Title: Beautiful Americans
Author: Lucy Silag
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: It released in 2009, and I was in the mood for something new.

Summary: Four American teens travel to Paris for a year-long study program.

Stopped on Page: 42
Why I Stopped: I lost patience with all the points of view in this book. The chapters alternate among each of the 4 main characters telling their story. I actually gave up before I got to the first chapter for the fourth character, but I wasn’t connecting with any of the other main characters.

Probably contributing to that lack of connection was that the dialogue sounded a little stilted to me. A small example:

“So, what’s your name, anyway?”

“Penelope Jane Fletcher,” she says, putting her passport on the counter so that the clerk can type in her name and information. “But you can call me PJ. Why are you doing this for me?”

I know it’s been a few years since my teenage days, but how PJ introduces herself struck me as not so realistic.

Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

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