Mini Review: A Straight Line To My Heart by Bill Condon

I've had this book sitting on my shelf for years. I picked it up because I adored the cover and liked the concept of a budding journalist, Tiffany, dealing with leaving school, starting an internship, and of course finding love and dealing with family problems at the same time.

Unfortunately, A Straight Line to My Heart was very average for me. There were some beautiful lines, but overall I just didn’t connect with the story or characters. Which is strange, because I thought I’d really be able to relate, having grown up with journalistic ambitions of my own.

There was nothing particularly bad about this book. It's a quick read. Covering only a week in Tiffany’s life, there isn’t a big narrative arc; it’s a taste of a girl’s life, rather than a full story. That’s not to say there’s no story - a lot does happen, and there is a decent amount of closure. But it felt like it was just skimming the surface and it all left me strangely unaffected. There were some sweet scenes and some really sad ones but my heart didn’t burst or break at any point.

Maybe it was just that I wasn't in the right mood, because several of my friends have read and loved this book. All it got out of me was a resounding “meh”.

Rating: 3/5

Fine Print
Published: 2012, Allen & Unwin
Get It: Book Depository

Mini Review: Crossing the Line by Katie McGarry

After loving Dare You To I wanted to devour anything I could get my hands on by Katie McGarry. Which happened to be this novella, Crossing the Line. Set in between Pushing the Limits and Dare You To, it tells the story of Echo's best friend, Lila - or a snippet of her story, anyway.

Lila is by herself at home for the first time ever, and freaking out about not only being alone for the night, but being alone when she goes away to college, too. Enter Lincoln, the guy she has been writing to for years but has only ever met once. He was meant to go to college with her but has screwed things up somehow. He travels across the country in an attempt to make it up to her. Cue fights - and making up, of course.

I liked both Lincoln and Lila. They're as fleshed out as they can be in the limited space. This is a short story that gives a snapshot of a lovely romance but not much more. The concept of a penpal love story is great, but while there are some cute moments and a decent amount of tension, there's no space for a whole lot to actually happen. You get an outline of the past through letter excerpts, which is a nice framing device, and there's a pretty clear picture of where these two are going in the future. But that's all there's time for, really. Still, it's an entertaining way to spend half an hour, and will tide you over slightly if you're hanging for the next book in this series (like me!).

Rating: 3/5

Fine Print
Published: 2013, Harlequin Teen
Get It: Harlequin