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2.96 AVERAGE
2.96 AVERAGE
The plots and characters in each of the S.A.S.S. books are intriguing and fun. I have really enjoyed reading each of them.
A great dissapointment... the book about the girl going on exchange to Italy should surely have had better names than "Kelly" and other American favorites. And the guy wasn't even Italian, he was just some American who was also on exchange? Shouldn't he heave been Italian? Tsk tsk tsk.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
funny
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Next stop on the S.A.S.S. tour: Italy, where Kelly is eager to spend the summer shopping, tanning, and flirting. Imagine her surprise when it turns out that she's staying in a dorm, not a fancy villa...and the programme's courses require actual work...and the other students in the programme aren't interested in her attempts to give them makeovers.
The focus of the book, then, is on Kelly's growth into a bit less of a...well, a self-absorbed brat. Kelly's not a mean person, or a dumb one. She's just very focused on the superficial. Although I don't find Kelly particularly interesting, I don't have huge problems with her -- although I do wish she'd been called upon to take responsibility for her actions; pretty much everything gets pegged on Joe. Certainly he does far worse things than Kelly does -- but he doesn't make her decisions for her. That said, I mostly just wish the supporting characters had been more well-rounded. Instead they're cliché after cliché, and while sometimes the stereotyping is there to be proven wrong, much of the time it just feels like lazy character sketching.
A general note on the series: I'm not that far into it yet -- this is the fifth I've read of the fourteen S.A.S.S. books. But I'm surprised by how much time the characters tend to spend with other students in their programmes rather than with locals. The characters in The Finnish Line and The Great Call of China manage to develop friendships with students their age (although in the latter case only because the programme assigns them local hosts, of a sort), but other than that... It's one thing in Girl Overboard, where they live on a boat and don't spend enough time in port to build relationships. But in Pardon My French I think Nicole talks to maybe two bona fide French people, and Getting the Boot is more of the same: Kelly has a bit of a fling with an Italian guy, and a random, dialogue-free Italian girl shows up for a scene. But that's it.
The author does manage to cram in a lot of Italy factoids, though, which is a plus as far as I'm concerned. I'm on the fence about the romance -- on the one hand, it's a afterthought (a plus as far as I'm concerned; I don't think it's one of the more interesting parts of the story), but on the other hand, it's largely an afterthought because there wasn't much room for it by the time Kelly got past her bad-idea romance. Another reviewer suggested that Sheela might make a more compelling protagonist, and I'm inclined to agree -- certainly she comes into her own more than Kelly does.
More general look at the series here.
The focus of the book, then, is on Kelly's growth into a bit less of a...well, a self-absorbed brat. Kelly's not a mean person, or a dumb one. She's just very focused on the superficial. Although I don't find Kelly particularly interesting, I don't have huge problems with her -- although I do wish she'd been called upon to take responsibility for her actions; pretty much everything gets pegged on Joe. Certainly he does far worse things than Kelly does -- but he doesn't make her decisions for her. That said, I mostly just wish the supporting characters had been more well-rounded. Instead they're cliché after cliché, and while sometimes the stereotyping is there to be proven wrong, much of the time it just feels like lazy character sketching.
A general note on the series: I'm not that far into it yet -- this is the fifth I've read of the fourteen S.A.S.S. books. But I'm surprised by how much time the characters tend to spend with other students in their programmes rather than with locals. The characters in The Finnish Line and The Great Call of China manage to develop friendships with students their age (although in the latter case only because the programme assigns them local hosts, of a sort), but other than that... It's one thing in Girl Overboard, where they live on a boat and don't spend enough time in port to build relationships. But in Pardon My French I think Nicole talks to maybe two bona fide French people, and Getting the Boot is more of the same: Kelly has a bit of a fling with an Italian guy, and a random, dialogue-free Italian girl shows up for a scene. But that's it.
The author does manage to cram in a lot of Italy factoids, though, which is a plus as far as I'm concerned. I'm on the fence about the romance -- on the one hand, it's a afterthought (a plus as far as I'm concerned; I don't think it's one of the more interesting parts of the story), but on the other hand, it's largely an afterthought because there wasn't much room for it by the time Kelly got past her bad-idea romance. Another reviewer suggested that Sheela might make a more compelling protagonist, and I'm inclined to agree -- certainly she comes into her own more than Kelly does.
More general look at the series here.
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I didn't love this book. Maybe it was just because I found the character ignorant and self-centered and the boyfriend that she chooses annoying and stupid. I hope they make sequels of other books, just not this one.
3.0 our of 5 stars
I definitely read this as a teen too but I only vaguely remember reading it. However this is probably my least favorite of all the SASS books because Kelly is just such a bland and awful character at the beginning.
She wants to go to Italy because like duh there’s like so much like shopping and like hot boys. Right off the bat she starts hanging/dating this "bad boy" from California who literally DRUGS HER DRINK later in the book and yet she still sees no issue with blowing off studying, going out partying, and the fact that he somehow (and it wasn’t ever explained) got a master key so they could miss curfew without getting in trouble. So basically you’re wasting a study abroad program?! And I get that there are people that actually do this- trust me I’ve seen it happen, but if she was late all the time and missing as much class as she was I’m pretty sure the school would have stepped in.
Anyway.. it’s not until she is literally a social outcast and threatened to be sent home from the program that she sent SEVENTY EMAILS OR SO TO GET OFF THE WAIT LIST TO GET INTO that she finally is like of f*ck maybe I need to actually focus on this. That’s literally only the first half of the book, but the other ones in this series are the ones I tend to like better (like Pardon My French and French Kissmiss for example lol)
This one was just too spoiled rich girl for me. Plus she was too focused on trying to change everyone else than realizing that she should be focusing on her classes and it was too much like every 2000’s chick flick to me.
I definitely read this as a teen too but I only vaguely remember reading it. However this is probably my least favorite of all the SASS books because Kelly is just such a bland and awful character at the beginning.
She wants to go to Italy because like duh there’s like so much like shopping and like hot boys. Right off the bat she starts hanging/dating this "bad boy" from California who literally DRUGS HER DRINK later in the book and yet she still sees no issue with blowing off studying, going out partying, and the fact that he somehow (and it wasn’t ever explained) got a master key so they could miss curfew without getting in trouble. So basically you’re wasting a study abroad program?! And I get that there are people that actually do this- trust me I’ve seen it happen, but if she was late all the time and missing as much class as she was I’m pretty sure the school would have stepped in.
Anyway.. it’s not until she is literally a social outcast and threatened to be sent home from the program that she sent SEVENTY EMAILS OR SO TO GET OFF THE WAIT LIST TO GET INTO that she finally is like of f*ck maybe I need to actually focus on this. That’s literally only the first half of the book, but the other ones in this series are the ones I tend to like better (like Pardon My French and French Kissmiss for example lol)
This one was just too spoiled rich girl for me. Plus she was too focused on trying to change everyone else than realizing that she should be focusing on her classes and it was too much like every 2000’s chick flick to me.
Writing, plot, characters: 1 star
Entertainment value because it's so bad: 3 stars
Which gives it an average of 2!
Would highly recommend reading it with a friend. A lot of the fun was telling people the ridiculous stuff Kelly was doing and laughing about it with a friend who also read it.
Entertainment value because it's so bad: 3 stars
Which gives it an average of 2!
Would highly recommend reading it with a friend. A lot of the fun was telling people the ridiculous stuff Kelly was doing and laughing about it with a friend who also read it.