Customer Reviews

A Little Friendly Advice

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A Little Friendly Advice, Siobhan Vivian's fantastic debut novel, is blurbed on the back cover by Cecil Castellucci and Maureen Johnson. To some of you, blurbs may not matter, but for me, a book blurbed by two fantastic authors always moves higher up on the to-be-read stack! Which is good for the book, but it also probably raises my expectations, which could turn out to make me unreasonably disappointed.

In this case, however, those high expectations were certainly warranted! I absolutely loved A Little Friendly Advice. It's a smart, funny novel that is mainly about people and their relationships (friends, love interests, and family). It all starts on Ruby's sixteenth birthday, when her father shows up unexpectedly after years of being totally out of the picture. She was planning on a nice celebration with her mother and group of three close friends (her longtime best friend, Beth, her boy-crazy sometimes-outrageous friend, Maria, and the new addition to their group, Katherine), but all that goes out the window when Jim comes through the front door.

One good thing does come out of Ruby's birthday, though: her mother has gotten her an old Polaroid camera, which she uses to document the events that follow. She realizes her best friend, Beth, has been keeping secrets from her, but with good intentions. She must make some difficult choices about her relationship (or lack thereof) with her father. A new guy steps into her life, Charlie; this is a new area for never-been-kissed Ruby! The friendship dynamics within her group are changing, too. The next few days are very eventful for Ruby, and it's all a bit much for a girl to handle alone, and her friends' advice may not always be for the best.

A Little Friendly Advice will ring true with readers; Siobhan Vivian's sharp, engaging prose captures people and their relationships perfectly. Her characters are fully drawn and three-dimensional, and the story she tells is full of important truths. She understands that life is not always black-and-white, and people and their actions are not always clearly for the best or worst. Life is complicated, and Siobhan Vivian's portrayal of that is honest and moving. She has quickly become one of my new favorite authors! Siobhan Vivian is a fresh new voice in YA literature, one to watch, and you should all read this book as soon as possible!

Reposted from http://teenbookreview.wordpress.com

Let me give you A Little Friendly Advice: Read Siobhan Vivian's debut novel. Now.

Realistic from the get-go and written in present tense, the rhythmic and funny narrative will grab readers right away. It all starts when four people come to celebrate with a birthday girl - one of whom was not invited.

The book begins on Ruby's Sweet Sixteen, when the birthday girl hanging out in her humble house with her mom, waiting for her friends to arrive. She has ziti, a whale-shaped ice-cream cake, and a foil party crown.

Shortly after receiving an old Polaroid camera from her mom, Ruby tests out her gift, capturing her mom in a little white square. The guests start to arrive, and Ruby takes a picture of each one. Her friends are very distinguishable, both in looks and in personality. First is Beth, petite, exuberant, the best friend ever. Next comes maudlin Katherine, who is far more Beth's friend than Ruby's, and two years ahead of the other girls in school. In bounces sassy Maria, thus completing the guest list.

Then the last person Ruby ever expected to walk through that door does exactly that. She takes the opportunity to run out of the door, her friends close behind her. His presence pushes the story forward, as his long-term absence has huge part of her past.

Along comes someone else, someone new. His name is Charlie, and he's a sweet, easygoing boy who likes to make buttons and conversation. Like a picture from Ruby's camera, Charlie will instantly capture the hearts of readers, but it will take a while for their relationship to develop - and he'll patiently wait.

There are plenty of laughs to be had and tears to be shed, sometimes simultaneously, as Ruby re-evaluates her friendships and her parents' divorce. Looking through her new-old camera becomes a way for her to both hide and seek. Stubborn to a fault, Ruby is caught between a rock and a hard place partially because she's put herself there, and she knows it.

Siobhan Vivian delivers her Advice free of clichés. Forgiveness is rarely easy, and friendships aren't always balanced or happy. This book offers subtle metaphors, realistic meanderings and dialogue, and believable events. It also has handmade scarves, Girl Scout badges, a treehouse, and hidden smiles. You'd be wise to consider Vivian's truthful Advice.

For Ruby, her friends are like her lifeline. First, there's Beth, the girl who has been with Ruby through all of her family problems and is always there to offer good advice. There's also Maria, who is the most experienced with boys and is very supportive. The latest addition to their group is Katherine, the bad girl, who is going through family problems of her own and seems to not like Ruby that much.

Things go askew when Ruby's father, who abandoned her family many years earlier, shows up for her sixteenth birthday party. All the feelings and memories that Ruby has been trying to bury resurface. Ruby seems to have a fear of hooking up until she meets the new guy Charlie. But her mom is acting strangely as well as her best friend Beth. Things only get worse when Ruby finds out that Beth stole a letter her father left for her.

Throughout the story, Ruby realizes that she can't always rely on her friends, because no matter how much she wants to think that they are always loyal, they are bound to let her down sometimes. Ruby also comes to terms with her mom, and the terrible secret that broke up her parents' marriage so many years ago. Although her reunion with her father isn't perfect, it is the best that can be expected under such conditions.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, especially because it was through Ruby's perspective. It was easy to understand her point of view and feelings in most situations she was in. This novel was truly heartfelt, and I even cried at several points. I recommend this book to fans of Sarah Dessen, because the stories are similar in many aspects. I look forward to more books from Siobhan Vivian, because this debut novel was amazing.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com

Ruby is on the verge of turning sixteen. Her friends have been planning her party for weeks. They all have gathered at her house for a pre-party. Her mom has made her favorite dinner - ziti. All is perfect, down to the vintage Polaroid camera her mother has given her. Then it turns horribly wrong. With the ring of the doorbell, her father, who has been gone for years, has come back into her life.

One night, when Ruby was ten, she sat and watched as her father walked back and forth loading up boxes and his suitcases into his blue truck. Then he just drove away. That was it. No contact, no reasons, nothing. After six years, Ruby has finally gotten on with her life, forgetting about her father (who she now simply calls Jim) and wondering why he left.

Ruby's friends all have different levels of advice. But when her best friend fails to hand over a letter that her father left for her the day after her birthday, she has more than her father to think about. She now wonders if she's ever really known her friends at all.

There are so many different levels of conflict in Ruby's life. At the age of sixteen, when girls should be celebrating the best time of their lives and the new independence that the age brings, Ruby feels like her world is falling apart. Not only does she not have a father in her life, she's not sure she can trust her friends anymore, and conversation with her mother is stilted at best. The only bright spot in her life is her possible boyfriend, Charlie. But Charlie may not be around for long either.

Ms. Vivian is a fresh new voice on the young adult book scene. The story is well-written and emotional. Ruby struggles with everyday issues that everyone can relate to. The story moves quickly to a satisfying conclusion for Ruby. A LITTLE FRIENDLY ADVICE is a story that everyone will enjoy and celebrate with Ruby as she comes into her own.

Reviewed by: Jaglvr

This is such a sweet, touching, and realistic book - I absolutely adored it. To me, this is perfect contemporary Young Adult.
The other reviews have already summarized the plot, so here's what I loved about it:
- the characters are so real. One of the is NOT likeable... which makes the book even more real.
- the main character and her best friend are superb characters. I also REALLY liked the mom; a lot of YA novels have very 'stock' parents but this one felt like a real person
- the character growth is superb
- the plot is believable, and captures so much of the teen years: the confusion, the awkwardness, the highs and lows
This probably sounds a bit vague so just take my word (and everyone' else's) and READ THIS!

The book was kind of slow moving, especially through the middle, as far as action, but I was never bored by the characters. They were well drawn and very relatable to high school friendships between girls. I also liked that the romantic interest was not an angsty, bad boy with issues, but a nice, cool boy who was unique and still interesting and likeable. This was my first book by the author but I'll be reading more books by Mrs. Vivian for sure. It was a very refreshing contemporary YA novel in a sea of YA novels with cliche love triangles and paranormal/supernatural creatures.

Ok, so I loved this book, A Little Friendly Advice by Siobhan Vivian. I decided to do it for a school project where we had to read 2 books from the same author. I had read Same Difference, another book (but not a sequel) from Siobhan Vivian, and so I decided to go out on a limb and try A little Friendly Advice. What I got was a witty, photographic and completely realistic account of a girl finding what it is to be self-independent, finding the truth, and the lies that people tell us because they don't want the truth to be told. Ruby, the main character, has always trusted her best friend, Beth, with everything, especially keeping Ruby together when her father left her and her mom. But suddenley Ruby realizes she can't trust Beth anymore, and must deal with her dad's visit on her own, and because of that she sees that she doesn't need to lean on Beth, but she can support herself emotionally. Even though it's about split parents, lies, friend problems, and a cute boy, all of which I haven't had yet (and with some, like the split parents, hope never have), I could instantly understand Ruby and her problems, and loved the story. If you need some light on your problems, read this. If you want to read a good book, read this. Just read it---it's a great book. instantly in love with it.

A Little Friendly Advice has its ups and downs, but overall was a bit of a disappointment. If I had read this book by Siobhan Vivian first, I probably would have had a better impression, but having read Same Difference and knowing she's capable of great things, this was a letdown. The writing was fantastic, she really does know how to bring the masterful language, but the plot was pretty pathetic, not gonna lie. The situations were realistic, the dialogue was realistic, but the combination of the different plots just doesn't work. A lot of the emotions seem natural, but some seem extremely blown out of proportion. I'm also aggravated that there was even the need for a cliche love interest, and I feel it would have been a great book without that element. Family and friend issues are more than enough to deal with, but having that supportive boyfriend there, that's going too far. There is some obnoxious symbolism here, but I'm really not sure if it was intentional or not. I think what bothered me most was that a lot of this book was ridiculously shallow. Ruby has so much going on in her life, and how does she fix it? By getting drunk at age 16, of course. I'm not saying that's not realistic, I just don't think it was the best decision creatively. It is one of those scenes where I cringed the whole way through, and particularly upon seeing her mother's reaction. Other than that, plenty of flat characters that I had trouble caring about, not enough detail about the interesting characters and too much on the boring ones. The relationships are, with minor exceptions, extremely empty. Empty flirting, empty friendships, unfortunately accurate, but still empty. I was, for the most part, glad with the ending, although again, the love interest is just irritating. The plot twist at the end redeemed the book for me greatly, but I still greatly preferred Same Difference to this.

Rating: 2.25/5

All Ruby plans on doing for her sixteenth birthday is indulge in ice cream cake, take pictures with her new vintage Polaroid camera, and hang out with her three good friends. There's Beth, who's been her loyal best friend for years, Maria who is full of advice on boys, and Katherine, who Ruby is not so sure about. Everything is going great until Ruby's father, who walked out on her and her mom six years ago, shows up with a cheap bouquet of carnations wanting to talk. Ruby doesn't know how to handle the situation and ends up running off to party with her friends. The next day thoughts of her father flood her brain and she starts wondering why he might of come. Over the next couple days Beth tries to lighten Ruby's mood hoping that Ruby won't start to slip like she did when her dad first left. Ruby seems to be okay, especially when she meets Charlie. Charlie is the first guy that's ever really been into her, but she's having some trust issues that relate back to her dad. When Ruby discovers that Beth has been keeping a secret from her she immediately starts to question the honesty of her friend. With Charlie's help Ruby discovers that it's okay to make decisions on her own and she doesn't always need her friends' say in the matter. Will Ruby make things work with Charlie? Will her friendship with Beth be in jeopardy?

I'm not really sure there are words to describe how utterly awesome and jaw dropping this book was. I had heard so many good things about it that I had really high expectations for it. It exceeded every one of these expectation with flying colors! The story was honest and raw and just plain refreshing. Ruby's character was awesome. I truly felt like I could connect with her and I could relate to what she was going through. I've never had a parent leave or anything, but I do understand all of her problems with her friends. When the book was over I was so sad, because I didn't want it to end, it was just that good. I also loved Ruby's fascination with photography. I love how she captured different aspects of her world through Polaroids. That one wacky characteristic got to me and really made me realize how much I love taking pictures and capturing my world in a certain moment. One last thing I really liked was the humor. While it wasn't always "ha ha" funny there was this feeling I got while reading it that made a smile spread across my whole face. All in all this book was unspeakably good and a phenomenal first novel by Siobhan Vivian. I highly recommend you go buy it because you will want to read it over and over again, I know I certainly will!!

Ruby's father left her and her mother years ago. Ruby has not seen him since. However, on Ruby's sixteenth birthday party, her father surprisingly shows up. Ruby wants nothing to do with him. Beth, Ruby's best friend, completely supports her decision. In fact, she encourages it. After Ruby's father left her, Beth helped Ruby heal, and she does not want Ruby to get hurt again. Ruby's other friends, Maria and Katherine also support her decision. Soon, however, Ruby learns that some of her friends are keeping things from her, and she becomes more confused than ever. Not too mention, she meets Charlie...

I absolutely loved this book. Vivian did an amazing job creating the characters. All of the characters are unique and more than likable. While I've never been in a situation like Ruby's, I was able to relate to her. I also liked how Vivian included little details that, overall, made each character seem more realistic and progressed the story. For example, Ruby liked taking polaroid pictures. While this can seem like a small insignificant detail, Vivian uses it to help introduce characters. One of my favorite things about A Little Friendly Advice is the relationship between the girls. They really aren't the typical group of best friends. For example, Ruby is definitely closer to Beth than the other two girls, and they keep secrets from each other. I really liked this aspect of the book because it made the book seem more realistic and helped develop the plot better.

After I read this book, Charlie became one of my top book crushes. He is just adorable. To give you a sample of his cuteness, when he first meets Ruby, he gives her a button that says, "Hello." You see, Charlie likes to make buttons. He also had a great Halloween costume, although I won't tell you what it was. ;) I also really liked the ending. The ending included an interesting surprise. It also showed that while people may have the best intentions, sometimes it's best not to do certain actions in an effort to protect others.