Review: The Mother-Daughter Book Club

(Please excuse the horrible way the header displays on the post--I'm still ironing out a few kinks in Blogger)

Hey everyone! I'm so excited to be here for my first 'real' post! I have a few book review posts written in the sort of snarky or  "this book was fun but not amazing" camp, and while I enjoy snark, I'm also excited to share books I really love with y'all. So for my first post, I'm going to review the first book of one of my favorite series, while talking a bit about the series in general as well. Snark will come later. :) So, without further ado, the book series I didn't want to read until I really, really did.

Jk, there's some further ado. As you may be able to tell, there's a bit of a history between these books and me. Short version: I was going on a trip to Portland with my choir in 6th grade, and before we left, I was talking to a girl who I didn't talk to very much, and she was holding the first book in the series, "The Mother-Daughter Book Club", and told me that I should totally read it. So I chatted with her for a couple minutes, and then made an excuse to leave, thinking "Wow, she's kind of a weird bookworm" (haha, watch my tiny self exactly describing herself without realizing it, lol) and forgot about it. Later, in 8th grade, that girl and I became good friends, and she told me again that I should read this series, and I actually listened to her. And loved it. So, for reals this time, without further ado, here's the review. (I'm a poet, and I don't know it. :D)

The Mother-Daughter Book Club

The book club is about to get a makeover....

Even if Megan would rather be at the mall, Cassidy is late for hockey practice, Emma's already read every book in existence, and Jess is missing her mother too much to care, the new book club is scheduled to meet every month.

But what begins as a mom-imposed ritual of reading Little Women soon helps four unlikely friends navigate the drama of middle school. From stolen journals, to secret crushes, to a fashion-fiasco first dance, the girls are up to their Wellie boots in drama. They can't help but wonder: What would Jo March do?

Worldbuilding

The books are set in Concord, Massachusetts, so not a lot of fantasy-esque worldbuilding stuff, but the writing of the setting seemed really good to me (I haven't ever been to Concord, and I've never been to public school, so I am not an expert on how good the portrayal is.) I'm also going to use this section to say, the writing style is excellent--no purple prose, no calling attention to itself, just understated and there.

Plot/Story

IMO, this is contemporary done right. There's some school drama, there's some family drama, but there's nothing super dramatic, just everyday occurrences made interesting. A character starts a blog, characters travel and live abroad, characters face losses, characters learn new skills, and so on. But while the occurrences may be more or less mundane, the plot is never boring--Heather Vogel Frederick does a really good job of crafting a compelling story, time after time, and there are always surprises around the corner. I especially like the book club thread--hearing what the characters think about books I've enjoyed is very fun. As if that wasn't enough awesomeness, each book has a tiny thread of the plot of the book-club book woven into it, and whether it's noticed explicitly by the characters or not, it's entertaining to try to spot. The author varies POV between the girls in the book club, which is interesting to read, although I often forget who is talking and have to go back and check...

Characters

All the characters are interesting and well-rounded, but here I'm going to focus on the main characters of the first book:

Emma: Emma is so much fun to read. She's the bookworm for the bookworms, and the young writer for young writers, and I see a lot of myself in her. Her struggles with fitting in and finding happiness are very relatable for everyone, as well.

Jess: I see myself in Jess as well--she's very academically gifted, and her family has a farm. In fact, she's called Goat Girl, which is a title she hates, and I can only aspire to. She's also the only one with younger siblings, and I love watching her try to deal with them!  

Cassidy: Cassidy is a blast. I am not a jock kind of person, but it's really interesting to see the perspective of someone who is, and I especially enjoy the way she always ends the chapters she narrates with a mini scoreboard. Her character is interesting because she's not just a "jock girl", but she also has her own issues with dealing with change (which, may I add, are very relatable!) I think she's the character (of the main four) who grows the most through the whole series.

Megan: I love Megan, and I love her character arc. She's the one who changes most dramatically in both the first and second book, and it's very satisfying to read. Her attempting to find a middle ground between her two groups of friends is something I've never had to deal with, but I know at least one person who has, and who really enjoyed that part of Megan's story.

Romance

There's no real romance in the first few books, which I actually really love. In the other books, it's tasteful and well done.

Content

A couple of kisses in the later books, but nothing graphic. 

Overall Rating: 4.5 stars! These books are some of my favorites to come back to when I need a familiar but high-quality read. 

Thank you for reading! See you next Friday.