Title: The Secret Life of Prince Charming
Author: Deb Caletti
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: I’ve never read anything by Caletti, so I thought I should check out one of her books.

Summary: Quinn lives with her mom, her aunt, and her grandma, all of whom have been unlucky in love. She wants to believe in love herself, but it’s not easy when you add in that even your own dad is breaking more than his fair share of hearts.

Stopped on Page: 94
Why I Stopped: This story moved too slow for my taste. In the entire first chapter, it felt like nothing happened. It had all these asides and generalizations, but not much in the way of action.

Here’s the start:

When it came to love, my mother’s big advice was that there were WARNING SIGNS. About the “bad” guys, that is. The ones who would hurt you or take advantage or crumple you up and toss, same as that poem I would once try to write for Daniel Jarvis. The wrong men—the psychopaths, cheaters, liars, controllers, stalkers, ones too lazy or incompetent to hold a job, to hold their temper, to hold you properly, to hold anything but a joint or a beer bottle—well, there were RED FLAGS, and you had to watch for them.

But I’d like to give Caletti’s work another try. So see that Pick My Next Book box at the right? Recommend away!

Your Turn: 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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