Review: Audrey, Wait!

Title: Audrey, Wait!

Author: Robin Benway

Pages: 313 (hardcover)

Two Sentence Summary: When Audrey broke up with her musician boyfriend Evan, she figured it would be awkward at school, but that would be that. Instead, Evan writes a song called “Audrey, Wait!” which becomes an international bestseller, turning Audrey’s life upside down.

One Sentence Review: Audrey, Wait! is a fun book with an honest and friendly narrator that you want to root for all the way through the story.

Rating:

Summary: There’s really not much plot expansion I need to do for this book. Audrey is your average teenage girl dating a musician that she thinks is pretty awesome. Except Evan’s not awesome — he doesn’t listen to her, smokes too much pot, and spends too much time with his band. Audrey works up the courage to break up with him, and does so as amicably as she can.

That night, Evan’s band debuts a song inspired by the breakup. The song turns into an international sensation, and Audrey’s life turns 180 degrees. Paparazzi follow her everywhere, newspaper reporters misquote her during interviews (shame!), and her parents try to help by putting her in lockdown. At the same time, Audrey is trying to find romance with a guy she works with, go to concerts with her best friend, and just be a normal girl. Yikes!

Review: I think I got this book because, like Kay said her her review, it reminded me of the song “Hey There Delilah.” Plus, I needed some light reading going into finals. When I requested it from the library I wasn’t sure if I’d like this book or not. Most recent YA books are way to melodramatic for me and I find them highly annoying. However, this book hit the spot for me.

As a narrator Audrey felt genuine and funny, not at all melodramatic. I didn’t smoke pot or drink or go to concerts in high school, but I did have a lame job I hated and I spent a long time dating an awkward but totally loyal boy. But I think people who had high school experiences totally unlike Audrey would still like her because she seems quite honest.

I also loved the book’s opening, which just drops you into the story and expects you to keep up:

The day I broke up with my boyfriend Evan was the day he wrote the song. You know, the song. I’m sure you’ve heard it. Maybe you danced to it at prom or sang it in your car on a Friday night when you were driving and feeling like you must be inhuman to be this happy, the windows down and nothing but air around you. Your mom has probably hummed it while cleaning the dryer’s lint trap, and your grandpa has most likely whistled a couple bars. If he’s the whistling type.

The book goes on like this, just sort of flying through Audrey’s life at this breakneck speed that makes you feel like you’re in on the whole story too. Without relying on too many cliches, this book tells a good story about what it means to just try and be normal. It was fun, and actually made me a little nostalgic for high school, or at least an Audrey version of my high school!

Other Reviews: The Infinite Shelf; Inkweaver Review; casual dread; Fluttering Butterflies;

If you have reviewed this book, please leave a link to the review in the comments and I will add your review to the main post. All I ask is for you to do the same to mine — thanks!