The countdown to college has begun.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Off To College Summer Read
By Book 'Em Danno
Roomies is a story of two female high school graduates about to embark on their higher education journey by attending college in San Francisco, CA. Elizabeth (EB) is from New Jersey and Lauren (Lo) is from San Francisco, CA. They end up e-mailing each other as they are going to be dorm roommates in college.I was interested in the premise of the book as well as the storyline consisting of some e-mail communication as that's how many of us communicate these days. As much as I wanted to love it I found that the story dragged. There were a lot of issues touched upon - interracial dating, losing your virginity, single parenting, infideltiy, etc. - but I feel like the issues were just dangling out there and never meshed in a way that made you want to keep reading.The ending was blah and tied neatly in a bow which made me just say "really?". I can only recommend this book if you have absolutely nothing else to read. I don't recommend buying it but checking it out at the library.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Maci and Zoe's Review
By Maci and Zoe Read Books
I got this books from a giveaway and I was very reluctant to pick it up. It did not seem like my type of book. When I did pick it up I was pleasantly surprised. I overall liked this book even though it was full of drama. This book is a lot about moving on in life and I really liked that part of it. It had a really good way of explaining it. I would recommend this book to anyone who is graduating from middle school to high school or high school to college.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.In Review: Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando
By Kim {kimberlyfaye reads}
Nearly a year ago, I was ridiculously excited to get an invitation to claim a review copy of Roomies from NetGalley. Having had my share of drama with roommates over the years (and some very good roommate experiences, too), it really sounded like something I would enjoy. Somewhere along the way it got shoved aside. When I would think about going back to it, I'd look at the other reviews on Goodreads and shrug and move along to something else. I'm glad I finally decided to give it a shot this week. I thoroughly enjoyed it and, honestly, wouldn't mind a second book with these characters.Roomies is told in a very unconventional way – through both a series of emails and in first person with alternating perspectives of Elizabeth and Lauren. I can never get into books told solely through letters or poems. I get bored. I find myself skimming and then I lose the whole point of the book. That was never a problem here. I enjoyed watching as these girls tried to get to know each other through a series of emails and how they were handling their day-to-day life in their own thoughts.I honestly can't say that either Elizabeth or Lauren were particularly likable. Despite that, I was still able to connect with them in my own way. Each of these girls was struggling with aspects of their life. Elizabeth with her father abandoning her and her mother being a complete and total jerk. I seriously despised that lady. I could go on a three-paragraph rant about all that was wrong with her, but I won't. She also had some relationship issues and a potential budding new love that she would have to leave when they both went away to college. Lauren was dealing with never being alone or doing things for herself. She had five younger siblings that she cared for and that came with its own problems. Unlike Elizabeth, however, she had good parents. They were just stretched thin. She, too, had a budding romance and friendship issues.I thought the friendship they began building throughout the summer was the real thing. It had ups and downs, judgements and fights, communication issues and times they were really there for each other when no one in their current day-to-day life would understand what they were dealing with. I enjoyed watching them open up and test the waters with some "overshares." That's how you build a real friendship, after all. They may have had their differences, and there may have been some maturity in reaction to said differences, but it was realistic to me. It was just happening through email instead of face-to-face.I adored the love interests in this story. Both of the romances were sweet in that "first love" uncertain kind of way. They were good guys and, of course, in my ending, both couples manage to escape the pitfalls of a long distance relationship and live happily ever after. I know that might not be realistic, but a girl can dream, right?I won't spoil the ending for you, of course, but I do have to say that I'm not generally one who enjoys ambiguous endings. I like my standalone books to wrap up nicely at the end, with as few loose ends as possible. Don't make me write the ending of your book. All that said, there are times when an ambiguous ending isn't a bad thing, and Roomies is one of those times. I actually really liked it in this instance. Of course, that said, I would love to learn more about college Elizabeth and Lauren. I definitely think there's potential for more story there and I would happily read it.It's been a long time since I went off to college and dealt with the amount of unknowns that Elizabeth and Lauren did in this book. But, Roomies brought it all back and, even better, made me remember all the fun my Freshman year roommate (and floormates) and I had. Ah, the good ol' days. Not only was Roomies a great story, but it gave me a chance to look back fondly on some of my own roommates. And, uh, not so fondly on some of the others.I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
