Viola In Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani

Publisher: Harper Teen
Pub. Date: September 2009
Age Range: Young Adult
Pages: 282
Format: ARC
Source of copy: from author - Adriana Trigiani

I'm marooned.

Abandoned.

Left to rot in boarding school . . .

Viola doesn't want to go to boarding school, but somehow she ends up at an all-girls school in South Bend, Indiana, far, far away from her home in Brooklyn, New York. Now Viola is stuck for a whole year in the sherbet-colored sweater capital of the world.

Ick.

There's no way Viola's going to survive the year—especially since she has to replace her best friend Andrew with three new roommates who, disturbingly, actually seem to like it there. She resorts to viewing the world (and hiding) behind the lens of her video camera.

Boarding school, though, and her roommates and even the Midwest are nothing like she thought they would be, and soon Viola realizes she may be in for the most incredible year of her life.

But first she has to put the camera down and let the world in.

A book about adaption and following your own dream, Viola In Reef Life was charming, adorable and upbeat. If you're trying feel belonged to a new place but things seem not very bright, it was likely that Viola's story would help you in some ways.

This book made me feel old. It was funny because at first when I checked the book out, I didn't know that Viola was fourteen. Moreover, in the beginning where she was still in her whining section the girl sounded maturer than her age, like she was actually sixteen or older. But when Viola started to fall in love with Perfect Academy and went back to her usual cheerful self, she acted real young and innocent. And that was how I would describe the story too. It was full of energy, of passion and hope, something you'd need in such hectic and stressful lives. The concept of Viola In Reel Life was very simple. I liked the way it went. Adriana Trigiani didn't tie the main character with a huge problem from chapters to chapters and solve it all in the end, if anything, our lovely girl got over her homesickness (sort of) very soon and went on to discover the news and the excitings in Indiana.

Viola In Reel Life was peaceful, literally. The scenes of the boarding school were so amazing I could really imagine these in my head, they had the ancient and very delicate beauty. The plot itself was very calm. There were no bad characters, no drama. Just a lot events and happenings (e.g a red dress ghost) that kept you interested and waiting for more.

I don't think I have much to say about the characters since they were all so well portrayed. I loved Viola, even though at some point she was whiny, the girl was a true artist. She was also sweet and always hopeful about love which made want to feel the same way. In another aspect, I was very happy with how Jared turn out to be because for one moment I thought he was one of those too good to be true guys. Wait, how about Viola's family? Just one word: great, especially her Grandma.

A light-hearted young book for young adults. Need encouragement, inspiration and warmth of love and friendship? This is the one.

Rating: 3.5/5