Larkin’s Reviews > If Jack's in Love > Status Update

A choice needed to be made about the focus of this book because it tries the coming of age thing + the murder and neither are really compelling. And the jewelry robbery and then of course he gets into Harvard. I think the emotional aspect that Jack goes through is the most compelling and realistic. I do like the "If Jack's in love, he's no judge of Jill's beauty" -Ben Franklin. It kind of applies to family and views.

FINISHED. 3 stars. This book was okay. You're always told that books need an attention grabber and this book led off with the "imagine"finding Gaylord's body which I thought the Witcher's actually had so I had to go and reread. In this case the attention grabber was misleading as far as what this book would be about. It's a coming of age sort of tale. Wetta could've dove into the social caste of the neighborhood.

(242)(295) maybe this book isn't boring, it's more realistic. I'm just american and we need some action to hold our attention. This isn't a murder mystery thing, it's just mostly an it a kid trying to grow up in a very dysfunctional family. Wetta does a great job of showing anxiety and depression rather than just saying because a 13 year old in the 60s wouldn't have really known this. IDT I'll be satisfied.

Still not hooked, but I did wake up and want to read something, which hasn't happened in a while. I think I want something dramatically teenager-y. Maybe I should've kept Truly Devious, but no, there's an audio book. I don't know if I like the way the kids talk. I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be an adult narrator looking back on youth, so there are liberties taken, but is Myra annoyingly unrealistic?

Also, I have an arc copy that I got at Goodwill, so this isn't the completely finished and edited book, maybe some of those 10 cent words were taken out, but idk. I think Mr. Gladstein seems a bit predatory and the fact he's tell Jack to kiss Myra even though she's said she shouldn't even be friends with him is creepy. Idk how i feel about this non linear timeline.Will there be magic, I'm down. What about the murder?

Started 21st of Oct.I expected an innocent book based on title, but this is a bit more raw. The author uses words that make me feel like I'm studying for the SATs on nearly every page, unnecessary. I just saw a blurb on the back that he was a high school dropout, so maybe it's a "screw you , look how smart I am" there's a murder and it interests you in the first couple pages. Idk if they'll be magic bc of the ring.