WHERE I BELONG is a predictable but still charming story of a girl who has everything, who then gets more, though not the way she expected. Even those who are disenchanted with derivative feel-good contemporary YAokay, mewill still find much to enjoy about this sweet little debut novel.
Corinne starts out as your average spoiled rich girl with a selfish view of the world, so the growth that she undergoes throughout the course of this novel is really remarkable and, better yet, totally believable. Long used to getting everything she wants and having unlimited money to spend, Corinne naturally doesnt take her familys change of circumstances well, and her narrow-mindedness and obsession with keeping her life the same glamorous way it was will probably irritate people. However, once in Texas, she really does grow in that wonderfully subtle way that the best kind of character development gives us, still remaining herself, but just a more mature version.
Events and the overall story arc are fairly predictable, so my enjoyment of the book definitely centered around Corinnes growth. Not that shes even an entirely likable person: just that she develops well over the course of the story. Corinnes romantic dilemmas are forgettably typical; the potentials of the family tensions between the various generations of Houston women are not as fleshed out as they could have been; and friendship drama is resolved much more quickly than such a situation generally warrants.
Still, WHERE I BELONG turned out to be a quick, light read that makes for a decent book break. Its not exactly the best of its type out there, but at $8.99, how wrong can you really go with this one?
Corinne starts out as your average spoiled rich girl with a selfish view of the world, so the growth that she undergoes throughout the course of this novel is really remarkable and, better yet, totally believable. Long used to getting everything she wants and having unlimited money to spend, Corinne naturally doesnt take her familys change of circumstances well, and her narrow-mindedness and obsession with keeping her life the same glamorous way it was will probably irritate people. However, once in Texas, she really does grow in that wonderfully subtle way that the best kind of character development gives us, still remaining herself, but just a more mature version.
Events and the overall story arc are fairly predictable, so my enjoyment of the book definitely centered around Corinnes growth. Not that shes even an entirely likable person: just that she develops well over the course of the story. Corinnes romantic dilemmas are forgettably typical; the potentials of the family tensions between the various generations of Houston women are not as fleshed out as they could have been; and friendship drama is resolved much more quickly than such a situation generally warrants.
Still, WHERE I BELONG turned out to be a quick, light read that makes for a decent book break. Its not exactly the best of its type out there, but at $8.99, how wrong can you really go with this one?
