City Love by Susane Colasanti
Tuesday, June 09, 2015
City Love by Susane Colasanti
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: April 21, 2015
Pages: 336
Source: from publisher in exchange for an honest review
Buy It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Sadie, Darcy, and Rosanna are living together in New York City the summer before their freshman year of college begins. With no parents, no rules, and an entire city to explore, these three girls are on the verge of the best summer of their lives.
Sadie is a native New Yorker. She is hopeful, romantic, and an eternal optimist who is ready to find her soul mate. Then she meets her dream boy: cute, funny, and quirky in all the right ways. The chemistry between them is unreal. Could he be the one?
Darcy is a free spirit from SoCal with rebellious tendencies and unlimited financial resources. Moving to New York City is just another adventure for her. Darcy wants this summer to be all about boy adventures—nothing serious. But how much fun is too much?
Rosanna leaves Chicago for NYC so she can put her past behind her and reinvent herself. The only thing standing in her way is the grand total of seventy-three cents she has saved. Then she meets a guy who wants to show her the glamorous side of New York—a side that she would never get to experience on her own. If Rosanna doesn't resist, she may find herself in city love.
Told from alternating points of view, City Love captures the moments in each girl's life when everything is thrilling, amazing, and terrifying all at once . . . in a way it will never be again. --Goodreads
It is the summer in New York City. Three hopeful girls, soon-to-be-freshman at
university, plan to have the time of their lives in the city that never sleeps.
Before I get into too much of the book, you must take a look
at the cover. I’m talking about the
inside cover. It’s so pretty. NYC.
The view from the rooftop. The
whole cover gets you in the mood to read about how awesome New York is.
Also, there seemed to be a lingering hype around this book that made me want to join in the fun. Take a look at Susane Colasanti, herself, playing her three main characters in a scene that actually happens in the book:
And, unfortunately, City
Love does not read like anything else besides these two things: 1.) three
girls with problems go on dates and 2.) a love letter to how awesome NYC is.
These three girls were extremely difficult to tell
apart. Alternating perspectives,
especially with three people every chapter, can get a bit confusing. Each girl had some problem in their past,
which I am hoping for clarification in the next novel. Coincidentally, each girl moved to the city
and within less than a week they all had boyfriends. I expected some girl power and independent
characters, following some of the latest trends in recent YA but these girls
fell short. For example, Sadie has a
lovely quote above her bed: Just around the Corner. This cute saying could be interpreted in many
ways. I thought about dreams or goals
but Sadie thought about a boy. Most of
the plot was just meant to be taken lightly.
It’s a good beach read, a quick read.
It was entertaining, even though there were some downsides.
NYC is awesome and I love when books talk about real
places. I can actually go to the Strand
or to the High Line. While reading, I
made a list of almost all the places Colasanti mentioned because I definitely
love the city as much as she does and want to check out all of the places. When I was first starting off, I thought City Love was going to be super
predictable. The three girls started
going on these dates and I was thinking that they would all end up breaking up
and the book would end with something like: Who
needs true love, when you can have city love? Yes, I was expecting that level of
cheese. It is called City Love, after all. I was happy when it didn’t end that way.
Still, I wasn’t quite happy with how it ended either. I am not a fan on contemporary series, nor
did I know that City Love was book
one of a series. I have to wait for book
two to release to find out what happens next?
Nothing was solved. Couldn’t you
have given me some kind of hint of how it would go? Colasanti left her readers hanging. It is like when you are watching a show and
the two main characters are about to kiss for the first time and they are two
inches from each other’s face and then: TO BE CONTINUED. What?
You know they are going to kiss but you have to make sure. That was City
Love.
I have to admit it. Even
though I own most of Colasanti’s books, I have not read any of them. I didn’t know what to expect. However, Colasanti’s writing makes for a fast
read but still filled with enough quotes you would love to put on bumper
stickers. For example, I went to New
York City last week and decided to Instagram a quote from the book:
Overall, City Love is a light, entertaining read. If you live in NYC, you might want to check
out some of the places the book recommends.
Colasanti will make readers fall in love with the city and have them
looking up so they won’t miss a thing.
1 comments
I read the entire book in one day, because I was so invested in the characters' lives, and wanted nothing but to actually be living theirs. City Love ends with an effective cliffhanger, while leaving you with the longing to be in the City (if you aren't already) and find your epic summer romance.
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