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Book: Traffic Jam
Author: Melissa Groeling
Publisher: Black Opal Books
Released: May 2012
Pages: 300
Recieved for honest review as part of blog tour
Traffic Jam by Melissa Groeling was a powerful story with a lesson to learn. The story follows main protagonist Val Delton who is a bit of a loner who only has one really good friend, Allison. Val's father has recently lost his job and they have had to move to an apartment smack bang in the centre of town where it is noisy all the time and she has to share a room with her younger brother as there is very little space.
Val has an older sister called Sam who she doesn't get on with. They are total opposites. Sam is the popular, pretty girl at the school the type that would be a cheerleader (Sam is) and Val is not and doesn't want to be. Val starts to get suspicious that her sister is up to something she shouldn't be when she sees bags of new clothes and other things in her sisters room, (she shouldn't have been in there) they can just about afford to live, where did she get these new things from. From this Val is determined to find out what her sister sister is up to. When she does find out what is going on she realised maybe she shouldn't have gone down this road as what she finds is something that is terrible and could destroy her family and possibly end up with her or Sam dead! (If you want to know what it is you will have to go and pick up a copy of Traffic Jam to find out :) ) I wasn't expecting it to be what it was but it's something dangerous and scary!
On to my thoughts on the characters in Traffic Jam! I really liked Val as a character, she is determined and strong and will do anything for her family, even her sister which she realises in the book. Val's best friend, Allison, is a great character, her storyline brought in a different theme that is very common in today's society and the way the character deals with it is very natural and life like. Sam, Val's sister is a character I didn't like. Not because the character was written terribly but that she is a character I think most wouldn't like because of the way she behaves. She is the sort of person in High School I would have hated! However she does grow though the book and redeem herself and I did feel really bad for her though the course of the book.
One point of Traffic Jam I liked was that even though we have a terrible, dangerous storyline going on, behind the scenes there is a little romance in the form of Val and one of her sister's friends John. The way Val is around him is like what any teenager would be around a hot guy they liked, going red every time she speaks to him and not being able to say much to start of with ! The romance wasn't the main theme of the story but I still liked it. It wasn't a full blown love affair but a slow burning one that seemed natural.
Overall I really liked Traffic Jam. It wasn't what I was expecting, especially with the theme of the book by this is what makes it different than all the YA books out there. It stands alone. I was engrossed by what would happen next and couldn't put it down. Traffic Jam is like nothing I have ever read before and I would highly recommend it!
5/5 STARS
Traffic Jam by Melissa Groeling was a powerful story with a lesson to learn. The story follows main protagonist Val Delton who is a bit of a loner who only has one really good friend, Allison. Val's father has recently lost his job and they have had to move to an apartment smack bang in the centre of town where it is noisy all the time and she has to share a room with her younger brother as there is very little space.
Val has an older sister called Sam who she doesn't get on with. They are total opposites. Sam is the popular, pretty girl at the school the type that would be a cheerleader (Sam is) and Val is not and doesn't want to be. Val starts to get suspicious that her sister is up to something she shouldn't be when she sees bags of new clothes and other things in her sisters room, (she shouldn't have been in there) they can just about afford to live, where did she get these new things from. From this Val is determined to find out what her sister sister is up to. When she does find out what is going on she realised maybe she shouldn't have gone down this road as what she finds is something that is terrible and could destroy her family and possibly end up with her or Sam dead! (If you want to know what it is you will have to go and pick up a copy of Traffic Jam to find out :) ) I wasn't expecting it to be what it was but it's something dangerous and scary!
On to my thoughts on the characters in Traffic Jam! I really liked Val as a character, she is determined and strong and will do anything for her family, even her sister which she realises in the book. Val's best friend, Allison, is a great character, her storyline brought in a different theme that is very common in today's society and the way the character deals with it is very natural and life like. Sam, Val's sister is a character I didn't like. Not because the character was written terribly but that she is a character I think most wouldn't like because of the way she behaves. She is the sort of person in High School I would have hated! However she does grow though the book and redeem herself and I did feel really bad for her though the course of the book.
One point of Traffic Jam I liked was that even though we have a terrible, dangerous storyline going on, behind the scenes there is a little romance in the form of Val and one of her sister's friends John. The way Val is around him is like what any teenager would be around a hot guy they liked, going red every time she speaks to him and not being able to say much to start of with ! The romance wasn't the main theme of the story but I still liked it. It wasn't a full blown love affair but a slow burning one that seemed natural.
Overall I really liked Traffic Jam. It wasn't what I was expecting, especially with the theme of the book by this is what makes it different than all the YA books out there. It stands alone. I was engrossed by what would happen next and couldn't put it down. Traffic Jam is like nothing I have ever read before and I would highly recommend it!
5/5 STARS
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Sounds like my kind'a book =D
ReplyDeleteI love those sounds, horns blaring, people yelling, especially if I'm not in a car in the middle of them!!
ReplyDeleteWow, this sounds quite powerful! Glad you enjoyed it, lovely review, Tana! :)
ReplyDelete