Nowhere by Marysue G. HobikaMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
*I received this ebook from the author in exchange for a review*
Nowhere truly impressed me. I was struck by how different and yet similar this book was to her other, The Perfect Prom Date. I must say, I was instantly hooked with the characters and setting from the first page.
Nowhere is a delightful romance about two people who need each other desperately, but don't realize it until the moment they meet. Once they do, it is clear that they are the others' true love. <3 The premise of the story is every girl's dream: The rugged country boy meets girl from out of town and it's love at first sight. *swoon* I've always wanted this to happen to me but reading about it is the next best thing, I guess!
*WARNING 1: The order in which I bring things up will be in a really weird order because I wrote out all my thoughts in a note, in a completely random order, so I'm just kind of writing them out here in that order.
WARNING 2: Quotes may contain spoilers that are not contained within HTML*
GOOD/LIKES:
I have always liked books about changing lifestyles or moves. So when I started this book out and read she was moving cross country from the city to the country, I was already starting to imagine in my mind any number of plots.
I liked how Mike was so angry and dead-set against moving to Nowhere. It made the story more interesting and hooked you faster. It also made it all the more better when (view spoiler) However, at the beginning her snotty and snarky attitude got annoying. I personally am not one of those people who holds an attitude against a character if they have a good reason. Mike had a good reason: her dad had died, she was going to have a fun and dream-fulfilling senior year, and now she is moving to the middle of nowhere on the other side of the country along with her b****y sister. Yeah, I would be pretty pissed if I was her, and acting WAY worse.
Another reason I really liked this book was the country life and the simplicity of sentence structure and words the author used when talking about/describing it that made the country setting really come out. I've always loved the country, so I, in turn, loved this book's simple country life, happy moments, and good times.
Some quote examples of the simple, flowing writing about country life or just the simplistic relationship between Mike and James and Mike's grandpa:
1. “You look good, Pops.” I smiled. It was true; he seemed younger than he did that first day. We quickly finished everything on our plates. “That tasted awesome,” I declared. “It sure did. Thanks for asking me to join you young folk.” Pops’ eyes were bright with appreciation. “You’re welcome,” James and I said in unison, making us all laugh.”
Excerpt From: Marysue G. Hobika. “Nowhere.” MuseItUp Publishing, 2012-06-08. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.
2. “Once inside, we raided the fridge. Finding ground beef, I quickly turned it into burgers. James went out to the garden and picked a zucchini and yellow squash to add to the grill. There was nothing better than a cookout.
Pops was in the living room, watching baseball. I poked my head in. “Hey, Pops, James and I are making dinner.”
Excerpt From: Marysue G. Hobika. “Nowhere.” MuseItUp Publishing, 2012-06-08. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.
(view spoiler) I really admire how she is very assured about who she is and what she values and does.
Mike is a very strong character with a lot of depth and she is pretty relatable. I was very surprised about her complexity because Josie in The Perfect Prom Date was not very complex or had depth and was kind of one level. I think the nickname Mike fits her because it has a tomboy-ish ring to it. Once you read the book, it will just fit her character/personality in your mind.
James. Nice. Well-mannered. Good values. Smart. Strong. Mature. Kind-hearted. I could go on and on . He is a wonderful love interest for the story. Every girl reader will be drooling over James. Definitely another awesome main character in this story with a lot of depth and complexity to him. ;) And I, like Mike, refuse to call him Dooner. What a ridiculous name. James is much, much better. I just wish it would say James instead of DOONER at the top of the chapter for the perspective.
As for Tyler and his friends, they're a bunch of raucous jerks and the girls are a bunch of bimbos. I thought it was interesting that Tyler was a jerk and the arrogant football star. Normally an author writes about how nice the family is or the family will be stereotypical and complacent but it's a new twist to have the cousin in the goody-goody small town be the bad boy jerk on the football team. I liked that unexpected take on the character. Tyler is spoiled, arrogant, rude, and entitled.
Emma is a total popular b****. At least that's what I thought at first. Over time, you see she's not that bad. She is definitely nicer than Ellie in The Perfect Prom Date. Emma is a cheerleader, friends with the biggest slum *cough cough* (I think you know what I'm getting at) in school.
James' parents. I don't even know where to start. Let me just talk about them as a couple first. I find it interesting how the author actually brings in the element of James' parents when they were younger, and mostly talks about them in terms of their mistakes when they were younger. She doesn't just refer to them as "parents", you know, the ones without a past like in every book. Now onto each individually. James' mom is really a nice woman. I feel bad for her. She's a popular girl who has aged and now suffers the consequences of a fab high school life. She would always defend James' dad because he is, after all, her husband. However, she is not a bad person at all, means well, and loves James a lot. Now, now, now, onto James' dad . Of all of the low down alcoholics. He is a classic example of an alcoholic, scoundrel, abusive father. He is so horrible. I mean, I can't say he's evil. I'm sure, deep down, he means well, he is just so misguided after all of his alcoholism that he is a terrible person now. Like his wife, he is suffering the consequences of being a popular, carefree, "YOLO" if you will, guy in high school. Being the Tyler of his time. Just from his attitude at the beginning I instantly knew that (view spoiler) He just has a super weird values system. I feel bad that James' mom had to give up the rest of her life, and now James' dad blames her for it. Like she had a choice in getting pregnant. I have a feeling he pressured her into it anyway. And then he claims she "tricked him". Creep. As you can see, I am quite disgusted by his behavior.
Mike's Grandpa, Mr. Jenkins, A.K.A. Pops or Pop-Pops. He is such a nice guy! He's a great matchmaker too! ;) ;) (If you know what I'm saying.) Although I prefer my own grandpa (I'm lucky that way), I would still like to have Pops as an uncle or something. I'm glad that Mike, her mom, and Emma coming has helped Pops. I hate when elderly people's health deteriorates because their relatives won't help them.
In this book, the author writes different takes on familial positions, e.g. Emma, James' parents, Tyler....
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The author writes some of the prettiest, best quotes and lets us look into Mike's mind, thoughts, and personality the most when she writes about what Mike is thinking while she's drawing.
Examples:
1. "I didn’t think while I drew. The pencil flew across the page making marks, almost as if it had a mind of its own. Often times I didn’t know what it was going to be until it was completed. The cemetery was still with only a few birds calling off in the distance from time to time. When I finished I was not at all surprised by what had taken form on my paper. It was a portrait of my dad. He was sitting behind the tombstone, using it as a desk, his laptop open in front of him. He wore a peaceful smile. I smiled, too, as another tear fell.”
Excerpt From: Marysue G. Hobika. “Nowhere.” MuseItUp Publishing, 2012-06-08. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.
-On top of the fact that this is an amazing, beautiful, heartfelt, wonderfully written quote, I just LOVE it. I recommend reading this quote when coping with death.
2. “I concentrated on his eyes and his facial expression. Those said a lot about a person. I’d noticed that his eyes changed color based on his mood. Right now they were a true clear green, which meant he was happy. When his eyes turned cloudy with a mix of gray, he was angry. But my favorite shade was clear dark green, the color of his eyes when he’d just kissed me. Eyes only told part of the story. Drawing a portrait could be like looking at a person’s soul, when done right.”
Excerpt From: Marysue G. Hobika. “Nowhere.” MuseItUp Publishing, 2012-06-08. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.
-How romantic! *swoon*
The two perspectives that the story was told from made the plot development really interesting. When it's such a small town, you get two completely different perspectives on all of the characters (as well as sometimes three or four perspectives, e.g. (view spoiler).
I really loved the cute, simple, understated, loving repartee between James and Mike. It was well written and really represented their peaceful love. <3 This example is kind of more just about the very simple writing at first. It's not really that great of an example, but it's the best I got right now.
Examples:
1. “The place was jamming for a Sunday afternoon. We waited to sit down, hanging out on the outdoor patio, watching the motorcycles come and go. Finally we were called and the hostess led us to a table inside. The smell of barbecue made my mouth water.
“What do you usually order?” Mikalya asked me while poring over the menu.
“I have lots of favorites. Sometimes I get the pulled pork sandwich, the beef brisket, or the ribs.”
“I love ribs. Do you want to get the sweetheart deal for two? It says it comes with a full rack of ribs and four sides to share. You can pick two sides that you like and I can pick two that I like.”
“Sounds great.”
Excerpt From: Marysue G. Hobika. “Nowhere.” MuseItUp Publishing, 2012-06-08. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.
I love how Mike defends herself against Tyler and won't take crap from him. She puts him in his place. This reminds me of what I do with my guy cousins every single time they can get a bit...controlling like they have control over me just because I'm their girl cousin. Mike just tells it like it is with no restraints. I can connect with Mike in this way.
Something I really love about James is how he is better than his dad. His dad is like the bully and James proves that he won't sink to his dad's level and that he is better than his dad. I find that really admirable. It just proves how mature James is. ;)
Example:
“Then a calm came over me as I realized I no longer cared what my dad thought. “You’re a pathetic drunk,” I stated, shrugging. I turned to leave. I took half a step when I was yanked roughly back by my shirt. I spun around and faced him.
“Just where do you think you’re going, Jimmy?”
“I don’t know yet, but anywhere’s better than here.”
“You’re not going anywhere.” My dad shook his head.
“You can’t stop me.” I was bigger than my dad and I had been for a while now.
“Sure I can.” My dad lifted his hand and punched me hard in the gut.
I didn’t flinch. I’d anticipated he’d try something like that. It wasn’t the first time my dad had used force. Only difference was I wasn’t ten years old anymore. I suspected it hurt him more than it had hurt me. He rubbed his knuckles. “Let’s see what you got, boy,” he taunted.
“I’m not going to fight you,” I said. I refused to be like him.
“You’re a pussy,” he slurred.
“No. You’re just not worth it.” His eyes took on a dangerous look. His face contorted with rage.”
Excerpt From: Marysue G. Hobika. “Nowhere.” MuseItUp Publishing, 2012-06-08. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.
This might be sort of off-topic, but The Perfect Prom Date and Nowhere both have two sisters in high school, and the main character is an upperclassmen and the younger sister is an underclass men who is popular and snotty. She can sometimes be a bully to the main character. I just think it's interesting how the characters between the two novels were similar, however they were in completely different plots and the main characters were different in terms of personality.
This is sort of off-topic too, but I'm a giant history nerd, so the thing about the graveyard next to the farm having all of her ancestors there would be so cool! I would just die if I could live there. I would probably end up going to the graveyard every day. I believe you can get a kind of peace by trying to learn more about your ancestors and grow closer to them. I know I have.
The cover. Now, that is not at all what Old Faithful looks like, but I'll overlook that. Mike is so pretty and meets my standards. Now James...that's not really how I pictured him but at least he's not ugly. *shrugs shoulders*
BAD/DISLIKES:
However, even though I would not like this to happen, the author made a conflict but quickly resolved it. For instance, (view spoiler) I could see the conflict and the reader crying their eyes out as it began to unfold and then *record scratches* it stops and everything is all right. I'm starting to think the author has a hard time writing conflicts, especially after reading The Perfect Prom Date. Maybe just because she read a lot of books where the conflict is so hard to deal with and not just scream at the characters (Hunger Games, anyone?). I mean I'm not saying that I love conflict. It just helps the story.
It was mentioned that James has a sister:
“It wasn’t a secret that my parents got married because my mom was pregnant with my older sister.”
Excerpt From: Marysue G. Hobika. “Nowhere.” MuseItUp Publishing, 2012-06-08. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.
What I'm wondering is...what happened to her? This doesn't exactly qualify as bad , but I kind of thought it was weird how she was only mentioned once in the story. I wonder what James' dad did to her....
The story kind of ended abruptly. I was like, "Wait, that's it?!" I mean, once I adjusted to that I was like, "Oh...okay." But it just felt sort of...cut off and short. (view spoiler)
OVERALL:
This was a great YA romance that I enjoyed immensely. I would recommend it to lovers of sweet YA romances and country/small town books. I would like to thank the author for giving this book to me, because it was a very good read.
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