes friends with Mandarin. She learns how to let go, how to rebel, how to feel comfortable in her own skin, and ultimately how important it is to stay true to herself. Another big focus in the story is Grace’s relationship with her mother. Grace’s father isn’t around and her mother had Grace at a young age. Their relationship is strained because Grace feels she’s misunderstood and can never do anything right for her mom. She’s not full of talent and beauty like her little sister Taffeta. These dynamics shape Grace’s character and her actions throughout the story.

When I was reading Like Mandarin I mostly connected with Grace, but I also felt a connection with Mandarin. Who hasn’t felt awkward and out of place like Grace? Who hasn’t looked at the “bad girl” and even for a moment wondered what it would be like to be her? I remember in 8th-9th grade feeling left out and tired of being “good” all the time. I saw the other girls partying and having fun and hanging out with boys. I remember even telling my mom once that I wanted to be like them. It’s an incredibly awkward age, and for some girls, an age that really determines which direction they’re going to go. Thankfully, I was able to talk to my mom about the feelings I had without being judged. I’m incredibly thankful for the relationship I have with my mom. Grace and Mandarin don’t have that relationship with their mothers. Plenty of girls do well without a close relationship with their mother, but I’ve met quite a few girls who struggle without that closeness. Grace’s service project ends up being more than just about helping Mandarin. This book delves into Grace’s and Mandarin’s feelings and motivations incredibly well.

This is a strong debut novel with an important message without being preachy. School starts in a couple weeks and I already know I’ll be talking about this book like crazy in my classes. I can’t recommend Like Mandarin enough.

Possible book pairings: Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler, Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr, Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen (what’s with all the Sara(h)’s?!)

[Emily]

I have no idea how to start this review.

Like Mandarin is one of those beautiful, emotional, exhilarating books, the kind with characters so lifelike you want to have a conversation with them and a setting so vivid you swear you've been there. It's the kind of story so resonant and relatable that you overflow with emotions and know you will never run out of praise.

But when you go to review or discuss a book like this, a story as full of feeling as Like Mandarin, you never know where to begin. You cannot fully encapsulate your opinions in a handful of words, and you struggle to decide which aspect of the story you loved the most.

So, for this book, I will start with the obvious: the setting. Like the blurb states, it's hard to find beauty in Washokey, Wyoming, but in a strange way, Kirsten Hubbard gives her small-town setting beauty. Like Mandarin's backdrop is not gorgeous in a way that urges me to live there, but it is stunning in a literary sense. Hubbard describes Washokey so well—from the crazy-making winds that tear through the town to the empty, dull ache of small-town life—that the setting almost immediately becomes vivid and atmospheric. Washokey is not beautiful for its architecture or its beach views—although the scenes set outside in the badlands do seem stunning—but the little it does have to offer is described so meticulously that I could not help becoming captivated.

Thanks to this impeccable world-building, Hubbard is able to perfectly portray her protagonist's yearning to escape from her hometown. I absolutely love books set in small towns that always draw their residents back, no matter how sincerely they promise to leave, and Like Mandarin uses this trope more effectively than any book I have ever read. Aside from crafting Washokey so well, Hubbard also gives Grace a desire to leave that is 100 percent realistic. I found myself cheering for her on every page, knowing that with her determination, she could become one of the few to move away and not move back.

Equally as fascinating as the setting is Mandarin herself. She is a risk-taking, life-changing, trouble-making kind of girl, a kind of character that is not uncommon in YA fiction. But just like the "small town that draws its residents back" trope, Like Mandarin creates one of the the most complex versions of this character I have ever seen. Mandarin has so many realistic layers that combine to form an enigmatic yet lifelike character who will stick in my mind for a long time. Best of all, I loved viewing Mandarin from the point of view of a younger girl who wants to be friends with her, be like her, even be her. So often, we see characters like Mandarin through the eyes of a boy hopelessly in love, so Grace's infatuation with the idea of becoming a mirror of Mandarin seems new and refreshing.

With an atmospheric setting and two remarkable main characters—one who I related to and one who fascinated me—Like Mandarin is easily contending for a spot on my "best of 2015" list. Grace's story was my first Hubbard novel but absolutely not my last; I already ache to meet more of the author's characters and visit more of her settings. Read Like Mandarin in the spring or early summer when the world is bursting into life and begging for a vivacious, vibrant story as explosive as the change in season. Or read it when you are feeling an urge to escape your hometown. This dizzying, heartfelt, beautiful book will be exactly what you need.

This review originally appeared at www.foreverliterary.blogspot.com.

[Zoë Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted: http://inthenextroom.blogspot.ca/2012...

I've been following Kristen Hubbard's blog since way before Like Mandarin was released, and I've owned the book itself for months, so I'm not sure exactly why I stalled at reading it. I think it was just one of those cases where everything I saw said this was exactly a "me" book, one I would completely fall in love with. It wasn't the case of being scared off by hype, like I was with Stephanie Perkins, because this novel hasn't gotten nearly as much as it deserves. It was a case of wanting to save something for later.

Now that Hubbard's second novel, Wanderlove, has been released, I knew saving her debut any longer was getting ridiculous, and I finally picked it up and fell in love. As lovely as the language is from page one, it took me a little while to fall in with the characters, especially Grace. She seems like an incredibly old fourteen year old at times, and she also is prone to saying something when her actions proclaim otherwise. For example, at the beginning of Like Mandarin, Grace says she's not a stalker, then she describes hiding and watching Mandarin go to work... sounds pretty stalkerish to me. But after awhile the minor things didn't matter so much anymore, and as Mandarin and Grace's friendship developed, so did my adoration for this novel.

Like Mandarin is a novel that the reader soaks up, is transported into. I have never been Wyoming, but Hubbard made me feel like that little town was real. It was one of the most beautiful settings I have ever read, and it doesn't surprise me that the author is also a travel writer. Mandarin is also one of those charming bad-girls, like Ruby in Stephanie Guerra's Torn and Nova Ren Suma's Imaginary Girls. The kind of character that may be a terrible influence, but that as a reader you can't help falling in love with. She is sensuous and rebellious. Describing her many sexual encounters, Grace says:

"Mandarin never broadcasted her flings the way other students did. She never parked at the A&W for floats and chicken fingers, or copped feels under blankets at autumn bonfires. All that was too time-consuming. Mandarin treated her men like the apples she bit the good parts from, then pitched; like the still-smoldering cigarettes she famously crushed beneath her bare feet.

I wondered how many of them she thought about afterward, and which ones, and why."

These are the kind of vivid images that last long after the final page of the novel. This is the kind of book that you think about afterwards. Like Mandarin is not only an incredible debut, it's an incredible novel, and as patient as I was with picking it up, I have a feeling I will be falling into Hubbard's second novel, Wanderlove, in the very near future.

Find this review and more on inthenextroom.blogspot.com

[Melanie McCullough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, where to begin? Maybe the very first line since, as every great book should, it sucked me in.

The winds in Washokey make people go crazy

The prose just gets better from there. It's lyrical, poignant, intense. Beautiful. It's everything that I, as a writer, aspire to achieve and that I, as a reader, feel honored to experience. Hubbard had me re-reading lines and highlighting passages in an effort to understand their simple brilliance. Nearly every line is a wonder, ripe with the power to squeeze your heart or kick you in the gut.

The setting is almost surreal and is a testament to its importance in all great works of fiction. The dry, barren wasteland that is Washokey lends itself to the story. Works its way into the cracks and crevices, filling every gap and hole, leaving a seamless surface that becomes as much of a character as the people who inhabit it, and makes the story one that could not have taken place anywhere else.

Characterization in Like Mandarin never falls short. Each character, from Grace to the random drunk stumbling around a parking lot, was written in a way that acknowledged their unique histories and complexities. They felt like living, breathing human beings. People that you know, love, or ignored at some point in your life.

Grace herself is a smart, mature, 14-year-old who harbors an obsession with geology and, as the title suggests, with the carefree, often promiscous 17-year-old Mandarin Ramey. She keeps her head down and dreams of the day she'll get to leave her irritating, selfish mother, her small town, and her small time existence behind.

Mandarin is Grace's opposite. She's rebellious, gutsy, troubled. On the surface Mandarin seems like the more interesting character. And in less capable hands than Hubbard's it would be easy for Mandarin to overshadow Grace, and although this is often how Grace feels -- overshadowed, less than --, it's never felt by the reader. You are painfully aware that it's Grace's story being told. You experience every embarrassment, every bit of anger or frustration, every setback and awkward moment with her.

And while Grace's journey is complicated and sometimes edgy or dark, in the end it's a story about friendship, love, finding your identity and coming to terms with the "you" that you are, and is perfectly suited to a young adult audience that is no doubt currently experiencing, or has recently experienced, the same thing.

There is absolutely nothing about this book that I didn't adore. I'll admit to being a sucker for the supernatural and fantastical. I like to be transported to worlds unlike my own. But a contemporary done right, like Like Mandarin, is a reminder that there is often nothing more complex, compelling or magical than real life and the depth of human emotion.

[Mel Boulrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a good chunk, maybe 100 pages, to be convinced that this book was worthy of all the buzz I'd heard. For those of you that follow my blog, you will know I like happily ever after and to be honest, a majority of this book isn't. I thought I had gotten in over my head but when I finished that last page, I was floored, the arc of the story was beautiful.

Grace and Mandarin couldn't be any different. Grace is the naive, smart, reads books and collects rocks. Mandarin is the town slut, works at her dad's bar, is failing school, beautiful and full of attitude. What do they have in common? They are both teenagers growing up in boring old Washokey, Wyoming and being teenagers they are searching for themselves.

Grace comes from a loving family that includes her mom & little sister. The fascination with having the girl's win Pageant shows is her mom's life...and ultimately what draws Grace and her apart. Mandarin is who Grace admired from afar, literally. It is a school project that pairs Grace & Mandarin and from which their eyes are opened & they discover a bit of who they are.

Dark and raw, this book portrays teenage innocence perfectly by contrasting two polar opposites. Everyone knew Mandarin and Grace was in awe of that. It doesn't matter if the attention was good or not, it was attention. Grace had lost herself trying to hide under the radar for so long, trying to blend in and not stand out. I think we can all relate to this. As much as Grace saw freedom and confidence in Mandarin, she discovers that what you see can be skewed by your personal desires & soon comes to realize that Mandarin is vulnerable.

Like watching a loved one fall, sometimes this story was hard to read. Knowing that Grace was making up for lost time, trying to get out there and live a little bit, but with Mandarin's influence you knew it was a lesson to learn the hard way. I didn't connect that well with the characters, (well unless you count the fact that I despise Mandarin for being totally selfish) but the message of the story is clear..and growing up never is easy.

originally posted on my blog: http://hefollowedmehome.blogspot.com/...

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews.

It's hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything to be like Mandarin. When they're united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town's animal-head trophies, and searching for someplace magic. Grace plays along when Mandarin suggests they run away together. Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds plaguing their Badlands town. Because all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin's unique beauty hides a girl who's troubled, broken, and even dangerous. And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, no friendship can withstand betrayal. (Synopsis provided by goodreads)

This is a debut novel! I really enjoyed this book. I found it to be a fast read but also a read that makes you think. I saw a vlog with Kirsten Hubbard who described her book as dealing with heavy topics but also being light-hearted. I think that is probably the best way to describe it.

The book does deal with heavy topics and Hubbard does allude to some difficult things such as rape (At least that is how I interpreted a scene towards the start of the book)
I really liked the character of Mandarin and how she is care-free one moment, but can get really angry the next.

I was a teenage girl at one point and I think Hubbard did an awesome job in capturing the intensity and the frailness of friendships between females, and teen females to be more precise.

I found Grace’s mother to be self-centered and to blame Grace for a lot. Her little sister I found to be adorable.

The book had a lot of parts that will make you smile and parts that make you stop and think. There were also some parts that will make your heart ache for the characters. I loved the book and I look forward to Hubbard’s future works.

Overall rating ***** 5 out of 5 stars

Cover art: I like the simplicity of it.

Obtained: Personal book shelf.

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting a little bit more from this book. It was good, but I think it was lacking in depth and complexity. It was more of a light, forgettable read than I was expecting. If it was a little bit longer, then maybe the characters could have been explored more and it would have held more meaning. It did have beautiful moments, and I really liked the writing in terms of description, but it could have been so much better.
My biggest problem with this book, though, is Mandarin herself. Maybe if she was a more fleshed out, complex character, it would be easier to understand Grace's obsession with her. To me, she seemed pretty average, even unlikable; I never saw anything about her that would warrant that much fascination. Yes, she's promiscuous, Grace! She only eats fruit! She's pretty! She hates Washokey! These are the things that are repeated over and over again about Mandarin, but none of them endeared her to me or made me even a little interested in her. If your going to make a character that's supposed to be obsession-worthy and mysterious and have hidden layers, you have to at least try and make her interesting and likable. And you have to have your protaganist eventually realize that humans are more complex than that and they need to stop turning real, flawed humans into their own perfect fantasies. John Green is the master at this, and in Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska, her succeeds at creating characters that make you as obsessed with them as Miles and Quentin are, and then making you realize what an idiot you are. Mandarin never gets any less Manic Pixie Dream Girl than she was at the start. She never really becomes human, you know? We see that she has flaws, but at the end, she's really just the same two-dimensional caricature she was at the start, even after Grace spent the whole book getting to know her and understand her. It's infuriating, especially when there was so much possibility in Mandarin's character to expand and grow.
This book would make a good beach read. But if your looking for something more, it's pretty disappointing.

[Book Twirps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kirsten Hubbard captures small town life perfectly in her novel Like Mandarin. Fourteen-year-old Grace Carpenter longs for something more than the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming. When she was younger she was a pageant princess. Her single mother would doll her up and take her out to compete. That all ended after she pulled a stunt during the finale of one of her pageants, humiliating her mother, who then refused to enter her in another. This is also the first time she sees Mandarin Ramey.

Years later, Grace is the smartest in her class, and has been moved forward in school. She should be a freshman, but has been moved up with the sophomores. Her mother now focuses all her time on Grace’s younger sister Tafetta – her new pageant toy. Grace is awkward, loves her solitude, collecting rocks, and dreams of the day she graduates from high school, so she can leave Washokey. She is also totally enamored by bad girl Mandarin Ramey. Mandarin smokes, skips school, has a bad attitude and gets around. Everyone in town looks down on her, and at the same time, are completely infatuated with her. When Grace is paired up with Mandarin for a school project, the two of them form an unlikely friendship, and Grace finds herself wanting to do everything in her power to stay in the good graces of this badly damaged girl.

Hubbard’s writing is flawless. She describes her settings so vividly, it’s easy to imagine yourself standing in the Wyoming badlands, feeling the wind whip at you. Her characters are just as vividly drawn. I knew every one of them, and could compare almost all of them to someone I knew when I attended high school. Both Grace and Mandarin are engaging characters, and though the story is told from Grace’s point of view, I felt Mandarin was more intriguing, which actually works. It makes the reader understand why Grace wants so badly to be like her, and needs so desperately to help her.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hard review for me to write. Maybe it’s because I relate too closely to the book. Maybe it’s because the nuances of the plot are so subtle that they actually become difficult to write about. Maybe it’s just that I’m not a good writer. I don’t know. I just know that it’s hard.

Kirsten Hubbard has impressed me before, with her lovely book WANDERLOVE. Even so, I didn’t expect to love LIKE MANDARIN nearly as much as I did. There’s something special about this book. The small town of Washokey, Wyoming, where Grace Carpenter lives, may just be that thing. Washokey, though not even a real town, is written so vividly that I could nearly feel its ambience around me as I read. It engulfed me, and I became part of the novel. I cannot praise this book enough. The prose is wonderful. It’s detailed and metaphoric, but not to the point where it becomes frivolous and tedious to read.

In spite of the fact that I loved the feelings that LIKE MANDARIN gave me, I felt dissatisfied when I finished reading. I reached the end of the book, but something was still missing. I still needed closure. Maybe that has to do with my own personal experiences and the way that I relate to Grace, but I felt betrayed by Mandarin. I wanted to know what happened to her, I wanted her to call Grace and tell her that she wasn’t just abandoning her. I wanted Grace not to end the story alone, once again. And even though, in a way, there was a happy ending, I found myself wanting more. This could be due to how invested in the characters I became, how much I saw my high school self in Grace and my high school best friend in Mandarin, and how she abandoned me too. And I never knew why.

This review is getting personal. Maybe too personal. I’m not sure. I don’t know. This book affected me in a way that I can’t quite describe, but I know that it was significant. I know that I will remember it for a very long time.

[Hafsah Faizal · Rating 5 out of 5]

See Review on Blog

Like Mandarin is truly a work of art. In her very first novel, Kirsten Hubbard tells a tale of two girls in a small town, where everyone knows everything. The words were so vivid, and the writing so unique, I could feel the wildwinds of Washokey rustling my hair and hear the whispers of the neverending, small-town gossip in my ear while sitting in my quiet room.

Grace and Mandarin are two completely opposite girls - like the moon and the sun - yet more in common than Grace can ever imagine. So when Grace and the older girl are paired for community service project, Grace embarks on a wild ride filled with tears, anger, happiness, and most of all - freedom. Even if her freedom is shortlived.

Because in a small town like Washokey, Wyoming, there is no such thing as freedom in Grace's eyes. Everyone knows your past and everyone knows what your doing right then and there, and when and where. Sure there are places she could go to where no one would see her, but that's not what she wants.

I think every girl can relate to Grace in some way. And every girl wants to be a little like Mandarin - a bad girl who everyone thrashes in public and envies in secret.

From the cover, to the title, to the very last page, Like Mandarin was full of adventure. How can it not be, when it includes jackalopes? So if you haven't picked up this debut, don't stall, you just can't miss out!

And if you have read Like Mandarin, what do you think? :)

-Would I recommend this to anyone? Probably ages 12 and up