Take Me There - Susane ColasantiPages: 290
Publisher: Speak
Release Date: 14th May 2009
Other Titles by this Author: When It Happens (my review), Waiting For You
The ups and downs of love and friendship
Rhiannon is devastated after the break up with her boyfriend and desperately wants him back. But love comes easy for Nicole. Her ex is still in the picture, pining for her, but she can’t help having a new crush. And then there’s James, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Rhiannon, who is too blind to see that their friendship can be so much more. Just when things couldn’t get more complicated, the school’s resident mean girl decides she is intent on ruining everyone’s life. James, Nicole and Rhiannon are not going to let slide, but will their desire to take down the mean girl bring these three friends exactly what they want?
I completely loved Take Me There. I have no idea why I waited so long to read it!
Susane Colasanti’s writing captures the voice of a teenager perfectly. The girly conversations, frustrations with parents and school and the general trauma of being a teen was spot on. After reading so much fantasy lately, it was so nice to be in the minds of people who weren’t in mortal danger, fighting mythical creatures, or falling in love with them.
One of the things that I loved most about Take Me There was the three-way split narration. It was done extremely cleverly and very well. Each of the three characters - Rhiannon, Nicole and James - told the story of the same four days in their lives. It didn’t feel repetitive at all, as each had separate stories and threw light on events from the other character’s stories. I really love split narration as I like to hear all sides of the story!
I think that my favourite character was James. He’s so sweet to Rhiannon and Mrs Shaffer, but not sappy and annoying; the perfect balance! Nicole intrigued me. She held everything back and everyone at arms length until the very end when she dropped a bombshell on Ree and James that explained everything. In the beginning of Take Me There, I found Rhiannon annoying and a little pathetic, but by about half-way through I began to really like her, even when she couldn’t she what was right in front of her nose (James)!
After loving Take Me There so much, I’m really looking forward to reading Waiting For You.
Sophie
This sounds really good! Think i'll move it higher on my TBR pile :)
ReplyDeleteI *love* the sound of this. Thank you for the great review!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, at the beginning Rhiannon was soooo insane. I'm glad she realized who she really loved at the end though.
ReplyDeleteI just bought this a few days ago. Looking forward to reading it(:
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you enjoyed this. It sounds like a fantastic read. Superb review!
ReplyDeleteThis isn't something I'd usually pick up but you make it sound worthwhile.
ReplyDeletehaha, I know exactly what you mean; recently it seems all my 'fictional' friends are off to save the planet, break some curse or charm or spell and find mythical evil characters to defeat. Somehow I don't think our relationship is healthy on a 24/5 basis. Maybe this book can help put the balance back to my fictional lands!!!
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