Golden by Jessi Kirby

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Title : Golden
Author : Jessi Kirby
Genre : Contemporary
Published Date : 
May 14th 2013
Publisher : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Pages : 278
Source : Bought
Rating : ✿✿✿✿✿

From Goodreads :
Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.

Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.

Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.


Review

Before I start gushing about this book, let me just tell you : How beautiful this book is, both literally and figuratively speaking. 
Those of you who own this book would have probably seen just how pretty this one is in an actual print. And not just the look, the content of it totally blew me away as well.

"“Nothing Gold Can Stay.” I see it differently now. Not as a sad thing, but as a truth of nature. And life. Things have to change."
—Parker Frost

Golden told us about the good girl Parker Frost, who was on her way on becoming a top-notch student, with scholarship for Stanford, and so on and so on. Obeying her mother's word for as long as she remembered, she never took the less-traveled road and stayed on the like between good and good. But when she by chance stumble upon the journal of her town's legend, Julianna Farnetti, who was mysteriously missing and assumed dead, one step that Parker decided on was all it took to change her road forever.

Just like what you would expect from reading the blurb, this book is full of mysteries and surprises right from the beginning till the very end. Throughout the story, we were brought to both Parker's life and Julianna's journal memory, shifting between the two side of the story. The composition of it, however, was well balanced, and the plots didn't overshadow each other. Jessi's way of writing it was also flowing and very smooth, and on top of it, I love how this book is totally unpredictable.

The main question of the book, which I found honestly inspiring!

And then just like its tag line—which was taken from Robert Frost' poem—this book was full of very beautiful quotes and phrases all over it. When I finished reading Golden, I literally shivered with all kind of emotions. And it was very inspirational too, which really is something, considering I've read gajillion books already and do it for fun.
But with this book? It really made me rethink the way I've been living and all sort of things, which honestly rarely happened to me before. Awesome-amazing job, Jessi Kirby.

I also actually think that this book would be the kind that you'll either 'love it' or 'hate it', but with a self-discovery story hinted with mystery like this, I—as a teenager who's still on the unsure year of my life myself—could totally connect with this whole book, and especially its character.
I think this book had successfully capture all those teenage's emotion on its character, that sometimes, I could let myself believe that they are a real people that exist somewhere out there. Parker, who tried way too hard for her mother's approval. Kat, who hide her insecurity deep within layers and layers of her fearlessness. And Trevor, who's a playboy who's all act and honestly just a boy at heart. Reading this book, you'll surely look back to your school's year, compared the character to your friends, and then found yourself thinking "Wow, that's so damn true,".
One more thing I especially love from all of them was that they managed to stay 'ordinary people' throughout the story and yet stood out and shine at the same time, which really helped in making them relatable.

I'm officially in love with this phrase after reading "Golden".

One thing I'm not quite fond of, though, was Parker's indecisiveness, which honestly could be quite annoying sometimes. And it truly killed me to read that she had decided on something, make a choice, let the chance slipped, and then mourned and be miserable over her very own freaking choice and ask "Why did I do it?". Like hell I would know, Parker. You're the one who was there and decide, if you didn't know either, why would you decided on it and then ask the readers?

But, thankfully, that annoying trait of her didn't happen quite often, and all in all, this book was pretty amazing and would be a truly great read if you appreciate beautiful, inspiring, and meaningful phrases and quotes. The character was easy to relate, the story was full of surprise, and from my experience, this is not just a 'read' but something that would make an actual impact on you. I personally highly recommended this one, and one more plus point if you're a teenager because it'll surely change the way you looked at your life. And trust me, in a good way.

You Might Also Like

9 comments

  1. Aww you make me want to read this book MOARRR!!! Actually I just bought Moon Glass also by Jessi Kirby but haven't had time to read it. I keep hearing good things about her and can't wait to read her books. All of it.

    Nice review!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely review Neysa!! <33 I really like relatable books and from your review this sounds exactly like that -- absolutely relatable. Your reading experience with this one sounds like what happened to me when I read This Song Will Save Your Life, I'm so excited to devour this book!! :DD

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've been hearing a lot about Golden, and I have yet to find anyone who hates it.

    That little quote graphic is really pretty, by the way. Did you make it?

    Anyway, thanks a lot for bringing attention to the quotes. I love quotes, and I'll definitely be reading Golden once I get around to a bookstore.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aww, thank you! Yep, I made it myself, hehe :D

      Delete
  4. I love the graphics you make, they are so pretty! It seems like everyone agrees this is an emotional taxing novel, but in a good way. I love books that can make me FEEL and this one sounds like it does that job well :) Great review, Neysa!

    Alise @ Readers in Wonderland

    ReplyDelete
  5. Glad that you like this book, too, Neysa :D
    I agree, reading this book has surely made me rethink the way I've been living, wondering whether what I did was enough or not etc... Jessi Kirby has delivered the message really well.
    Also, love the graphic you did for that particular line! <3

    ReplyDelete
  6. I was actually surprised by how much I loved this book! I tried to review it myself but it was just so personal I couldn't do it. I was so moved by it but most of the time I didn't really know WHY. So amazing review! I loved the graphics as well btw, they really reflect the whole feel of this book.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! I don't think I saw anything about this book. Seeing your review and all the other comments about how much everyone I loved it, this book is a must read!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, this book didn't get that much exposure, but if you read this, you would totally fall in love with it!

      Delete

A comment from readers make us happy, really!
This is also an award-free zone, but thanks for your consideration!

Share the Love!

Papier Revue

We are Part of

Bloggers Commenting Back

Subscribe