| Title | : | One Week |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 174 |
| Publication | : | First published July 24, 2012 |
One Week Reviews
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Review posted to:
Swept Away By Romance
5 Sweet Stars
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Heat Barometer: 1 out of 5 flames (virginity lost, but no description… I didn’t miss it)
What a little gem!! It was a quick read, 174 pages, and I couldn't put it down. I have been disappointed in a lot of ARC's lately, but One Week was fun and sweet from beginning to end. This is a debut book from author, Nikki Van De Car, and she shows tons of promise in the Young Adult genre, yet this story will appeal to any romance reader. It is a clean, YA romance, but this “smut queen” didn’t even miss it because the story countered with a tender and budding romance between two unlikely people. They grew together and guided each other through a lifetime of learning and experience in just One Week.
Bee, the heroine, reminded me of Alicia Silverstone in the movie, Clueless. She is 17 years old, leads a very sheltered existence, and is naïve and inexperienced in the ways of the world, as well as, the opposite sex. She is filthy rich and the only car she has ever known is the backseat of a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce. Her mother left her when she was young, therefore she is being raised by her father who she feels uses her for his own business needs and publicity with his Hollywood crowd. Bee and her father’s relationship has been strained since she caught him in a lie, which he did for her protection. He ends up putting Bee in an uncomfortable situation that turns bad and she runs away thinking she has no one that really loves her.
Where Bee is Rodeo Drive, Jess, the hero, is completely Goodwill, they are polar opposites in every aspect of life. When she first sees him she thinks he is a “goth geek” and keeps her distance. He calls her Barbie and knows he wants nothing to do with her. But as they both begin their road trip to New York from LA on the bus and train system across the United States they develop a bond that goes from protectiveness in friendship to a genuine, caring, young love.
The adventure Bee and Jess embark on bombards them with hard learning experiences, but what I loved was that no matter the obstacles, and some were challenging even scary, they had each other’s backs. They weren’t always happy with each other and at times they showed the immaturity of their ages by the way they handle the conflicts. I loved that the author let them be their age instead of making them all grown up. It gave authenticity to the story.
The plot was smooth and well written and the momentum just kept building throughout the road trip. There was some fun secondary characters introduced along the way. These characters were exactly the kinds of people I think you would run across on the buses, trains, and highways while hitch hiking. It gave the story humor and a realistic touch. The ending was a little quick to work out, but I felt for YA it probably was the right speed.
I love books about journeys and coming of age stories, they seem to hit the right chords with me and have been some of my highest rated books as of late,
The Edge of Never, and
Sins & Needles are two that come to mind. All three have completely different feels and One Week is definitely on the lighter side of the other two. I thoroughly enjoyed every page and would highly recommend giving this book a try.
**ARC kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review** -
I won this e-book in a giveaway about 2 months ago and finally had a chance last night to read it...
Amazing YA by a new author. Loved this story!!!
Loved that One Week is truly a YA. Also loved that the author wrote the teen characters as actual teens.
Truly a delightful little gem.
The plot is simplistic in that it stays focused on the immediate occurrence taking place without bogging it down with sub plots. Again, loved that because it gives you excellent dialog through out the story and between the two main characters. A really good insight to what makes them tick.
Bee is a 17 yrs old spoiled rich girl, leads a very sheltered life, is immature, naive, inexperienced in the ways of the world, and has no clue about boys, attending an "all-girls" school will do that to you. Her father is a Hollywood producer and has his own ideas who Bee should be. Needless to say, their relationship is distant and has become strained over a lie her father perpetuated in what he believes is for her own good. Her father has put Bee in a very uncomfortable situation and Bee runs away thinking her father doesn't love "her" but the idea of "her".
Because this was a spur of the moment decision, Bee is completely unprepared. She has no cloths or cash with her, only her father's charge card. She is hesitant to use it because he will be able to track her down. She comes up with the logic that she will take a train to leave California and then use the card when she is far enough away. So she thinks.
At the train station, she is completely clueless and has no idea where she actually wants to go. She decides on a rail pass that takes her "east".
She encounters Jess, who she refers to "Goth Geek" based on his looks. Jess is a student at UCLA and is on his way back to New York, his home.
Bee and Jess are from two completely different worlds. And it is those differences that drive the plot. They wind up traveling together due to some very realistic circumstances.
The characterizations completely flowed in that these two disliked each other on "sight". Very typical attitude of kids. They got to know each either, liked each other and hated each other at times as well. And through it all, had each other's back regardless of what the other was feeling. Their budding romance was completely endearing it that it was so typical of teens. The insecurities, doubts, and misunderstandings.
The story is rounded out with some great secondary characters that were very realistic and I could believe meeting along this crazy road trip.
The ending was a bit quick but again, realistic. There was healing, discovering ones self and understanding.
Really a great coming of age story told within an excellent plot.
One of the best YA's I've come across in a while! -
Short, sweet gem of a book. It hasn't gotten the attention it deserves so far--maybe because the description sucks.
This review by someone else gives a better description:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... -
"For the record, my name isn't actually Bee . . . I realize that some might say that the name Bee isn't much of an improvement, but I was five and it got my point across. Someone messed with me, I stung them." Thus begins the 7-day journey with Bee, a sharp-tongued, quick-witted, spoiled Hollywood teen who has decided to run away from home not so much to find herself, but to get away from the "self" her fame-addicted father is trying to make her.
Naive and annoyed, Bee finds herself boarding buses and trains and buses and trains, all in her attempt to make it to New York, where she imagines her life would be much improved, private, and full of dining out minus the paparazzi her dad constantly alerts when she goes out. But between her fear of her weird fellow travelers, disgust in finding there's no "first class" on busses, and her disbelief that she's left her home without anything useful in her bag beside her toothbrush, her only solace across the miles is some strange kid with black-dyed hair who is her sometimes friend (or is it boyfriend . . . ) and who she calls "Goth Geek" until she learns his name is Jess.
With little money and even less confidence, the two travel toward New York encountering an array of colorful people along the way. Perhaps the most colorful are the people they themselves become on their journey. Bee grows from a snide, self-centered borderline brat into someone who resembles someone thoughtful, responsible, transparent. And Jess transforms from an morose kid struggling with a past mistake into one taking control of his future. Whether Bee and Jess can take their 7-day relationship together and make it last a lifetime, well, that's anyone's guess.
I liked this book because it managed to be fresh among the many other coming of age, teen love stories flooding the market. I attribute its welcomed approach almost exclusively to Bee, her character, and mostly her voice. She's funny, a pain in the butt, full of vibrato, and ultimately unsure, a little scared, and wanting desperately to be seen and loved by her overbearing, attention-seeking father. I like Bee. She's complicated and interesting, and was enough for me to keep the pages turning and finish the read in an afternoon. -
One Week was a short and sweet read filled with travels, drama and romance. A fun quick and easy read.
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Bette ("Bee") is tired of the expectations placed on her as the daughter of a rich and famous Hollywood producer. She is sick of being photographed and followed and primed to be the next Paris Hilton. She just wants to live like a regular 17-year-old. Unfortunately her father won't listen to her and her friends just don't understand. Well, actions speak louder than words and so Bee impulsively decides to run away from LA. (And when I say impulsively, I mean she heads to the train station without a change of clothes or even an idea of where she wants to go! ) Enter Jess or as Bee referred to him at first sighting, "Goth geek." Jess has his own reasons for leaving Los Angeles and is headed to New York. Well, New York sounds like as good a place as any and so Bee decides to tag along. The week that follows changes Bee's life forever.
This was such a sweet coming of age story and I really enjoyed it. What I enjoyed most were the characters as they were incredibly true-to-life. I loved that Bee was a "regular" teenage girl. So many books I have read in the genre and television shows portray teenage girls as sophisticated, self-assured divas oozing in sexual confidence. Granted it's been a long time since I was a teenager but while I know that kids grow up faster than they did when I was in high school, I can't imagine that deep inside 17-year-olds have changed that much since I was that age. Like most teenager girls, Bee rolled her eyes a lot and thought she was cooler than everyone else, but she was also insecure, unsure of herself and not entirely comfortable in her skin. It was clear that she cared about other people and craved intimate emotional connections with others. I loved watching her grow up. I also enjoyed the slow build up in the romance and liked that Jess was not portrayed as a swoon-worthy hot guy. The feelings between the characters were based on more than hormones and I really appreciated that.
All in all, a really great debut and I look forward to reading more from this budding author. -
I downloaded this as an Amazon.com freebie and what a delightful surprise. The story centers around a young woman, Bee, whose father is well known in Hollywood. The father fixes her up got a date with a Hollywood hottie, Thom Derrek, which does not go well. Bee leaves her fathers house with just the clothes on her back. On a spur of the moment she decides to get on a train and head to New York. Bee meets a nice young man, Jess. Bee and Jess on their way to New York have several adventures and meet some very nice people.
Jess and Bee form a close relationship which scares Bee. Jess feels protective and concerned about Bee.
This is such an enjoyable story with great character development. -
Jess and Bee..
I loved their adventure. The story was so well written, I felt like I was traveling and following them anywhere they went. Wonderful book aboufinding nd knowing what you want and what you don't want in life. -
I designed the cover for this book, and it was an enormous pleasure to work with Nikki. You may know that it’s an update of the Gable film, “It Happened One Night.” Charming!
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I'll be writing a review in the next couple days and posting it on my blog thebookhipster.com as well as subjecting Nikki to a "The Random 5..." interview...keep your eyes open for that! - Stephanie
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This book was funny and sweet and a little sad at times. I thoroughly enjoyed it. :)
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Got it for free on Amazon, it was a cute read. Another book, maybe??? It would be nice to see where the relationship goes?!!
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Interesting quick read. A bit over the top in some spots but overall I liked the story.
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such a fun and flirty read, had me hooked from the start!
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Good story for the young adult ladies but I really enjoyed it.
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I actually enjoyed this far more than I thought I was going to. I kind of found myself hoping something else would go wrong so I could have stayed with Bee and Jess for even longer!
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Loved it!!
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Good travel and coming of age story of a 17 year old LA girl on the run from her life. She meets some interesting people as she travels to New York by train.
