52 Reasons to Hate My Father

by Jessica Brody

Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.

Lexington Larrabee has never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either.

Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteenth birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.

In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and, regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Chick Lit, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Humor

352 pages, Hardcover

First published July 3, 2012

About the author

Jessica Brody is the author of more than 20 novels for teens, tweens, and adults including The Geography of Lost Things, The Chaos of Standing Still, Amelia Gray is Almost Okay, A Week of Mondays, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, the Unremembered trilogy, and the System Divine trilogy which is a sci-fi reimagining of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, co-written with Joanne Rendell. She’s also the author of the #1 bestselling novel-writing guides, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel as well as several books based on popular Disney franchises like Descendants and LEGO Disney Princess. Jessica’s books have been translated and published in over 20 languages and several have been optioned for film and television. She’s the founder of the Writing Mastery Academy and lives with her husband and three dogs near Portland, OR.

Visit her online at JessicaBrody.com or WritingMastery.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram @JessicaBrody

Reviews

[Melanchallina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Те из вас, кто уже какое-то время интересуются моими отзывами, знают, что романы я читаю редко. А также то, что я предпочитаю милые книги, с семейными отношениями, без лишней и неуместной порнографии (а лучше и вовсе без нее).

Я давно ждала перевод книги "52 причины моей ненависти к отцу", так как интуиция подсказывала мне, что эта книга определенно в моем вкусе, и знаете что? Я была права. Я хотела легкую, забавную историю, от которой можно получить удовольствие, и данная книга была прямым попаданием по всем статьям. Светлая, забавная, в меру романтичная и в меру глупая.



Лексингтон Ларраби – дочь одно из самых богатых людей в мире. Она с детства предоставлена сама себе и не знает отказа ни в чем. Все ее проблемы решаются в мгновение ока, а сама она не задумывается о последствиях своих поступков. Лекси, та самая «Попрыгунья Стрекоза» из басни Крылова. Но она стрекоза с отцом-миллиардером.

Именно поэтому, когда Лекси попадает в автомобильную аварию, то уверена, что никаких проблем не будет и в этот раз. Но как вы понимаете, на этот раз все меняется. Ее отец принимает решение – либо Лекси целый год будет работать на низкооплачиваемых, непрестижных работах, чтобы понять и оценить сущность и тяжесть бытия обычных смертных. Такое решение определенно не радует юную Ларраби, а тут еще и отец пристроил следить за ней своего нового помощника Люка….



Начиная читать книгу, вы понимаете – Лекси избалованная, капризная девушка. Но через какое-то время вы открываете ее для себя с новой стороны – она также умная, заботливая и полна сострадания. У нее есть свои проблемы, свои детские травмы, которые она прячет. Деньги в ее мире могут дать многое, но самое желанное, ей не получить – любовь и внимание отца.



Для всех, кто хочет прочитать книгу, маленькое предупреждение – книга НЕ о любви. Романтическая линия тут практически отсутствует, она скорее эхо и фон для главной идеи книги, а книга сама о семье, о семейных отношениях и ценностях, о жизни. Этакий книжный вариант фильма «Красотки в молоке».

Главная героиня хорошо показана в разных условиях и с разных сторон, в ее образ верится, она и раздражает и заставляет улыбаться, а под конец я держала за нее кулачки и болела за то, чтобы у нее все получилось, чтобы она справилась в этим испытанием, не сдалась на полпути.

Кстати мне очень понравился брат Лексингтон - Купер. Хоть он ни разу и не присутствовал в истории физически. Чтобы вы понимали, все дети из семьи Ларраби в 18 лет получают чек на 25 млн и могут делать, что захотят. В случае с Купером… он отдал деньги на благотворительность и присоединился к Корпусу Мира. Он также единственный брат Лекси, с которым она может поговорить по душам. Очаровательный герой.

Книга очень маленькая, поэтому на ее прочтение уходит часа 2-3. Советую всем, кто любит такие книги – легкие, позитивные, о семье.

Моя оценка: 8/10

[shady boots · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is also available over at my blog.

__________________________

I had a lot of fun reading this! Starting the book, I had high hopes, and I expected a hilarious and fluffy read. What I got was just that, and a whole lot more.

So we have Lexington Larabee, a Paris Hilton-type spoiled heiress who's the daughter of the CEO of a multi-bullion dollar empire, and who's simply famous for being famous. On her eighteenth birthday, just when she's supposed to gain access to her twenty-five million dollar trust fund, she crashes her convertible into a convenience store, and things start to go downhill. Her father decides to postpone giving Lexi her trust fund for another year, and has her take on a different low-wage job every week of the whole year. He's also hired an intern named Luke, to keep tabs on Lexi's progress and make sure she doesn't bail.

I. Loved. Lexi. She's spoiled rotten, of course, and can definitely be annoying, but I love her. I sympathized with her when she tells of how her father was never around during her whole childhood, and always hired other people to be there in his place. I also loved that by the end of this book, she actually learned something. Well, she learned a lot of things, actually, but you can just see how changed she is by the end, how much she matured.

Lexi has to take on fifty-two jobs, and they include being an employee of a fast-food restaurant, cleaning horse stalls, being a maid, and many many others. She also has to send in status reports to let Luke─who is basically hired to be her babysitter, no less─know her progress each week.

Which brings me to our love interest, Luke. I liked him, actually. He wasn't a jerk at all. In fact, he was only a jerk when Lexi was being a spoiled brat. Their romance was so cute. :D I even got all giggly at parts at how adorable some of their interactions were. Besides Luke, there's also Mendi, who I guess is kind of a love interest, in a way. He was Lexi's on-again-off-again boyfriend before the car crash. He doesn't show up in the book much, though, but some time near the end he makes a sudden appearance.

Now let's talk about Lexi's father, Richard Larabee. This man was extremely hard to read. During most of the scenes he's in in the book, he always seemed like some kind of statue to me. I kept going from hating him to liking him to hating him again, but I realized my true feelings after what he did at the end of this book. Something I never expected. I won't say anything. ;)

Which brings me to the ending. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect. I'll be honest, it wasn't the ending I expected, but I'm definitely not let down. It was everything I could ever ask for in an ending and more.

This book in a nutshell was fun, hilarious, but also heartfelt, and it has a great message. If those are the characteristics you're looking for, I would definitely recommend this to you. :D

[Ruby Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

DNF'D at 60 pages.

First off. I HATED the main character. You know that one person you can't get to stop being so spoiled, that person who gets everything, then gets mad when it gets taken away as a punishment? The main character who's name I can't seem to recall from last night is that person. She was just so immature/bratty/spoiled. To the point where I was cringing at how she was making her situation worse because she believed that it was her right for her father to give her his money.

HIS MONEY!

If that wasn't enough, the style of the writing in this book was just SOOOOOO annoying. Like, so annoying I put the book down and picked it up hoping it got better, multiple times before putting it down.

An hour of my life has been wasted on this book.

Another thing that has bothered me. SHE HAS NEVER WORKED A DAY IN HER LIFE! You would think that she would have to work for her new car... NOT. She just gets it. That and she goes to clubs, at 17 years old! She just pushes the limits too much.

That and she yells WAY too much. Within the first 60 pages I think 50 of them had some sort of yelling/pouting/crying about whatever "terrible event" she had gotten into. How had she even gotten her license with that crappy of an attitude!

Okay, one good thing. I almost considered reading on... JUST TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO HER DOG. Her dog had such a better personality. I feel bad that she had to put up with that character.

Other than that here are some things that annoyed me:

-NO RESPECT FOR HER ELDERS! She yelled at adults within the first five pages and didn't stop throughout the whole book. If I did that at her age I would have been grounded indefinitely.

-She didn't like dirt on anything! I ride horses, I seriously can't deal with girls who don't get their hands dirty at all. WOMAN UP! A little bit of dirt isn't going to kill you. I have a friend who landed face first into horse poo and isn't dead yet. DEAL WITH IT.

-She just didn't do anything. She complained about staying in a hotel. About the parent figure she actually had. Said she was assaulted by that parent figure when he tried to stop her from destroying the room by grabbing her. I swear, the girl just annoyed me so much I wanted to rip my hair out at all her screaming.

-THIS WOULDN'T MAKE A GOOD MOVIE.

Content: I am sorry, I didn't read the whole thing so I can't do content for this book. If I accidentally put it on any of the shelves for "clean-romance" (not that one... I checked) it isn't justified.

I hope you enjoyed my review! Happy Reading! -Ruby Rose

[Avis Rara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Мы такие же настоящие, как реалити-шоу на ТВ.



Изначально не хотела писать отзыв на эту книгу, потому что писать-то особо и не о чем.

Сюжет нам рассказывает о избалованной наследнице, которая попав в очередную передрягу, вынуждает своего отца пересмотреть взгляд на ее воспитание и отправляет ее работать, дабы та усвоила, каким путем деньги в жизни достаются, да и вообще, познала жизнь простых смертных.

Сама книжечка по объему небольшая, прочитала я ее за 4 часа. В принципе, было интересно читать, но особых восторгов не вызвала. Я ожидала что-то более забавное и веселое, в духе Софи Кинселлы, а получила довольно пресное подростковое чтиво. Романтическая линия в книге ненавязчива, да и вообще история не об этом. Она скорее о жизненных и семейных ценностях. Легкая книга, но по мне, так на один раз. Будь я девочкой-подростком, то пришла бы от нее в восторг.

Как раз-таки и посоветовала я ее подросткам в возрасте от 12 до 15 лет. Тут особо думать над чтением не надо, а все поучительное написано довольно доходчиво черным по белому.

Саундтрек к книге: Carly Rae Jepsen – I Really Like You

[Justine Wach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I just read this book in one day? From 1 a.m to 1 p.m.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

52 Reasons to Hate My Father totally took me by surprise. I was looking for a quick summer read and I expected this book to be light hearted, a little romantic, funny and maybe even a little silly. It was all those things but so much more.

Lexington Larrabee is a Paris Hilton type. Jet setting around the world, buying whatever she wants and partying until the crack of dawn with no consequences. Until one night she gets drunk and crashes her Mercedes into a convenience store bringing a lot of bad press down on her father, Richard Larabee, business mogul and head of Larabee Media. Her father is in the middle of a big business deal and can't afford any bad publicity that may put the transaction in jeopardy.

Lexi has been counting on receiving a big fat trust fund check for $25 million dollars from her dad once she turns 18. Instead her father gives her an ultimatum. Start acting responsibly and work a different job every week for the next year. If Lexi doesn't follow through then she forfeits all the money. Add in the career driven (but maybe a little cute) intern Luke Carver to keep her in line and Lexi's social life comes to a screeching halt.

Lexi is a pretty darn unlikable character right from the start. She's spoiled with a HUGE sense of entitlement. It's a testament to Brody's writing that I loved Lexi anyway. Behind all her public antics, in private she's a normal girl who's lonely after the death of her mom and neglected by her father. Lexi has been raised by the help and all of her actions are guided by her father's publicity team. He's never around except when he needs to present the perfect family picture in public.

"My father is going to kill me.

Actually, on second thought, he probably doesn't have time to kill me. But he is going to send someone to do it for him. He's really good at that. Sending people. He's done that for every major even in my life."

The 52 jobs range from housekeeping to a grocery clerk, fast food worker and even a gravedigger. Luke drives her back and forth to each job and she has to send a report to him each week summarizing what she learned from each job.

Lexi pretty much goes kicking and screaming into the workforce. She tries tricking Luke and bribing her bosses but eventually, grudgingly accepts her fate. With a little persuasion from Luke she decides to prove everyone wrong about her and jumps into the 52 weeks with relish. Sure it may be for the wrong reasons at first (she still wants that money!) but she starts to takes pride in doing each job right.

What I loved is that Lexi doesn't lose her "Lexi-ness" during the process. For example, during her housekeeping job she realizes she doesn't know how to use a vacuum and Google's it. She does start to learn her lesson but in an unexpected and thankfully non "movie of the week", clichéd filled way. There was actually very little focus on each job which surprised me.

My favorite thing about 52 Reasons to Hate My Father is the message it sends to young women no matter what their social stature or circumstance. There is a little touch of romance. Both a boy from Lexi's past as well as Luke have great influence over the changes she makes in her life. However, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father is about Lexi standing up for what's right for her future regardless of any man. Whether the pressure is coming from an ex-boyfriend, potential boyfriend or even her father, she manages to put them in their place a time or two!

This is one of those books that you can take as much or as little away from it as you want. It's fun but there are great messages about love, family and second chances if you let yourself delve a little deeper.

http://www.fwiwreviews.net/2012/07/re...

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't had this much good clean fun reading a book in a long time. Normally I go for super dark genre books, but I needed a vacation, and this one has been quite luxurious. Jessica Brody's writing has so much voice, it makes you feel right at home in her character, Lexington Larrabe's, head. This is the kind of book I could read straight through. The pacing is perfect. Love, love, love.

[Stephanie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teenager Lexington Larrabee gave up on the idea of getting positive attention from her famous father long ago. She is sure he doesn’t care about her, can’t even seem to stand being around her. Lexie’s impression of her dad is reinforced when, after she drunkenly crashes her car into a store, he makes a list of 52 jobs he expects her to work at for a year. If she chooses not to comply, her trust fund will be withheld from her, permanently. This girl who has never had to work a day in her eighteen years is flabbergasted; she is sure her father is doing this to her out of spite and selfishness.
However, pampered Lexie discovers that things in life are not always as black and white as they appear to be...
Red Flags: I would recommend this book for Y.A. readers, but only with adult guidance. Underage drinking is very prevalent in this book, and pretty much accepted as normal behavior, at least at the beginning.

[Alice in Readerland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved, loved, loved 52 Reasons to Hate My Father! Here are some reasons why:

* Jessica took the touchy topic of the tattered father/daughter relationship and made it hilarious. There are so many hilarious lines and scenes that this book had me laughing out loud. The book starts off with Lexi, the main character, saying:
“My father is going to kill me.
Actually, on second thought, he probably doesn’t have time to kill me. But he is going to send someone to do it for him. He’s really good at that. Sending people.”
After that, she goes on to describe the people who work for her father as magic elves.

* This father/daughter relationship? While Jessica did add humor, she also adds a lot of emotion and sadness to Lexi’s story. This isn’t just some pouty daughter and workaholic father. Lexi’s has scars; the scenes with her father are powerful and when Lexi’s emotion bubbled up, mine did too. Underneath Lexi’s hate, there’s a lot of hurt, which Jessica cleverly shows.

(Excerpt from the chapter “Cold Front”: “I sit up, feeling more daring than I ever have before, “Do you love her?”
Again, my father doesn’t respond. But I think we both know the answer.
“Then why are you marrying her?” I challenge his silence.
When he speaks, his tone is once again flat and empty, “Marriage, like any relationship between people is a business arrangement. A negotiation.” My father straitens his tie and tugs at the lapels of his suit jacket, “Love has nothing to do with it. And the sooner you come to realize that, Lexington, the better off you’ll be.”
I’ve spent nearly my whole childhood building up an immunity to my father’s callousness and icy approach to life. But no matter how long you work at it, how many years you practice, you are never immune to everything. Because you can’t predict when the next frost will hit. Or how hard it will bite.
As much as I wanted to lie down and let the arctic mist roll right over me, I feel a stabbing sensation in my chest. The icicles have fallen. They’ve pierced through my skin. It’s a direct hit.
And I loathe myself for being so weak and susceptible. I despise my own vulnerability.
“You don’t really believe that, do you?” I ask in a feeble voice.”)

* There’s a reference to Jessica’s previous Young Adult book, My Life Undecided.

* There are so many quotes from the book that I love. I was practically bookmarking every other page, going “That line’s so powerful! That conversation’s so funny! This paragraph describes exactly how I’ve felt at times!”

* The way Lexi handles her jobs is hilarious, her video status reports even more so. Lexi has to Google How to turn on a vacuum cleaner and decides to wear different wigs and use different names on all her jobs. Oh, and Lexi’s job delivering flowers? Those scenes will have the reader smiling.

*Jessica makes her characters so likeable. Yes, Lexi just crashed her Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren convertible, valued at over $500,000, into a convenience store. Yes, Lexi’s remorse on this matter involves her not grabbing some aspirin from the store she crashed into. But she’s likeable. She’s funny and smart, she’s sassy and strong, she perseveres and she grows. I enjoyed Lexi’s unique voice so much.

* I enjoyed seeing Holly the Papillion, Lexi’s rescue dog. And as Lexi says about dogs “They’ll always love you. No matter how badly you screw up. No matter where you happen to crash your Mercedes convertible.”

This book made me want to laugh and cry; it perfectly added humor while addressing other problems. This book is one of my favorites, and it’s made Jessica Brody one of my favorite authors.

See full review on my blog, Alice in Readerland.
Direct link to 52 Reasons to Hate My Father review: http://aliceinreaderland.wordpress.co...
Link to Alice in Readerland homepage: http://aliceinreaderland.wordpress.com/

[Victoria Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

52 REASON TO HATE MY FATHER is imaginative, fun, witty, included an unexpected, intriguing love interest, and was wrapped in hundred dollar bills, y'all. Lordy, I loved Lexington, from start to finish, spoiled to thoughtful. READ THIS BOOK!

[Lil · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a book full of hilarity and are willing to watch an extremely unlikable main character grow into a smart, independent woman, this is the book for you! Full of humor, reality checks, and some romance on the side, Lexington's wonderfully entertaining sarcasm will keep you flipping pages.

This book focuses on a billionaires spoiled teenage daughter and her desire to get her 25 million dollar trust fund so she can get the hell out of dodge. She has no relationship with her family and was famous for being in tabloid trash. When she crashed her brand new car into a convenience store while driving drunk, her father finally had enough. he gave her a list of 52 undesirable minimum-wage jobs, one for every week in the year, and told her that she could only receive her trust fund if she followed through with every job at the end of the year. To make matters worse, Luke, her fathers stuffy intern, had to become her new babysitter.

I was initially incredibly apprehensive of this book. In the beginning of the book, Lexi is incredibly unlikable. She's manipulative, spoiled, and unlikable. As the book progresses, her exterior deteriorates and we meet the true Lexi, the one who misses her mother and hates the fact that she has no relationship with her father. We watch her go from a heartless heiress to a truly likable and respectable human being. And let me tell you, her sarcasm makes the ride so worth it.

The characters in this book are wonderful. Just like the main character, we start off disliking a lot of them (her father and Bruce for example), but we quickly learn to love them because they all had to have tough exteriors to continue on with their lives, especially her father. Then there are some characters like Mendi who are so self-absorbed that you'll hate him for the entire duration of the novel. Even then, all characters are essential to the plot line and I did fall in love with quite a majority of them. They all made the book beyond enjoyable and kept me interested from the very first page.

All in all, I can only describe this book as fabulous. A reader is temporarily transported to a new world where the rich and famous party at clubs, run away from paparazzi, and get forced to work low-wage jobs while wearing ridiculous wigs to cover up their identities. And while the book progresses, Lexi learns the realities that average people, like us, experience as our everyday lives. It's fascinating and the moral of the story is incredibly sweet.

I would recommend this solid 4 star book to anyone who is looking for a hilarious, light read that wants to watch a character begin to truly understand the world for what it is while she learns that she isn't a loser, but a woman that is easily capable of succeeding at anything she puts her mind to.

[hillary · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://youtu.be/YjWYB327yHc
This is the link to the book trailer. It's so beautiful, I love it! The author is a genius.

No insta-love and a well organized character's growth: yayyy! It's a hilarious and fantastic book, I couldn't put it down even for a second.
I think I'll never stop loving this type of books, they always make me feel better, even when I have to face a heavy exam.
Probably it would be an awesome movie since it really has a cinematographic feeling.

Luke, you're ADORABLE. Marry me, please.

[Zemira Warner]

The title is killing me. :D I'll read it this summer.

[Viktoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Осторожно, отзыв может содержать спойлеры!

Замечательная история об отношениях в семье, о том, что свое богатство зарабатывается трудом и потом.

Мне очень понравилась история. Легкая, местами забавная, кое-где даже грустная, но в целом такая семейная. Да, здесь есть акцент на романтических отношениях, но в основном эта книга об отношениях в семье, а даже точнее - об отнош��ниях отца и дочери.

Знакомьтесь с Лексингтон Ларраби. Высокомерная, лицемерная и заносчивая избалованная девчонка. Так говорят о ней все: репортеры, журналисты - люди, которые ее не знают. Девушка популярна, амбициозна, богата, заядлая тусовщица. Только вот одна тусовка заканчивается весьма не очень хорошим событием: Лекси влетает на новеньком автомобиле в супермаркет, в состоянии опьянения. И чтобы промыть мозги дочери, отец лишает ее трастового фонда, заставляя ее каждую неделю отпахивать на различных низкооплачиваемых работах, иначе денежек девочке не видать.

Сначала мне Лекси действительно показалась такой избалованной девчонкой, которой плевать на всех, кто ниже ее по статусу; ведь у нее есть деньги, а деньги могут решить многое. Меня покорил ее юмор, ее шутки, ее сарказм. Девчонка еще та острячка.

- Тогда вот что. Я просто возьму Бентли.
- Бентли вашего отца?
- Что? Как будто он ее вообще водит.

Мне понравилось, как она по началу реагировала на Люка. Мне было даже смешно.
Первое время она пыталась как-то увернуться от работы, но это ей не удавалось.
Я долго смеялась, когда в самом начале она работала горничной:

Я вытаскиваю свой мобильный, открываю браузер и гуглю "Как включить пылесос".

Как она запылесосила все вещи, валяющиеся на полу :D И типа ой, я же не знала, мне никто не объяснил, что сначала надо убрать вещи с пола, а потом пылесосить.

Дальше меня даже немного смущала ее ненависть к отцу. Она просто действительно держала на него обиду, злилась за то, что почти все детство она провела без него. Он всегда подсылал ей "нянек" или любых других нанятых им людей. Я прекрасно могу ее понять, она ведь практически не ощущает отцовской любви и заботы.

Все будет просто отлично. Все уладится. Нет никакой необходимости делать что-то радикальное... например, въезжать на машине отца в бетонную стену.

Но в то же время ей начинает даже нравиться на этих работах. И тут нам показывают совершенно неизбалованную Лекси. Да, она не умела пользоваться пылесосом, мыть полы и убирать. Но не потому, что она не хотела это делать. Просто ей никогда не говорили делать это. Она привыкла жить в роскоши, привыкла, что за нее все сделают. Но она находит, что некоторые работы для нее стали даже интересны, ей, к примеру, понравилось быть флористом, и она была хороша в этом.

Оказавшись за семейным столом своего коллеги, она почувствовала и узнала, что же такое на самом деле семья. И поняла, что проблема не в других, а в ее семье. Это у них ненормальные отношения.

После чего она начинает задумываться: может, неспроста отец затеял все это. Может, таким образом она сможет проявить себя? Но ей никто никогда не говорил, какая она молодец, никто никогда не гордился ею. Ей не хватало похвалы от безразличного отца, которого никогда нет рядом. (Зато он успевает находить себе новую молоденькую бимбо раз в три года.) Ей нужно было, чтобы кто-то сказал ей, что у нее все получится.


Когда в итоге раскрылась семейная "тайна", я не удивилась, но это все объясняло, как и опасения отца Лекси.


В общем хорошая история, в которой присутствует и юмор, и семейные проблемы, и немного романтики. Нет никаких особо тупых поворотов сюжета, все достаточно ровненько. Книжка для легкого чтения. Мне понравилось.

Значит вот так ведут себя настоящие семьи? Они сидят вместе. За одним столом. Вместе едят. Без фотографа, которые документирует сие событие для следующего выпуска журнала "Time". Странные и необычные не они. А я. Это я не вписываюсь. Это я не могу ничего понять до конца.

[Mitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really, there's only one reason to read 52 Reasons to Hate My Father. Who doesn't get a kick out of reading about a spoiled heiress brought low and forced to do menial labor? Especially when she's, as expected, completely incompetent? A barrel of laughs I say. But beyond that, this book hits all the spoiled rich girl stereotypes, the cold, distant father, the shallow, moneyed friends, the raised by the driver, butler, and maid excuses for bad behavior. All in all, Lexie's character development just ended up a bit too predictable for me.

The first couple of chapters, setting up Lexie's car crash, Lexie's father getting fed up with her behavior, and then the deal for Lexie to work 52 jobs in return for her inheritance, are serviceable, I guess. Maybe a little too long, considering I got all of that from the summary already, but Lexie makes it entertaining enough while putting all the blame on her emotionally distant father. And then the jobs begin. The first couple are hilarious - yeah, it's everything you'd expect from someone who literally can't do anything, lots of fun moments being a maid, a fast food worker, a mortician's assistant, among other jobs. I actually laughed. And there's a lot of heart to it as well, I can definitely see Lexie's transformation from her first job to her second to her tenth, becoming a little less spoiled, making something more of herself after each one. Plus, the side plot with Lexie coming to terms with her mother’s death is really good, and the exact reason Lexie's father picked those 52 jobs is a really nice touch too. So I actually liked how Lexie progressed, didn't have a problem with it at all.

What I do have a problem with is how calculated certain parts of this book felt to me. Her first job's as a maid, and then, after she decides she wants to succeed, she's a florist or a telemarketer. Really? Nice coincidence having her do the more physically demanding job early so she gets to complain a lot and then giving her jobs she'd actually be able to do after she decides she wants to succeed. She should've been a sanitation worker. Or a sewer cleaner. That'd have impressed me. But more than that, her father is just way over the top as this stereotypical cold withdrawn unemotional father. Yes, there's a reason for it, yes, there's a happy ending to it, but everything from his mantra of love and marriage is nothing but a business transaction to how he goes around with his new wife, it all screams cliched heartless businessman way too much.

But my biggest complaint is that the ending seems to be a massive rush job. There's a point near the end of the story when Lexie has to decide whether she wants to continue being the spoiled socialite or make something of herself, and that scene was for me the highlight of the book, because things start going downhill from there. She doesn't even finish all 52 jobs! Instead of doing what's in the spoiler, to save time, there's this weird plot twist that lets Lexie reconcile with her father and give a nice, tidy happily ever after to both their characters, he’s a better father, she’s a better daughter. The entire thing's a little too silly for me and really weakens the emotional punch of all the character development, pushing this book from light but with something serious to say to yeah, I cannot believe that’s how the whole thing’s resolved and now I’m left with this massive sugary aftertaste.

I guess the ending just ruined the impact of the climax, made everything a little too neat and tidy, and pushed this book into the light fluff category for me. I still like it, but I’m not impressed by how it's resolved. 3.5 stars.

[charlie. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Sometimes it feels as though the whole world is waiting on the edge of their seat for my next screw-up." - Lexi

The very first Brody book I've read and I totally love it! I enjoyed Lexi's POV and I had a good laugh while reading it.

Lexi may be your spoiled rich kid, who gets what she wants and doesn't care about anything except fashion and glamour but she's a wounded kid underneath all that. I really thought I'd hate her whining and complaints but Brody did a great job in putting some depth in her tantrums. I can feel the bitterness underneath her complains about her father and instead of hating her, I actually sympathize her. I like how she took her job while pretending to be someone else. I found creativity and optimism in it with how determined she is to try to separate it from who she really is and not letting any of it break her spirit. The character development was also well paced and I love how Rolando and his family was a part of this change. Along the way, you just can't help but cheer for her and wanting her to finally succeed and prove herself.

I wish her other brothers were given some spotlight though, but then again, Lexi already said that she was not really close to them except Cooper. In other books, I would really, really feel stuffed when the book was filled about the protagonists POV and everything revolved around him/her. But there's something about the absences of some characters in this book that doesn't make me dislike it. I actually love how it focused on Lexi's gradual change without making it suffocating.

Brody did a very good job in this book that touched the sore subject of a rocky relationship between parents and their children. This is about love, loss, responsibility and the true meaning of family.

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really, really loved 52 Reasons To Hate My Father. The characters were awesome and the plot was hilarious!

52 Reasons To Hate My Father follows Lexi, a heiress, who has to work her way to earn her 25 million dollar trust fund from her father. She has to submit status reports of what she learns every week (for every different job). Also, her father hires an intern to keep tabs on her, along the way.

The characters were amazing! At first, Lexi was such a stuck-up, arrogant person, but as she starts to change, you see the reasons why she is that way. She also was hilarious because of her ignorance of how to do simple everyday things. There were more than a few scenes that had me laughing out loud :) Luke, the intern, was cute and the way he handled Lexi was really sweet. I loved both those characters, a lot. They both developed so much throughout the story!

There were a lot of really great side characters, as well, that were such awesome people. They helped Lexi along the way and taught her different things about how she should live her life. It was so sweet how the message of being a family was present throughout the book.

The plot moved along pretty quickly, and I loved seeing all the different jobs she had to do. The jobs were all really unique and interesting ones. Lastly, the ending was amazing. I thought it was perfect for the book! I’d give 52 Reasons To Hate My Father 5 out of 5 flowers.I’m also having a giveaway for a copy of the book :)

Review also posted at http://www.thebookbelles.blogspot.com

[Mads · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never wanted to read this book in the first place and my gut was beyond right.
I
HAVE
NEVER
HATED
A
BOOK
MORE

Honestly this book exceeded all my expectations to suck, the protagonist, the plot, the romance, the characters, the writing, the theme, ANY AND ALL ASPECTS OF THIS BOOK SUCKED.

It was a train wreck. I can't even explain the horrors of this book. From the romance to the writing to the characterization. THE PLOT WAS POINTLESS. No character transformation, flat flat flat

I didnt like this book. That is all

[Kate Evangelista · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the narrative style even if the ending was wonky.

[Thalia Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character is purposely unlikable, but she didn't really get better for me like she was supposed to, and the romance really wasn't good at all.

Okay pacing, and a decent plot.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was genuinely pleasantly surprised by this book - I had bought it a few years ago and it somehow ended up put at the back of my bookshelves which meant I couldn't see it, nor remember I had it! But I decided to go through my shelves recently and rid of any books that I'm no longer interested in and I stumbled upon this! This one made the "keep" list and went onto my "I'll read it eventually" pile, but it ended up being pushed forward after I re-read the premise and found myself intrigued... But I definitely didn't have high hopes at the time!

I truthfully thought that this book would be childish, irritating and very cliche - but it ended up being none of the above and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is, essentially, a story about a silly, spoiled girl getting her comeuppance and being taught the values of respect; and it is done in a way which is tactful, interesting and impressive.
Lexi is taught some very valuable lessons throughout the span of this book - from how to respect those that are working class (I also really loved the portrayal of the jobs that she had to do - never where they depicted in a demeaning or offensive way; she always saw the better of the jobs after getting used to them), to how to respect money.

The character development is a really strong element and something that I highly valued as watching Lexi turn from a spoiled brat to a mature adult was something I was impressed by because throughout the novel you could see the events slowly beginning to change her and make her into a better person. I personally favoured the contrasts between the start of the book to the end wherein she would say "I will never do that job!" To where she says "I want to do that job!" I feel like she gained a lot of personality and this added so much to the story as a whole. I started off not liking Lexi, which was the purpose, to being smitten with her character because of who she became and how far she had travelled to become her.
A lot also has to be said for her fathers character development - I entered the novel with a very negative picture painted of her father, but left with an illuminating image of a man who does truly care but has lost his way through grief. I found the family element to be a fantastic addition, also, and I truly loved the way it was played out and was woven carefully into the story as opposed to be spontaneously thrown in. I loved the family aspect wholeheartedly (even with her extended family of butlers and lawyers) and found it to be another factor which helped this story be thoroughly well rounded and interesting.

I found the friendships entangled within this novel to be one of my favourite aspects - her friendship with Rolando was a particular favourite and I really wish we could've seen more of Rolando throughout the span of the novel as I feel he was a really well written, pivotal character. And he was ridiculously sweet! He made my heart well and truly melt.

I also really liked the addition of the love interest - I am a sucker for hate progressing to love and this was written perfectly and executed brilliantly; and they were so utterly cute together! I feel that Luke added to the story in a really positive way without making himself be the reason that she turned herself and her actions around. Typically in YA fiction, the main character will turn themselves around in order to please their potential love interest but I can't say I really felt that happening much here - it was more focussed on her wanting to do it for herself, which was a really important factor that I really enjoyed. Whilst Luke was a main character, the story didn't shift to be about him and not every single problem was solved because of him. She found her own way in her life and Luke was just along for the journey, which is a unique factor that I am thankful for.

Overall this was a fun, easy, quick read with humour, drama, excitement and love packed throughout to make a fabulous combination which came together to craft a brilliant book. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I think the author did an exceptional job of taking a simple plot and making it something rather brilliant! There is the right proportion of sadness to happiness with this one without it being too dramatic or too overbearing, and I think it makes for a perfect contemporary story.

There was very little I didn't enjoy about this book, and anything that might've irked me whilst reading hasn't stuck with me and so my rating for this is a firm five stars! What I expected to be a dud book turned out to be one of my favourites of the year so far, and I 100% recommend this to anyone who wishes to read a lighthearted, funny contemporary about a spoilt girl learning what it's really like to live in the "real world".

[Milly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why is this like one of the best books i've ever read?? I need someone i know to read it and explain to me why. I thought it would be boring after the slow start like 52 jobs-no way but they didn't even go into detail about all of them and it was so fast and exhilarating.
Lexi is so so cool or idk she is just the best. I literally hated her sm at the start i was like brooo she's so spoilt and annoying but the development was insane and perfectly well done-i didn't even realise what was happening till the end. I loved luke but i feel like we could have had a little more on him and like his whole life. I want to know if he has siblings and why i like him so much like he is the best but also a mystery. The friends kinda annoy me of how protective but like two faced they are like be nice or don't stop changing. The chapters were also so short in this like 7 pages each and the ending did feel a little rushed. I could've read another 200 pages- also this was only 200 pages like excuse me who? it was amazing though and i think i need to read some more of this author's work, Jessica Brody is amazing. This book is also such a classic like 2000-2010s trope like it has the legally blonde energy but clueless and all that kinda stuff which i love so it is so good!!

[Niki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly? This book reads exactly as it looks. You're not getting a deep literary masterpiece that you'll make sure to keep in your bookcase to pass on to your kids later on for wisdom, but it's not pretending to be one. It's a fast, easy, turn-your-brain-off entertaining (and predictable) read, and that's exactly what I needed at this point in time.

There was nothing actually WRONG with it, but I'm still going to give it 2 stars, a pretty "low" rating, because I just can't justify anything more. The actual rating is probably a 2.5.

[shre ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just look at the cover, honestly, I never thought I'd like it. I try to avoid "snobby girl" books as much as I can. The little blurb on the cover really made me cringe. The whole "What's a girl gotta do to earn her dad's trust (fund)?" threw me off. I thought this entire book was going to be about a rich girl and her attempts at earning the money she doesn't really deserve. Of course, this was all before I read the summary, and I was doing exactly what they tell us all not to do, judging a book by its cover. Then, I decided to actually open the book and read the summary, and I have to say, I was 50% shocked, 50% excited. The summary completely destroyed the ideas I was contemplating this book would revolve around. I never expected that this book would actually be about a girl earning the money by taking on 52 jobs, instead of having the money just handed to her. So this book left me more or less satisfied and I'm glad I decided to open it the to the inside cover rather than just basing it on the what I saw of the outside.

Lexington Larrabee's glamorous life-style, depending on how much a person knows of it, can either be envied or rejected. Although she's never dirtied her hands and is practically made of money, she has also lead a very secluded life. She has her friends, her chauffeurs, chefs, and care-takers, but the one thing she's never had in her life is her parents. Her mother died early in a car-accident, and her father blatantly chooses not to be there for her, so she's grown up pretty recklessly, with no set rules to follow. But that all changes when she decides to crash her new Mercedes car into a convenience store, while under influence, a day after she got it. Now, her father has no choice but to set a consequence for her if he wants to keep his daughter under control. What Lexi doesn't understand is why her dad actually cares about her enough to punish her. If Lexi's to earn her trust fund of 28 million, then she has to undergo several jobs in order to get there. Every week of the year, Lexi will get one specific job, making it a whopping 52 jobs total. These jobs can be as painful (for her) as being a maid, or as weird as working with corpses at the cemetery. How does her father knows she's actually doing the jobs, and is actually not just out gallivanting with her friends and getting her nails done? In comes Lexi's idea of hell on earth, her father's intern, the oxford t-shirt wearing, arrogant, know-it-all Luke, AKA, her manny (male-nanny). Lexi will have to endure a year of torturous jobs that'll leave her limping, a yapping, hot but annoying, baby-sitter, and most importantly the trials that her father keeps throwing at her. It's gonna be a loooonngggg year for Lexington Larrabee.


Overall, this book left me feeling satisfied. I would recommend it to anyone who's looking for a light, fun read for the summer. The characters weren't absolutely amazing, but the were people you'd enjoy reading about. Especially Lexi, she has a very outgoing personality, and is really funny in a witty and sarcastic way. I even loved her when she was being pessimistic. In the beginning, she might appear like a spoiler little miss drama queen, but there's more to her than what meets the eye; no matter how cliched that sounds. And I enjoyed reading about the different ways she handled her jobs, as she's never lifted a finger before, and it was pretty hilarious when she basically sucked at everything. For example, when she had to look up how to work a vacuum cleaner on YouTube....pfft...classic. So yes, she's not a spoiled brat, but instead, a wonderful girl who grew up not knowing what a true family was, and who just needed a push in the right direction.

And of course, can't forget the love interest. Luke has a very down-to-earth kind of personality, and I liked him for the most part. He's like one of those guys that are nerdy but in a really hot way, haha. The romance in this book was centered around the whole "she's met her match" theme. Luke didn't pamper Lexi like she's used to, and he didn't even bat an eye-lid when she threw her temper-tantrums. The only thing I didn't like about him was how he seemed so dense. It took him forever to realize he has feelings for Lexi, and by that point I was already screaming "Just kiss her already,dammit!" But the romance didn't completely hog up the story-line and I was glad for that.

To be honest, we've probably seen many book like this one been written before. Where the girl goes from being a spoiled-rotten teenager without a care in the world, to suddenly actually thinking about other's feelings before saying or doing something that might hurt them. Yes, yes, been there, read that and all. The point I'm trying to make is that although this book wasn't exactly unique in its plot, the author wrote it in a way that made you savor every bit of it. Some authors are successful in writing YA contemp. and some aren't, and I'm oh so very happy to say that Jessica Brody started and ended her book in a way that left me craving for more of her writing.

My Rating: 4/5 stars
It wasn't something I haven't seen or read before, but I'd gladly read it again.

More reviews at http://chocolatecoatedreviews.blogspo...

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

The entire premise of this is ridiculous yet I couldn't help but read it to the end so while it probably deserves 2 stars for plot (and laughable "reality") it gets the extra for being funny enough to keep me reading through the entirely predictable ending.



After rich little nearly 18 year old Lexi drunkenly crashes her new Mercedes, her rags-to-riches single (but often re-married) father decides that to now EARN the 25 million trust-fund check she was supposed to get outright on her 18th birthday; Lexi would instead need to perform 52 one-week long manual labor/blue-collar style jobs to prove she understands the value of a dollar (or that she respects working for a living? Or can do this year-long "rehab" without crashing another car? The reason isn't really clear at the start and by the end appears to have been "so you value the $25 million?" or something).

Quite aside from the laughable aspect of getting a rich heiress to perform one different job each week AND be somehow magically amazing at each of them after only a day of training (*cough*MarySue*cough*) while effortlessly knowing multiple languages and having massive skills despite 18 years spent as a coddled and insufferably rich (but not TOO insufferable, still heart-of-gold here); is the slew of potential boyfriends for Lexi. The ex-boyfriend rich guy who makes you feel AMAZING (with lines as smooth as "Hey babe, how you been?") when you're in his focus, but then spends hours just ignoring you blatantly while he plays on his phone. There's also daddy's intern Luke who was set to "babysit" her through the jobs, who slowly becomes Lexi's focus of girlish attention and then POW becomes a lust object and definite boyfriend material when she sees his glorious naked abs. And then there's the boy from the Taco stand job who lives in the bad side of town and with ONE shared family meal teaches Lexi that Poor People Manage to Make Family Work. Or something. He was very much the Magical Sage character who doesn't even get offended when Lexi at one point accuses him of betraying her to the entire media later in the story.

Then there's this kind of side-plot of finding out what REALLY happened to her dead mother (drunken car crash) and realizing that her daddy is REALLY just so cold and calculating because he's GRIEVING this entire time for his dead wife. And he has decided to retire after his company's merger (despite his daughter's strange and risky chapter of espionage to obtain evidence that this pending merger would be a bad idea) so he can spend the time with her that he SHOULD have spent with his wife. Which is also weird. Since she's 18. And "looks more and more like her mom every day". Uh....

But it does end with the more realistic realization that this attempt to mend their father-daughter relationship would take time and not be an insta-fixed thing so that was good to see.

Some baffling moments of note:

- Lexi's friends who we see at the start NEVER appear on-screen again after they leave to travel the world like Lexi was supposed to do with them. I kept expecting them to turn out evil or something or betray her but I guess even MIA they were True Friends?

- Because of this lack noted above; there is zero non-male interaction for poor Lexi other than one or two VERY brief moments with the bitchy French PR rep for her dad's business.

- Lexi opts to go back and FINISH all 52 of her weeks (because: heart of gold!) even though her father RETIRES to spend more time (with his 18 year old daughter who would have presumably been moving out..and who looks "more like her mother every day". Potentially REALLY creepy vibe there that I'm not sure is entirely avoided.)

- I wanted Lexi to be MORE evil at the start to have earned the rather devastatingly scathing reputation she has. But, instead, she reads more like every other YA female lead who has a sharp wit, a good heart, and after learning the Value of Hard Work and How Horrible it is to be Ignored as the Hired Help she becomes...a better Rich Girl? Who decides to date the hot intern her dad hired to babysit her... It wasn't a really large story arc.

- The siblings (Lexi has brothers) are nearly non-existent for the story as they're all older and out of the house/picture (and already HAVE their trust-fund checks). Only one really gets any screen time when Lexi makes a phone call to the Amazingly Philanthropic One out in the Peace Corps. He was actually really interesting and her one solid sane relationship at all. He could have been in the book more and really helped Lexi out a lot...



So, if you need a fast, funny, completely unbelievable read with a not-quite all-bad rich girl with a heart of gold (or at least silver); this could be entertaining.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown
Everybody's watching to see the fallout
Even when you're sleeping, sleeping
Keep your ey-eyes open"
(Eyes Open by Taylor Swift)

Yup. I went there. I actually heard TSwift while reading this book. *or maybe that's because of my radio?* oh well. The lyrics up there is how I see Lexington Labbaree's life. You see her father is really important in the business world and all her brothers have a respectable reputation except for her. She's like the opposite of them. She is just the typical heiress who's a bitch, spoiled and party-girl. A lot of people expects her to fail or more likely see what she would do next to disgrace her family.

This is also about 52 jobs that her father wants her to do for a year as a "punishment" for her misbehavior and also in order to get her trust fund of 25 million dollars.

The book was actually good. It's a light read but there are certain parts that pinch your skin every time you hear Lexie rants about her daddy issues. Well, I don't know, for me it feels like that. It's like making me pity her because of the way she grew up without a dad. Just reading those stuff about learning things from her butler, gardener and driver....then getting ready to greet her dad when he comes home only to be faced by his employee telling her he won't be coming home tonight...wanting more words spoken by her father because the last count were only 3 words. GAH! What? I know right? It's lonely growing up like that. By the time she OPENED UP HER EYES, she realizes that maybe she wasn't really important. Sometimes I just want to give her father a WHAT THE HELL DAD? BUSY MUCH? Why can't you be bothered by spending time or actually talking to her. That is just really sad.
I know, I know, there's a lot more to it. But if I rant it all I might spill some spoilers. So I'll stop right there.

Then comes this lyrics:
"Yeah, I was in the dark
I was falling hard
With an open heart
I'm wide awake
How did I read the stars so wrong
I'm wide awake
And now it's clear to me
That everything you see
Ain't always what it seems
I'm wide awake
Yeah, I was dreaming for so long"
(Wide Awake by Katy Perry)

Even though she knows the reality that she might never experience the love of his dad for her or even compassion, subconsciously she still hopes for it to come. I mean what can I say? A girl is desperate for that affection. Every one is! Especially if you've been ignored all your life. But then, Katy Perry sang in my head and told me hey, look Lexie is finally awake. Instead of letting people expect the worst from her, why not just be awesome and do the exact opposite. Try to enjoy and be successful with all those 52 jobs. (actually that was Luke who said that, the hot college intern that acts as Lexie's babysitter/ liason and yeah love interest. lol)
But well, I also heard Katy Perry, so deal with it. It's not also just about the 52 jobs it's also about facing her life. Her mother's death, her abandonment and the forever criticizing world of hers. Not to mention how she feels like a puppet with her father pulling all the strings.
So here, I really enjoyed how she faced all those domestic jobs!
Lexie is a bitch. yes. But she's also funny, compassionate, determined, smart and absolutely incredible! She has a way of making you like her because she is pretty much likable with her witty attitude and her strength.
I like Luke also. Wanting to be just like Lexie's dad, only to find out he is not what he seems to be at all. Just by looking at Lexie's life. (Lexie showed him! ha!) I also like their friendship. From hating each other to being something more. Gah. That's just a sweet progress! All those video messages, absolutely hilarious!

Okay one Lexie ranting:
"Why do men have to be so freaking elusive? Why can't they just say whatever the heck they're thinking and stop hiding their emotions behind vague statements that are impossible to decipher?"
----haha! My only reaction to this is, "Gosh, tell me about it!" Why can't they just go for direct and straight to the point talk?

One more thing,
The book actually kinda reminds me of that reality show of Paris Hilton wherein she do minimum wage jobs or something. It's exactly the same! ha ha. It's so funny. even the heiress thingy. It's like this book was inspired by Paris Hilton. It's very entertaining!

[Mundie Moms & Mundie Kids · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

A fantastic read with moments of humor, heartbreak and a little bit of romance.

At first I was a little skeptical about reading this book, but my intrigue over whether or not Lexi can change won out in the end. I ended up really enjoying this book. In fact, I was really surprised with much I liked it. I mean the story after is about a billionaire's spoiled teenage daughter, and what she has to do to earn her $25 million trust fund, but the story is much more than that. Jessica Brody has written a well crafted story with a solid plot line, in-depth characters whom all grow and surprisingly change in many ways, and offers a realistic look into the lives of us every day hard working people vs those born into privilege. There's more to this story than just looks, I loved how Jessica was able to weave together a believable storyline and introduce me to a character I ended up loving.

Lexi starts off as your typical incredibly rich spoiled teenager who doesn't have a care in the world except for shopping, partying and hanging out with her friends. When I first met her she a total brat, lacked respect, and didn't care about her consequences. In reading between the lines with Lexi I knew there something else going on, and a reason for her acting out and it wasn't long before Jessica revealed what that was. It's that reasoning that hooked me with Lexi's story. I wanted to know what the cause was, how Lexi was going to fix it and is how she was going to change as a character over the course of her story. I have to say, I ended up loving this girl! There's so much more to her than meets the eye. She's a beautiful girl who's had her share of heartbreak, she's intelligent, and witty.

There is a fabulous group of characters in this book, and each one plays a roll in Lexi's life. It doesn't matter if they're rich or poor, or from the working class, every character had an effect on Lexi's life both good and bad, most of the time it was for the better. I admired her best friends who were loyal and there to help her out through thick and thin. I also enjoyed meeting Luke! I got why Lexi was so irritated at him first, and loved it when she started to see him in a different way. They both learned a lot about each other and from one another in working together. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship grow. Aside from Lexi, the character that surprised me the most was Lexi's father. At first it was easy for me to see why Lexi was doing what she did to get her father's attention. I ended up seeing Lexi's father the way she did. As Lexi finds out, there's more to him than just the way she's always seen him, and I loved how Jessica unraveled the complex relationship these two have had and the reasoning behind.

This book is fabulous! It's one that got better and better with each chapter. I loved the meaningful messages Jessica gives to her readers and the way she does it. She not only allows her readers to connect with Lexi, but we see how each job effects and changes her and the lessons she learns from those she works with. There's a lot of character growth in this book, and with that came some heartfelt moments, bitter sweet ones, heartbreaking ones, and moments that were down right hilarious. I emotionally connected to all of them. The bits of humor in this book are fabulous! This is a wonderful story and one I'd recommend picking up!

[nick (the infinite limits of love) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read more of my reviews at Nick's Book Blog

I wasn't really planning on reading this book, but I ended up picking it up once I watched the book trailer. The trailer screamed fun, so I knew I had to give it a shot. It was a great read, albeit, very light and fluffy, perfect for a day at the beach.

Lexington Larrabee has always been given everything on a silver platter. Pretty much a spoiled brat, life's all about partying, shopping and dating for. When Lexi crashes her new $500 000 car into a convenience store, Lexi's dad decides that enough is enough. Until she completes 52 different jobs under the supervision of Luke, the new intern at Lexi's father's company, she's cut off from her $25 million trust fund.

As soon as I met Lexi, I knew that she wasn't a character that I would instantly love. She was, in a few words, a spoiled brat. For most of the first part of the story, she acted ungrateful. If she didn't get what she wanted, she threw a temper tantrum. Plus, she expected everyone to fulfill all her wishes. I was actually pretty glad that her dad decided to punish her in a pretty epic way. However, as the story progressed, it became much easier to probe into Lexi's mind. Although she acted like everyone should fall to her feet, she was only a girl who wanted some attention and love from her father who was always busy. She needed to feel loved. Around then, I started to feel sympathetic towards her. Over the course of the story, Lexi really grew as a person. The jobs that her father had selected for her helped her see what life is like beyond her perfect bubble of wealth. Through these tasks, she also got to become a better person. Luke, the love interest, was a cute character. He was fun to read about, but I thought that he wasn't very well-fleshed out. The same goes for Lexi's dad. The reader doesn't get to know a lot about him until the final chapter, so in a way, I thought he lacked depth. Nevertheless, the characters were an enjoyable bunch.

As far as the plot went, I expected it to be a little more focused on the 52 jobs. Instead, the author just brushed over it and as a reader, I never got to feel the impact that these jobs had on Lexi. I realize that detailing 52 jobs in a book isn't something feasible, but I would have been happy with 2 or 3 thoroughly detailed experiences. Regardless of my complaint, I found myself truly enjoying the book since it could be humorous and very funny at times. In my opinion, 52 Reasons To Hate My Father is a book that is perfect for a light summer read. I appreciated the fact that the romance was a slow developing one. It was totally adorable and I adored the banter between Lexi and Luke. Jessica Brody is a fabulous writer. Her writing flows nicely and she has a way of maintaining the reader's attention.

Overall, if you're looking for a fun summer read, then this book is perfect for you. With it's cute romance, funny characters and entertaining plot line, 52 Reasons To Hate My Father, is a book contemporary lovers shouldn't miss out!

[Clementine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lexington Larrabee is one of America’s most famous teen heiresses, and she’s never had to do any work as a result. On her 18th birthday, Lexington is set to receive her millions until her father decides she needs to build character and needs some consequences to her recent actions. In order to receive her money, Lexington will have to work a new minimum-wage job every week for an entire year. Things get worse when she’s assigned a handler in the form of an annoying college intern working for her father. But as Lexington begins to experience life for the other 99%, she starts to figure out who she is, too.

Jessica Brody’s riches-to-rags story doesn’t provide the reader any reason to hate it, but it also doesn’t allow for much love, either. The story is so transparent in its formula that it’s difficult to muster any sort of feelings for the book, one way or another. While it will certainly engage readers looking for silly, light fun, the book isn’t memorable in any way.

Virtually nothing about the story surprises. Everything happens exactly as you’d expect it to: Lexington whines and complains until she learns a valuable lesson about hard work. She begins to change with the help of Luke, the intern hired to watch her progress. The two have a bland, predictable romance. I try to stay awake as a result. There’s nothing new here, and that’s disappointing.

The characters are all flat and lifeless. Not a single person in the story seems to exist in an authentic way. Instead, readers are treated to every possible stereotype, and that’s all. Although Brody’s writing is competent, especially in the case of Lexington’s voice, it’s not enough to save this novel from mediocrity.

Might be fun for readers looking for fluffy summer escapism, but it doesn’t even do that well. It’s kind of like the short-lived Paris Hilton reality show “The Simple Life” in that it presents a lot of the same concepts with about as much creativity.

52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody. Farrar, Straus & Giroux: 2012. Library copy.

[Liviania · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I stopped by the Macmillan both during TLA, I told the woman working that I was suffering from paranormal fatigue. Thus, she sold me on two upcoming contemporaries. The first of those two is 52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER, about a rich girl forced to work in menial jobs for a year before she can access her trust fund. It sounded like fun and I started to read it that very night.

I read a couple of chapters and put it down for more than a month. Lexington Larrabee is a tough woman to handle in the beginning. She's captious and spoiled, steamrolling over people without a second thought and throwing tantrums that would embarrass a five-year-old. You want her to take the fifty-two minimum wage jobs her father lines up for her so that she can see what the real world is like. Anything to make her more bearable. But it's hard to side with her father. He's distant and cold. Even when changing the course of his daughter's life, he delivers the news through an intermediary.

Soon Lexi is working and learning nothing more than being a maid or a grocery store clerk really sucks. The story really starts moving as Lexi begins to change her life and become more involved with the world around her. On top of being a better person, a bunch of subplots kick in.

Luke, the intern who keeps track of Lexi's liaison, is a decent love interest. He's quite the foil to Lexi - in college on a scholarship, serious and driven, cautious and a bad dresser. I don't think girls will be running around proclaiming that they're Team Luke, but he had good chemistry with Lexi. I always love relationships more when they're built up through lots of interaction and conversation.

By the time I got halfway through 52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER, I couldn't put it down. After the rough start it's an infectious summer read. It lives up to the promise of its cover. If you're suffering from paranormal fatigue, you could do worse than Jessica Brody's 52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER.