#BookReview: Valley Girls by Sarah Nicole Lemon

About the Book:

When 17-year-old Rilla is busted for partying 24 hours into arriving in Yosemite National Park to live with her park ranger sister, it’s a come-to-Jesus moment.


Determined to make up for her screw-up and create a stable new home for herself, Rilla charms her way into a tight-knit group of climbers. But Rilla can’t help but be seduced by experiences she couldn’t have imagined back home. 

She sets her sights on climbing El Capitan, one of the most challenging routes in Yosemite, and her summer becomes one harrowing and ecstatic experience after another: first climb, first fall two thousand feet in the air, first love. 

But becoming the person Rilla feels she was meant to be jeopardizes the reasons why she came to Yosemite—a bright new future and a second chance at sisterhood. 

When her family and her future are at odds, what will Rilla choose? 

Publisher: Amulet 

Recommended Age: Young Adult 

Genre: Contemporary 

How I Acquired this book: Publisher 

Overall rating: ★
Goodreads | Amazon

About the Author:
Sarah Nicole Lemon spent the first fifteen years of her life doing nothing but running wild in the woods and books. She has yet to outgrow either. When not writing, you can find her drinking iced coffee in a half-submerged beach chair near her home on the Chesapeake Bay.

You can follow her on Twitter (@sarahnlemon) and Instagram (sarahnicolelemon).

Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: Really had high hopes for this climbing adventure. 

Check out author's other books? No 
Recommend this book? No 

Notes and Opinions: This one just didn't work out for me at all. I wasn't pulled into the story and well I have to say that I was very bored and just couldn't get into it at all.  The main issue for me was the main character. She was all over the plae and just wasn't likeable in my opinion. I really didn't like Rilla at all although I did feel sorry that her parents showed that they really didn't care when they shipped her off to her sister. As she could be someone elses problem. 

 I really wished that this book would have been about Rilla's growth and learning that she could be a better person but it really ended up feeling like it was more about her being cooler as well as her just trying to impress others in the climbing group.  I really didn't feel like she learned anything. 

The side characters and her sister were great. I really enjoyed reading about the climbing aspect of the story. But with Rilla as the main character I really just didn't like her at all. As it didn't feel like she had any redeeming qualities. 

Go Into This One Knowing: Irritating Main Character, Slower Story 

 

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Posted in: 1 Star, Harry N. Abrams, Review, Young Adult