Mundie Moms

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody


Published by: Farrar Straus & Giroux
Released on: July 3rd, 2012
Source: ARC from publisher to review/blog tour
4.5 stars: I Really Enjoyed It
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it. 

Lexington Larrabee has never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either.

Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteen birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.

In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and, regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him. -quoted from Goodreads

A fantastic read with moments of humor, heartbreak and a little bit of romance.

At first I was a little skeptical about reading this book, but my intrigue over whether or not Lexi can change won out in the end. I ended up really enjoying this book. In fact, I was really surprised with much I liked it. I mean the story after is about a billionaire's spoiled teenage daughter, and what she has to do to earn her $25 million trust fund, but the story is much more than that. Jessica Brody has written a well crafted story with a solid plot line, in-depth characters whom all grow and surprisingly change in many ways, and offers a realistic look into the lives of us every day hard working people vs those born into privilege. There's more to this story than just looks, I loved how Jessica was able to weave together a believable storyline and introduce me to a character I ended up loving.

Lexi starts off as your typical incredibly rich spoiled teenager who doesn't have a care in the world except for shopping, partying and hanging out with her friends. When I first met her she a total brat, lacked respect, and didn't care about her consequences. In reading between the lines with Lexi I knew there something else going on, and a reason for her acting out and it wasn't long before Jessica revealed what that was. It's that reasoning that hooked me with Lexi's story. I wanted to know what the cause was, how Lexi was going to fix it and is how she was going to change as a character over the course of her story. I have to say, I ended up loving this girl! There's so much more to her than meets the eye. She's a beautiful girl who's had her share of heartbreak, she's intelligent, and witty. 

There is a fabulous group of characters in this book, and each one plays a roll in Lexi's life. It doesn't matter if they're rich or poor, or from the working class, every character had an effect on Lexi's life both good and bad, most of the time it was for the better. I admired her best friends who were loyal and there to help her out through thick and thin. I also enjoyed meeting Luke! I got why Lexi was so irritated at him first, and loved it when she started to see him in a different way. They both learned a lot about each other and from one another in working together. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship grow. Aside from Lexi, the character that surprised me the most was Lexi's father. At first it was easy for me to see why Lexi was doing what she did to get her father's attention. I ended up seeing Lexi's father the way she did. As Lexi finds out, there's more to him than just the way she's always seen him, and I loved how Jessica unraveled the complex relationship these two have had and the reasoning behind.

This book is fabulous! It's one that got better and better with each chapter. I loved the meaningful messages Jessica gives to her readers and the way she does it. She not only allows her readers to connect with Lexi, but we see how each job effects and changes her and the lessons she learns from those she works with. There's a lot of character growth in this book, and with that came some heartfelt moments, bitter sweet ones, heartbreaking ones, and moments that were down right hilarious. I emotionally connected to all of them. The bits of humor in this book are fabulous! This is a wonderful story and one I'd recommend picking up!

Don't miss my blog tour stop & giveaway happening here

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