Careful (The Careful, Quiet, Invisible Series #1)
Isobella Jade
Pages: 292
Format: Paperback/e-book
Age Group: Young Adult
Publication Date: July 26, 2012
After Estella Montclair is killed in a texting and driving crash, what remains of her face and body is devastating. But not all of her has died. During the first month after her death, Estella's spirit travels among her living friends and family. Her best friends Zara, Eva and Jett show her how pain and sorrow can break apart or strengthen a bond. She also sees for the first time that loss can spark revenge, catastrophe can come without warning, and we all have secrets. She wonders if her chance for love with Phoenix has passed her by, and if out of sight truly means out of mind. And maybe one day the girl who caused her death will admit her mistake. While adjusting to a new state of being, Estella struggles to face the limitations that come with death, but blossoms by recognizing she can still touch the lives of the people she once knew so well.
Well, I received this for the Careful blog tour, in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, my honest opinion was that I didn't like it very much. The story was definitely thought-provoking and sad, but it was also pretty creepy. Not in the sense that it scared me or anything, but in the fact that Estella went around and watched her friends all the time (and by all the time I do mean all the time, no matter what they were doing). And she had so much hate for the girl who hit her, and it was just really depressing.
So, it starts off with Estella and her friends all having a great time prom dress shopping, and then Estella gets in a car accident and dies. After her death, the entire book is pretty much about her going around watching her friends and family and desperately wanting to be missed. Her friends all deal with their grief in different ways, and do end up channeling it into something good in Estella's memory, so that was sweet. But overall, I thought there was way too much drama (as in the friends of the girl who hit Estella and lived hate Estella's friends, and tell everyone that the crash was Estella's fault despite what the crash actually showed. that sort of thing). And the author delved into every controversial issue out there (suicide, eating disorders, teenage fighting, teenage relationships, texting and driving, familial problems; you name it, it's probably in here) and that kinda bugged me. I just sort of thought that she should have just picked one and wrote about it instead of a whole bunch and threw them in there. And the ending was very abrupt and there wasn't really any closure for anyone... so yeah.
I didn't mind the characters, but I didn't really get attached to them. I felt bad for Eva (one of Estella's best friends) often, because her life wasn't great, but it didn't worry me too much. And I had NO IDEA what Estella had seen in Phoenix (her pre-death crush), because he was just kind of bland. And almost every guy in the book was a jerk.
The cover represents the book really well, though! So, there's a plus.
I hate to say this (especially since this is for a blog tour!), but Careful just wasn't the book for me. If you enjoyed Elsewhere (which, I did enjoy, ironically) this has a similar feel and idea of death. I feel like this book was written as a message book (what with all the issues Estella's friends had), and I just don't love those. Even though the book is about a girl basically haunting her friends, this is a contemporary, and there may be (?) some romance in the later books, depending on how Ms. Jade decides to play this, but I'm not sure. So, for me, I give Careful 2 mustaches.
About the author:
Isobella Jade is an author, petite model and a wizard of self-promotion. Her modeling memoir Almost 5'4" is her personal memoir about being a shorter-than-average model in NYC, the ins and outs and highs and lows of striving to beat the odds. Her graphic novel Model Life was released in November 2009 and Short Stuff is her collection of on-the-job experiences that took place after Almost 5'4" and includes modeling tips for shorter girls. Her most recent work is a new YA novel called Careful, the first book of the Careful, Quiet, Invisible series. Website
http://www.isobelladreams.com Twitter username
@IsobellaJade Book trailer:
http://www.isobelladreams.com/TheCarefulQuietInvisibleSeries.htmlSeventeen.com featured the book in their book club:
http://www.seventeen.com/entertainment/reviews/book-review-careful-isobella-jade I was recently visiting my hometown in Syracuse, NY and chatted with ABC affiliate News Channel 9 about the book: http://www.9wsyr.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3615539
If this book does sound like it would interest you, enter to win a copy!! Just fill out this Rafflecopter form:
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