Review: The Queen of Everything - Deb Caletti

Where I got it: From my collection
Rating: 3.5 stars  

Cover Rating: 4 stars (It's nice. I like that they re-did all the covers like this, but I think they're changing them again...)
Genre: Young Adult

Publication Date: May 11, 2010 

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Page Count: 322 p.

Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

Jordan found her hippie mother to be a bit too "out there" so she decides she should live with her father. He's an optometrist, and very level-headed. At least, he used to be. Lately he's been acting a bit strange and Jordan thinks she knows the cause...Gayle D'Angelo. She's a married woman and her dad is in love. Jordan knows there's not a lot she can do about it since he is an adult, but she can tell that this is wrong. Besides that, Jordan is living a typical teenage life. She has an accidental boyfriend, but a crush on somebody else and her best friend gossips with her at work. Things are going pretty well until things with her father's love life blow up in a way Jordan could never have imagined.

This was a pretty interesting novel. Jordan had a lot of stuff going on. It must be nice but a little strange having your divorced parents living so close. Jordan can easily bounce between household, so when one house proves to be too much she can just go over to the other one. This book was incredibly predictable though. From the first chapter, I knew exactly what was going to happen. The side stories were still interesting though, so it didn't ruin the book. It's just a shame that it was so obvious.

I loved Jordan's friend's brother, Jackson. He was just an awesome character and I loved that he just did his own thing. He played bagpipes. He washed his car in the middle of the night. He was simply amazing. If there was one person I would want rescuing me, it would be Jackson. Melissa, Jordan's friend, was not a very like-able character. I didn't find her to be a particularly good friend. She was a bit standoffish all the time. Big Mama was a pretty great character, but until the very end of the novel, I didn't really know who the heck she was. It was evident that Jordan and her had a close relationship, but I couldn't see how she fit into the picture. Even at the end it seemed like their relationship was a lot deeper than I would have imagined given the circumstances. I hated Kale. I have no idea why Jordan gave in to his lame attempts at courting her. He was not very smart and not a good person. Even after he did something horrible, Jordan just still went on with him. Jordan just clearly hung out with people she didn't like, because she was simply too nice to say so. It was perfect to have such a mix of characters though, because you can't love everyone or hate everyone. There was a nice balance of both.

I did like quite a bit of this book though. A lot happens to Jordan and in her life. I liked that this was a realistic look at a teen girl's life. Jordan wasn't perfect, she wasn't super smart or super pretty or super popular. She lived in a small town and life just happened. Really all the stories from the people around her were more excitement filled, but her story wove them all together. If you get a chance to read this one make sure you do. I always love how real Deb Caletti's books are so make sure you check them out.

First Line:
"People ask me all the time what having Vince MacKenzie for a father was like."

Favorite Lines:
"It can be exhausting eating a meal cooked by a man. With a woman, it's all Ho hum, pass the beans. A guy, you have to act like he just built the Taj Mahal."