Absolutely Maybe ~ Lisa Yee review

Absolutely Maybe

Arthur A Levine Books

February 1, 2009

288 Pages

Hardcover

Amazon

Maybelline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnut is named for not only two Miss America's but also for her mother's favorite brand of mascara. With a name like that Maybe (as she prefers to be called) is either going to be a student at her mother's charm school for beauty queens or....well, a goth girl wearing oversized men's black t-shirts every day. Maybe chooses the latter.

With a crazy parade of step-fathers that have left her mother with more last name than Maybe has first and middle names and a charm school below their apartment, Maybe's life is far from normal. Far from what she wants.

After one fateful events sense her and her two best friends Hollywood and 'Ted' on a road trip, she's sure she's about to change everything. But whether it's all for the worse or the better...and how remains to be seen.

(As almost always the Amazon summary has a lot more info but I think it's a lot more spoilery info so I'm not providing it here (: )

The short chapters and easy flow of the writing make this a quick and fun read, perfect for a summer afternoon or for reading while reading a slower moving book. It's an enjoyable book with interesting characters that are fun and all most definitely very unique and original.

Each character takes their own journey in the story-some more focused on than others-and I liked that there weren't characters just along for the ride; and that there stories all wove themselves together in the end.

A lack of repercussions for some of the more...eventful things both emotionally and physically(?) were ultimately what brought the story down for me. Maybe's disconnect with her mother and what drove her to California and several other things that should have, didn't seem to affect her as much as it seemed like they maybe should have. It wasn't that the events were ignored completely, just that it seemed they were dealt with minimally in order for other things to happen.

I liked the story, though, and thought it was a fun, quick read for an afternoon (or maybe more) especially during the summer given it's road trip and California involvement.

~*~ coming soon ~*~

8/10