Young Annabelle

No plot, annoying heroine, terrible writing, and just overall horrible. So glad this was a free ebook. I'm not sure how anyone would find anything enjoyable about this one as it doesn't make much sense. Really disappointed in the response to this one.

I don't often write reviews, but I feel obligated to when I come upon books that I absolutely love. This is one of those books. If you're unsure whether to purchase it or not, buy it!!!! This is a high-quality, inexpensive ebook that has a great story line, an inspirational message, and an alpha male!<br /><br />The relationship between Annabelle and James was compelling, realistic, and fully absorbing. The author did a great job making the reader empathize with Annabelle, especially with the tough family situation (and diet-possessed mother) she faces daily. Annabelle leads James on a merry chase after her heart, having him prove his desire for her, which he had no qualms doing. As a YA, I definitely saw his emerging alpha male character, determined not to allow her to run from him. His fierceness and protection of Annabelle while the relationship is just beginning to bloom was truly great to read. It was also a delight viewing Annabelle's character growing strong enough to find her voice and stand up for herself. Overall, I loved the book and can't wait for the sequel!

The beginning had me hooked and that cliffhanger definitely made me get the second book. I mean why not? They're both free! Anyway, the problems I had with this book were the fact that the main character, Annabelle, was a little too immature and cheesy. I get that she's a senior in high school but I'm pretty sure seniors are a tad more mature than this. At least in my opinion. There were a lot of repeated sentences and it proved to be a little irritating. Some of the things that happen are confusing, so I hope the second book clears some of that off. Anyway, I give this 2.5 stars. If you're in the mood for a quick and easy read then this is a perfect read for you!

DNF at 20%<br /><br />This just ended up not being enjoyable for me. I liked some of the elements, but I had literally no motivation to keep going. Oh well, I'm not that disappointed. Maybe in the future I'll pick it back up again, but that's pretty unlikely.

*I received this book from the author, via Goodreads, in exchange for an honest review*<br /><br />OMG! There's SO much I want to say about this book!<br /><br />First off, this is a well-written book. I think the author's portrayal of the MC, Annabelle, as an intensely insecure teenager was very accurate. <br /><br />I HATE Annabelle's family. I wanted to kill her mother on so many occasions, in so many ways! These characters are very well written, and sadly, accurate. So many mothers obsess over their teen daughters' weight and clothing sizes, that if the girl didn't have an eating disorder, they will surely develop one. <br /><br />Annabelle is a normal, healthy size and weight. But her mother thinks she's fat, and tells her so. And encourages the other children to tell her so. NOT a healthy mother/daughter relationship. Doing this only fosters Annabelle's unhealthy binges of junk food. And her self esteem suffers. This is a love triangle between Annabelle, food, and a boy... <br /><br />I HATE James. He is a self-centered, egotistical jerk. Again, very well-written, and painfully accurate. He's just a jerk, because he strings Annabelle along, for weeks! This also effects her self esteem, and only pushes her to her other love, food. He comes and goes, and expects Annabelle to just accept his excuses. <br /><br />And lastly, I hate Annabelle. I know she is written this way, so that she can develop and grow into a strong, independent character later on in the series (? Hopefully, we get a series :) ) but I just wanted to grab that girl, and SHAKE her! And ask her, WTF?! I wanted her to get a bad-ass persona early on, and decide her family was so not worth her time or effort. She gets some of those moments throughout the book, but ultimately her insecurities about her body win out, brought on by mommy's "I just want to help you be healthy" communist diet rules.<br /><br />I WANT to see more of Jenna, as she is the only sane one of the bunch, and Annabelle's rock. She hopefully teaches Annabelle that she can and will be alright, no matter what her weight is.<br /><br />I really liked this book, and was SOOO upset when I got to the last page, and didn't realize it was the last page. I hope the next book comes along soon, because I gotta know what happens!<br /><br />Thank so much to the author for allowing me to R&amp;R.

Ok. I liked this book, I did.<br />It just annoyed me half the time. Her mother? Jesus Christ, I wanted to punch that lady in the face. Half the time all I thought was STFU already.. And James.. I just. I don't know. Thennn the ending..? I can't even put my thoughts together to make this review.<br />Needless to say, I will read the next book because I need to know what happens at that dang party.<br />

More like <b>1.5 stars</b><br /><br />It was short so I just kept going, but nothing much happened. The plot was really thin, the characters were flat, and the writing needs a lot of work.

First of all I have to say I enjoyed this book even though it's not one I would usually read. Mostly because I think it's more relatable to teens because of the main character's perspective. However, I could also see some adults reading it to better understand their teens at home as you really get an understanding of how Annabelle is feeling and why she acts certain ways to things.<br /><br />Annabelle's character is a realistic teenager with normal problems and in my opinion very relatable. Poor Annabelle is pressured by her parents to lose weight after they put down her spirits time and time again by telling her how fat she is. The worse part is how they get her siblings to say the same and think it's okay to treat people the way they do. Even though they seem to think their intentions are good, all the good they really end up doing in the end is kicking her while she's down. Needless to say the strict diet plan her mother happily carries out doesn't help anyone.<br /><br />So with Annabelle's life being complicated and unhappy she of course has a great best friend, Jenna, who is always there for her. I kind of wished Jenna was around more in the book as she lifted up the depression at times, but I understand why she wasn't. You wouldn't be able to truly know how Annabelle is feeling if Jenna kept popping up to fix everything.<br /><br />Then of course enters a boy, James...aka "Tiger." I love the nicknames by the way. They add a touch of playfullness and are used mostly in tender moments. I thought this character was perfect! At first I felt what Annabelle did about him, he was such a jerk! But then as I kept reading I realized, he's just a teenage boy and is acting like one. He wasn't really a jerk, deep inside he was very sweet which showed at certain moments and I started to think maybe the jerk side was only coming out at times when Annabelle would react badly to something he said and it was his way of acting defensive. Basically, his sometimes bad attitude was a result of a normal teenage relationship and many misunderstandings. Another part of it is that Annabelle seems to be caught so deeply into her parents perspective of her that she starts believing it herself and doesn't think James really likes her because she's not likable. If only she knew...maybe she'll find out in the next book just how beautiful and special she is!<br /><br />Okay, so they reason this book got 4/5 stars and not 5 is for one reason that kind of drove me a little crazy. The jumps in time were killing me! I understand that every good story has flash backs and jumps between past and present times at some point in the book, but it was a little much for me. First of all we were jumping days, weeks and months at times and it was confusing. It usually took me a few pages into each chapter to realize where the current chapter fit into the overall timeline. And that's saying something as I tend to have great attention to detail and am very good and keeping the storyline straight in my head. The author did put dates at the appropriate times to let you know where you were in the story, but let's be honest, I don't know about everyone else but I don't often remember dates at the beginning of chapters very well when they appear as often as journal entries.<br /><br />Other than my one issue, I really liked this book. Not only do I think this will be a beneficial novel to many teens and adults but I was also able to relate to it which made it all the more better. You don't have to have a weight problem to read this kind of book, it's more about the overall cause and effect of the teen/parent relationship and how things are handled. And of course accepting people for who they are. I related because I grew up in a strict household with high expectations that were not always the ones I wanted for myself and my parents didn't care about that, it was all about what they wanted for me. With the good intentions but poor communication and many misunderstandings, I ended up feeling a lot like Annabelle did at times and reading this book brought back those feelings and memories. So I would encourage anyone and everyone to read this book. I think there will be something for everyone to take and learn from Annabelle's story.

Uhm... Are we talking about the same book?<br /><br />I'm seeing tons of reviews that are falling over themselves about this book, but I have to say, I'm in disagreement with most of them. <br /><br />Really? A portrayal of real life? James is THE bad boy? No. No. No. <br /><br />I agree that there are thousands, or even millions of people that struggle with weight, but I have news for you, there is absolutely NOTHING fat about 165. Sorry to disappoint but that's a pretty healthy weight depending on the height especially for 5'7". (Also, I'd like to point out that regular cola is way more healthy for you than diet. Anyone whose visited a nutritionist as much as that devil woman would know that)<br /><br />Second, I've seen nothing even remotely "bad boy" about James. Sure, he's a cocky bastard, and maybe he's playing Annabelle a little bit, but we really get no indication of that except for Annabella's indecisive rambling. We actually don't know very much about him at all, or any character for that matter. <br /><br />Next to nothing is said about her family, except that they're all insensitive douche canoes and that she's tired of them! The father has maybe a couple of lines in the whole book--we barely see him, the little brother and the little sister. The mother is just a devil woman that everyone is supposed to hate because the main character apparently does. However, we don't know WHY the mother is obsessed about dieting, or what sparked the behavior in the first place. We also don't know how she acted before the "summer from hell" when she suddenly was forcing a meal plan and exercise upon her daughter. <br /><br />The organization of the plot was a little weird, I wasn't too sure exactly what was going on or when. Obviously, I noticed the dates, but the writing didn't indicate changes or anything. Also, I'm a little unsure of the prologue of this story. When exactly was this supposed to happen, because there was nothing about it in the "present day" section. The only purpose I got from it was that James was apparently an asshole (which could be gathered from the first freaking chapter when Annabella states it about eight times). Was this supposed to be after the second book? If so the WHY was it in the first? <br /><br />Also, there wasn't much that happened in the book, I felt like I was reading a REALLY long prologue and the real shit is supposed to happen next. And if that was the case, the way wasn't this labeled as a novella at least? <br /><br />Finally, Annabella was irritating. She was whiny and indecisive, touchy and overreacted to almost every situation, but couldn't seem to find her backbone when she could have actually used it(i.e. With her mother). She might have a similar thought process to a lot of teenaged girls, but there's a way to effectively portray that without it coming off as annoying, and in my opinion the novel didn't achieve that. <br /><br />Overall, it was a quick easy read, not a lot of side tracking. I do like the fact that ms. Tork decided to make Annabelle on the curvy side. Most women are not actually model thin, and I'm glad that there are several authors out there that choose to represent that in their work. <br /><br />2.5 stars, for all that was stated above. We'll see how the next book goes!

I am a member of a YA group on Goodreads. I came across a posting asking to review this book for the author. It sounded interesting so I said yes. I'm glad I did. This was a great book and I enjoyed it very much. <br /><br />I did kind of force myself to start reading this book, because to be honest, the cover for the book is pretty in its own way, but it didn't draw me into wanting to read the story. I did make a promise to read it though for a review so I read it for part of a read-a-thon.<br /> <br />This is a story about Annabelle who's entire family is considering her fat and is watching ever calorie she eats as well as loses. She is in a living nightmare at her house and hates being there. She has to even wear a watch that says how many calories she loses and is required to lose so many a day to appease her mother. This part of the book was hard for me to read. Sarah does a great job of making you hate Annabelle's family. <br /><br />As Annabelle is dealing with all her family issues she ends up getting a new co-worker for a day by the name of James. James is tall, fit, cute, handsome, hot...the whole works...did I forget to mention a stuck up conceited jerk? Well, James confuses Annabelle throughout the book. You still learn to love him anyway, because he still is a lot better to be around than her family is.<br /> <br />I loved reading this book. I read it very fast and was sad when it ended. I definitely can't wait for the next book to come out. I will be waiting for it. She ended it with "The end of Part 1". If that doesn't scream there is more to come, I don't know what does.<br /> <br />Annabelle is a loveable character and you can't help but cheer her on throughout her summer and beginning of school. She has so much happen to her in her life you definitely have sympathy for her. This is a book that you sadly have to say that you know this truly does happen to real teens throughout their life. Weightloss and obesity has became a big issue for many people in their lives.<br /> <br />Annabelle has such a sweet and caring heart on her, but her family turns her into a monster sometimes because even when people try to compliment her, she is haunted by the words of her parents. She feels worthless and not pretty at all so she lashes out at those that she thinks are actually making fun of her. This is a classic book of proving that even with a little weight on your body, you can still be beautiful inside and out.<br /> <br />I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read subjects on people with hard lifestyles as well as someone just wanting a good soul searching book.<br />