Review: From What I Remember by Valerie Thomas and Stacy Kramer

Title: From What I Remember
Author: Valerie Thomas, Stacy Kramer
Published: May 15th 2012
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

KYLIE: Mexico? What a nightmare! I should be putting the finishing touches on my valedictorian speech. Graduation is TODAY! Wait! Is this a wedding band on my finger
MAX: It started with Kylie's laptop and a truck full of stolen electronics and it ended in Ensenada. It was hot, the way she broke us out like some chick in an action movie. But now we're stranded here, with less than twenty-four hours before graduation.
WILL: Saving Kylie Flores from herself is kind of a full-time occupation. Luckily, I, Will Bixby, was born for the job. And when I found out she was stuck in Mexico with dreamy Max Langston, sure, I agreed to bring their passports across the border - but there's no reason to rush back home right away. This party is just getting started.
LILY: This cannot be happening. It's like some cruel joke. Or a bad dream. I close my eyes and when I reopen them, they're still there. Max and Kylie Flores, freak of the century. In bed together. If Kylie thinks I'm giving him up without a fight, she's dead wrong.

Honestly, I don't remember much of this book other than I didn't get the appeal. It was surprisingly long and really chaotic. I don't even know what happened! It seemed like a fun story, but it was so unbelievable and random that instead of entertaining me, it completely rubbed me the rong way. Oh, and it was from more than 4 POVs and how can I ever connect with a character like this? This book was just frustrating.

What exactly happened last night? I am ablaze with an unsettling mix of passion and panic. I’m sweating now, which can’t possibly be appealing. What have I done? I’ve got high school graduation, a summer internship at the San Diego Arts Council, New York University in the fall, and parents who are going to freak. I’ve been MIA for the past twenty-four hours. I’m in Mexico with Max. And we’re wearing rings that look suspiciously like wedding bands. This is bad. Very, very bad.

So, a bunch of kids are going to graduate and for their last assignment before graduation, a teacher gives them a paper to write about a partner. These partners are completely random and chosen by the teacher so of course the nerd girl gets partnered with the most popular guy in school, her barbie girlfriend is all jealous and so it begins. Can it be any more clichée? Umm.. Yes.

Then the nerd girl Kylie agrees to do Max's paper as well, because she doesn't want her grades to suffer. They go have coffee and what do you say? Her lap top gets stolen. Then they start following the thiefs and suddenly they find themselves in Mexico. What. In. The. World? Really? Are you effin kidding me? My eyes literally hurt from all the eyerolling and why I even bothered to finish this book, I have no idea.

It concentrated on building unlikely relationships and the moral was there, I can even see the entertainment factor, but it's so far out of reach that it became totally ridiculous and completely unbelievable. I could even forgive some of it if there were awesome characters, but they were old enough to not act like 12. Come on! This book is a disaster.

“‘Hey, girl,’” I call out. “‘If you’re from Africa, why are you white?’” 

Kylie looks up at me. “‘Oh my God, Karen, you can’t just ask people why they’re white,’” she says.

I don't remember having such an experience with a contemporary book from the past year and that speaks volume for me. I'd not recommend it, but people on Goodreads love it so I guess you could give it a try. It may work for you just fine, but wasn't for me and I'm pretty sure I won't be reading anything else from these authors, sorry. The only reason this book gets more than one star is that they quoted Mean Girls. The quote above is pretty much considered a classic.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

Meet the authors

Website