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Monday, June 16, 2014

We Are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt

We Are the Goldens
by Dana Reinhardt
Released |May 27th 2014 by Wendy Lamb Books|
Edition |eARC|
Source |Netgalley|

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Nell knows a secret about her perfect, beautiful sister Layla. If she tells, it could blow their world apart.
When Nell and Layla were little, Nell used to call them Nellaya. Because to Nell, there was no difference between where she started and her adored big sister ended. They're a unit; divorce made them rely on each other early on, so when one pulls away, what is the other to do? But now, Nell's a freshman in high school and Layla is changing, secretive. And then Nell discovers why. Layla is involved with one of their teachers. And even though Nell tries to support Layla, to understand that she's happy and in love, Nell struggles with her true feelings: it's wrong, and she must do something about it.
We Are the Goldens was a very interesting read. But one thing I have to mention is that on Netgalley there was a different synopsis use that doesn't give so much away, but the one on goodreads practically tells you what happens. I thought that was a bit odd, but anyways, this story was very enjoyable. Yes, this book does involve a student/teacher romance so if you are not comfortable with books that involve them this might not be for you. We witness two sister that have always been close slowly start to drift apart. Layla (Nell's older sister) is keeping secrets from Nell and when Nell finds out her secret she knows that she should do something about it. But doing the right thing was not the easiest decision for Nell to make. Her sister is her idol and she's the only person she looks up to.

Throughout this book, I really felt bad for Nell. In the beginning, I really didn't understand her obsession with her sister. It was kind of annoying and I wanted her to step out of her sister's shadow. Nell had no problems being her sister's shadow, but slowly she starts to become her own person and I really liked seeing her character growth. We saw Nell go through many ups and downs in this book. Not only was she struggling with what to do about her sister, but she is a freshman in high school and is just trying to find herself and deal with average teenage things. When it comes to Layla, I didn't like her. She was very bratty and whenever she got upset at Nell she'd put her down in the worst of ways. She new exactly what buttons to push to set her off and I thought that was just really low especially since she knows how much her sister cares for one another. Nell's friend Felix was great though. He was an awesome support system for her and was always there for her and I liked that.

The whole teacher/student thing is always an ugh to me. I don't care how young the teacher is or whatever the case may be. Overall, this was a very quick read for me and some of the characters were very realistic. But what made me drop this rating a bit was the open ended ending. When it comes to standalone books I don't like that. It just stops at the point you've been waiting to get to and the story felt incomplete to me. But overall, the book was actually pretty good and kept my interest. Would I recommend it? Yes, I do believe that I would :)

14 comments:

  1. Eh, I hate when the synopsis tells you everything -.- while Nell sounds like someone I could root for, Layla sounds awful :( I'm sorry it wasn't a perfect read for you, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. Heh, I'm not a fan of open endings either :D Great review, Janina!

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    1. Yes, I did not care for Layla at all. She was a very dramatic character.

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  2. Man, the open ending sounds like it might bug me too. I thought I had this one, but couldn't find it when time to read

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    1. With standalone books, to me, it feels a bit incomplete. I know some people like them, but I don't think I'm one of them.

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  3. I hate it when the blurb tells too much about the book. It ruins my reading. So yeah. Anyhow this one sounds really interesting and I have read some student/teacher relationship books so I'd like to try this one too. I don't like the sound of ending here, but well. Great review, Janina :)

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    1. Besides pretty little liars this was my second time reading about a teacher/student relationship. I have mixed feelings on it because they've all been YA books.

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  4. Aw that is too bad that this book didn't have a real ending. I know that in real life we don't get final endings but in books we expect them.

    Thanks for the great review!

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    1. lol That's so true. I do expect a real ending when it comes to my books!

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  5. In a way, I was okay with the student/teacher thing, because I felt like the story about Nell and not THAT. But still..

    I agree with you about her obsession though. it was just odd, and really hard to connect to because of it.

    Great review!

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  6. Oooh this one looks interesting Janina. Probably not for me, but it's great you tried it :)

    Happy Reading
    Patrick @ The Bookshelves

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  7. This one sounded interesting but it sucks how the synopsis pretty much revealed everything :( That always just takes away from a story and the open ending would not give me closure at all! *sighs*

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  8. I hate when the synopsis gives too much away. Like, give the reader something to discover on their own. While this doesn't sound like my type of book I'm glad you enjoyed it =) Open ended endings are the absolute worst!!

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  9. Sounds alright; that's good you would recommend it. I think Layla would drive me nuts though. haha

    -Lauren

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  10. I feel bad for Nell too!!! :(( And even though her shadowing would annoy me as well, I'm glad she eventually holds her own by the end of the book. And I'm not into teacher/student relationships but if the author can sell it well, then it would be hard for me to not root for the couple, which I'm thinking isn't it with this book. GAHHH..OPEN ENDINGS!! WHY OH WHY!!?? I totally understand why you would drop the rating, Janina! Open endings in a series is one thing, but with stand alones, it just does't work at all. That would annoy me too. But I'm glad this kept you invested! Great review! :D

    ~ Maida
    Literary Love Affair 

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