BLOG TOUR: Accidentally Me by Kim Karras

ACCIDENTALLY ME

by Kim Karras

Cedar Fort, 2016

ISBN: 9781462118670

YA Contemporary

Source: eARC from publisher (Thanks!)

All opinions expressed are solely my own.

ABOUT THE BOOK

WANTED: Pretend stalker. No experience required. Tall, dark, and quirky preferred. Sabrina is desperate to go to her dream college, but her parents want her to stay close to home. If she wants to maintain her perfect child image, Sabrina must break rules that even her rebel sister keeps . . .

REVIEW

I wasn't sure what I thought about this book at first. Sabrina kept behaving in ways that seriously annoyed me.  I mean seriously, hiring a stalker to convince your family to let you attend the college of your choice?!  I knew that would turn out badly and it did.  I kept hoping she would start making better choices and then she would make another bad choice.  I did sympathize with her low self-esteem that has skewed her view of not only herself but the way she sees her family and her 'stalker'.  Since she was a surprise for her parents or an 'accident' as she calls herself, she feels like she needs to be perfect  in order to prove her value.  While her relationship (?) with her 'stalker' Calvin turns out not to be a particularly good one (she develops a crush on him, despite clear evidence that he's a bit of a jerk), at the same time he does give her some surprisingly good advice. I guess as an adult, I winced a bit each time Sabrina made another bad choice.  Thankfully by the end she was making better choices and I could sigh with relief.  

Despite the bad choices Sabrina makes, she is still very much a sympathetic character.  After all, who hasn't made bad choices that came back to haunt them.  Human beings seem to shine at learning things the hard way.  And the complicated relationships between Sabrina and her family start to change as she starts to grow up and realize she doesn't have to be perfect in order to be loved.  And I was pleased to note another cute guy makes an appearance who adds some interest to the story.  I think overall this is a story about growing up, learning to make good choices, and accepting the fact that 'accidents' happen but that life can still be great regardless if you're willing to work for it.