Melt by Selene Castrovilla

2 Stars

 

This one made me feel some . . . things when I first started. Mainly:

At some point can’t an author just write something like “I met Joey two weeks after I moved from NYC. I never would have guessed he would become such an important part of my life” and then get on with the story? Instalove that is so instant they fall in love before even saying hello makes me want to . . .

Not to mention why the f*&^ was this Wizard of Oz backdrop even being used? Just because Dorothy Must Die sold a bunch of copies, doesn’t mean we need a whole slew of books that have not even a hint of Dorothy except for the MC’s name and leading off the chapters with quotes from Frank Baum’s classic.

As you can tell, this book did not make me a happy camper. Luckily, I found a new friend

and he took some of the angry away and told me to get over my self, accept the book with all its faults and just READ the damn thing. So I did.

Melt is the story of Dorothy (the rich girl) and Joey (the kid from the wrong side of the tracks), how they fall in love (instantly – blech), and how Dorothy eventually comes to find out the truth that lies behind Joey’s troubles with drinking, fighting, and breaking the law.

This one gets 2 Stars for potential rather than delivery. The Oz crap never stopped bugging and I never grew to like Dorothy, but Joey’s story was heartbreaking and real and the stream of consciousness delivery was really effective in making the reader feel his pain. It wasn’t great for me, but I am wise enough to know that there is an audience for this book who will love it and that I was just not meant to be a part of that audience.

Sidenote with respect to Joey’s voice: It read like Marv from Sin City. There’s a very good chance I would have ended up giving this 1 Star, but I loooooooove me some Marv.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you, NetGalley!