Review #10 Tangled

Tangled

By Carolyn Mackler

Publication date: December 29, 2009

Rating: *****

My review:

Tangled tells the story of four teens who vacation at the same resort at the same time and how their lives are changed by their encounters. Jena and her mom go to the Paradise resort at the invitation of her mom's wealthy best friend. Jena does not want to spend her spring break at Paradise because it will mean hanging out with the beautiful, perfect, sophisticated Skye, daughter of her mom's best friend. Next to Skye, Jenna feels positively frumpy. Skye's life is far from perfect however even though on the surface she seems to have everything she could possibly want. Handsome and charming Dakota has secrets of his own and Owen is too busy blogging to notice what is going on around him.

The novel starts with Jena's perspective in April while at the resort and then switches to Dakota in May, Skye in June, and finally ends with Owen in July. It is not until we read each character's perspective that we reach the full picture. Each character has their own voice and it works very well. I only wish we could spend more time with each of the characters. There are moments of humor and sadness as we see what the characters are going through. The teens are written very realistically and they face realistic situations. All four of the teens have grown by the end of the book. Skye and Dakota who both come across as jerks at one point or another during the novel are given depth. There is more to their stories and it is revealed slowly. The novel has layers and it builds to a very satisfying conclusion.

Tangled is the first novel by Carolyn Mackler that I've read but I definitely plan to read her other books. I would recommend this novel to fans of Sarah Dessen and Elizabeth Scott and to those who like realistic teen fiction.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this title from the publisher for review purposes.