Young Annabelle

by Sarah Tork
Rating: 4/5

First of all I have to say I enjoyed this book even though it's not one I would usually read. Mostly because I think it's more relatable to teens because of the main character's perspective. However, I could also see some adults reading it to better understand their teens at home as you really get an understanding of how Annabelle is feeling and why she acts certain ways to things.

Annabelle's character is a realistic teenager with normal problems and in my opinion very relatable. Poor Annabelle is pressured by her parents to lose weight after they put down her spirits time and time again by telling her how fat she is. The worse part is how they get her siblings to say the same and think it's okay to treat people the way they do. Even though they seem to think their intentions are good, all the good they really end up doing in the end is kicking her while she's down. Needless to say the strict diet plan her mother happily carries out doesn't help anyone.

So with Annabelle's life being complicated and unhappy she of course has a great best friend, Jenna, who is always there for her. I kind of wished Jenna was around more in the book as she lifted up the depression at times, but I understand why she wasn't. You wouldn't be able to truly know how Annabelle is feeling if Jenna kept popping up to fix everything.

Then of course enters a boy, James...aka "Tiger." I love the nicknames by the way. They add a touch of playfulness and are used mostly in tender moments. I thought this character was perfect! At first I felt what Annabelle did about him, he was such a jerk! But then as I kept reading I realized, he's just a teenage boy and is acting like one. He wasn't really a jerk, deep inside he was very sweet which showed at certain moments and I started to think maybe the jerk side was only coming out at times when Annabelle would react badly to something he said and it was his way of acting defensive. Basically, his sometimes bad attitude was a result of a normal teenage relationship and many misunderstandings. Another part of it is that Annabelle seems to be caught so deeply into her parents perspective of her that she starts believing it herself and doesn't think James really likes her because she's not likable. If only she knew...maybe she'll find out in the next book just how beautiful and special she is!

Okay, so the reason this book got 4/5 stars is for one reason that kind of drove me a little crazy. The jumps in time were killing me! I understand that every good story has flash backs and jumps between past and present times at some point in the book, but it was a little much for me. First of all we were jumping days, weeks and months at times and it was confusing. It usually took me a few pages into each chapter to realize where the current chapter fit into the overall timeline. And that's saying something as I tend to have great attention to detail and am very good and keeping the storyline straight in my head. The author did put dates at the appropriate times to let you know where you were in the story, but let's be honest, I don't know about everyone else but I don't often remember dates at the beginning of chapters very well when they appear as often as journal entries.

Other than my one issue, I really liked this book. Not only do I think this will be a beneficial novel to many teens and adults but I was also able to relate to it which made it all the more better. You don't have to have a weight problem to read this kind of book, it's more about the overall cause and effect of the teen/parent relationship and how things are handled. And of course accepting people for who they are. I related because I grew up in a strict household with high expectations that were not always the ones I wanted for myself and my parents didn't care about that, it was all about what they wanted for me. With the good intentions but poor communication and many misunderstandings, I ended up feeling a lot like Annabelle did at times and reading this book brought back those feelings and memories. So I would encourage anyone and everyone to read this book. I think there will be something for everyone to take and learn from Annabelle's story.

Sorry for the novel...sometimes I get carried away.
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