Customer Reviews

Viola in Reel Life

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Viola in Reel Life is the first book I've read by Adriana Trigiani, and it definitely won't be my last. Her witty writing had me laughing all the way through Viola's story, and I loved every minute of it.

Viola's adjustment to life in South Bend, Indiana fascinated me, and I was eager for her to fit in right from chapter one. The way she adapts and gives her new school a try really made me think about how I live my own life, and how new experiences can be good -- daunting, but worthwhile in the end. Suzanne, Marisol and Romy, the roommates she meets at The Prefect Academy For Girls, are exactly the type of friends I would have wanted in ninth grade. They're supportive, individual and, most importantly, unwaveringly loyal to each other. They bring Viola out of her snarky shell, and help her in her quest to become a successful filmmaker.

The boys in this book are both sweet and infuriating. Andrew, Viola's BFF from back home in Brooklyn, is brought to us through the use of IM messages, which manage to get his personality across surprisingly well. I hope he has a part in the rest of the series, as I really want to know what's going on in his head. First boyfriend Jared is one of those boys that seems great on the outside, but underneath, he's not all he's cracked up to be. I thought Viola's relationship was very realistic, and representative of a lot of first outings into the world of romance.

Trigiani has completely hooked me with this book, Viola's endearing Brooklyn background, and her ninth grade stint in Indiana. I heard that the next three books will all be from a different character's point of view, and I can't wait to find out what happens to this captivating group of girls, as they continue to experience new things and shape each other's lives.

Viola doesn't want to go to boarding school, but somehow she ends up at an all-girl school in South Bend, Indiana. Her boarding school is far away from her home in Brooklyn, New York. There is no way that she is going to survive a whole year here. She is going to miss her best friend Andrew and Caitlin. She now has to replace it with her three new roommates, who actually like it. Most of the time, Viola is hidden behind her video camera, but what happens when she puts her camera down and starts living her life.
This is the first book that I have read of Adriana Trigiani, but it won't be my last. Her writing was witty and amazing. I was laughing for most of the book. I was really glad that Viola adjusted to boarding school. Suzanne, Marisol and Romy were amazing roommates. They reminded me a lot of friends that I had as a freshmen. Trigiani was able to bring Andrew's personality and Jared was also interesting. I am definitely going to have to read her other books soon. It was a great coming of age novel and I really enjoyed it. I recommend checking it out.

Viola Chesterton is from Brooklyn and her parents are documentary filmmakers. When Viola's parents accept an assignment in Afghanistan, Viola is sent to Prefect Academy, a boarding school in South Bend, Indiana, for a year. Viola cries as they leave and is miserable at first. She feels abandoned and lonely, and she misses her best friend back in Brooklyn.

With the help of her roommates, her grandmother, and her film making abilities, Viola not only survives her first year but gains new confidence and learns a lot about herself along the way. Viola says:

"Marisol just says that word sister lightly, like right off the top of her head without thinking. But all my life, I have wished for a sister. I had hoped my parents would have a baby when I was small, and then when I got to be twelve I wanted them to go to China and adopt. But Mom would always smile and say, "We have our hands full with you." And maybe she was right. But what Mom never told me is that along the way, you find sisters, and they find you. Girls are very cool that way."

Viola in Reel Life is Adriana Trigiani's first YA novel and I absolutely loved it! This isn't edgy YA, but rather a sweet story about growing up and gaining confidence. Viola is a great character because she's not perfect, but she tries to learn from her mistakes. I got teary-eyed in a few places as Viola grew stronger, gained some confidence and came to value her friends and family. I've read that this might become a series and I really hope so!

When I was in high school and unhappy with my life as most teenagers are a time or two...I would beg my parents to send me away to boarding school or for the chance to be a foreign exchange student. Well, that never happened and if it did I certainly wouldn't have dreamt about a boarding school in Indiana (I always thought of Switzerland or something!)

Alas, this is where we find Viola... in Indiana at the Prefect Academy for Young Women. An especially hard transition, especially when your home is Brooklyn, New York!

Viola is definitely suffering from culture shock ...goodbye bustling metropolis...hello endless fields of corn! When she gets to school and decides to film the building and grounds, she later discovers a mysterious image of a ghostly lady in red in her footage. This isn't something she's really anxious to disclose to anyone...especially her new roommates who might think shes a little crazy.

At first Viola is resistant to bonding with her roommates, in fact she is dead set on getting a single room when one comes available. She just wants to do her time and then get back to Brooklyn and her best friends Andrew (so what if he's a guy, he still her BFFAA) and Caitlin.

I really enjoyed this book and I especially enjoyed how the main focus of the book was about Viola and how she deals with new friends, being away from home and focusing on what she loves to do best...filming with her camera. Don't get me wrong, I love the romance as much as the next gal (and we find that here in this story too) but its nice to have it be a side story with the main focus being on a strong female lead and the relationships she builds on her new journey.

Wonderful writing and a little bit of something for everyone, friendship, romance and even a little mystery! Appropriate for middle school and up.

I gave viola 3 stars because the authors style of writing was great---she described beautifully, developed the characters well, and had witty lines---but the plot didn't do it for me.

Viola is a typical New Yorker who moves to boarding school in indiana. For a New Yorker staying on the countryside, AND with new people when shes been an only child her whole life---she adjusted pretty quickly. Too quickly in my opinion.

Then, her and her roomates are all buddy-buddy and don't ever fight. I understand that they have a good relationship and all, but wouldn't you have at least one argument (whether it was about boys, clothes, or making a mess of their room) during a years stay at Prefect Academy?

Also, the plot was interesting in the beginning, but i struggled to finish it. It lacked a real conflict---the movie competiton was the biggest one.

Finally, the ending was too perfect. Viola remained friends with her roomates the whole time (she didn't have any others which was weird), and got over her boyfriend quickly and there you go- the happiest ending.

If you are looking for a quick easy read then this book is for you.

To be honest, Viola in Reel Life is not my typical sort of book. On a friend's recommendation, I thought I would branch out a little because isn't the best sort of reading done outside our comfort zone's? Well, I tried. Viola is a perfectly nice book, with an ordinary story true to life and all that. I just like a little more surrealism and fantasy in my books, so it didn't do much for me.

I felt like a had a connection with Viola before I even started reading the book. I am from Indiana, so I now how being dumped in Indiana feels. I'm more like trapped here, but that's a different story. Just kidding! I love Indiana (Go Who's Ears!). The fact that this book was set in Indiana made it attractive to me in the first place. Books set in this state are few and far between let me tell you. Viola also gets corralled into attending a boarding school. Freshman year, I started to attend a private school that I was less than happy about going to, but my parents 'strongly encouraged it.' So I could definately understand where Viola was coming from when she was distant from her new room mates. It took me a while to make new friends at my school, just because I was so persistent on not liking them. But I feel like the author missed one crucial aspect of a prestigious girl's school: the uniforms! I would have like to see her write some little funny things about them. We complain about them enough at my school to fill a whole novel.

Throughout the story, Viola sees a reappearing image of a young woman dressed in clothes from the 1930's (about that time, I don't remember exactly). She believes this is a ghost but isn't quite sure and gets opinions on the subject from some of her friends. The ghost story integrated throughtout the plot blindsided me. I did not see a ghost being any part of this story, and even when she first showed up I thought she was just going to be some minor backstory. It wasn't anywhere on the back of the book, and the back of the book never lies! I think it was a nice element to add. It might sound strange to put in a book about a girl growing up, but it didn't take away from the book at all. It was really more about how she acted once she learned about this ghost woman, than about her interacting with her.

Little inconsistencies in Viola bothered the perfectionist inside me. Like in the beginning of the story when Viola is reading MacBeth in English class, they have to write a paper on the belief in ghosts or something like that. A friend asks Viola if she believes in ghost, and she says yes. But then towards the end, she says that she is too practical to believe in ghosts, even though her and her friend have been worried about whether this woman Viola is seeing is real or not. Not that big of a deal, but it concerns Viola's belief in a major part of the plot. And Viola muses about how she wishes her skin was like he mother's, who spends all the time on her skins and not her hair, then her Grand visits and Viola remembers that her mother never spends time on her skin (?). The conversations were unrealistic as well. Nobody talked like they would in real life. The teenage girls Viola roomed with, and Viola herself, were way too candid when they talked. NO teenage girl is that honest, especially with someone she just met who is acting like a witch to her. I could see maybe one character being this (maybe Marisol), acting as the center of truth to bring the other girls out of their cattiness, but all of them honestly opening up is not believable.

Viola in Reel Life was a sweet, relaxing, feel better about life sort of story. I did enjoy it just because the writing and characters were well written. However, the plot was too drab for me; I need a little more action in my real life stories. Although they wouldn't be very real anymore, would they?

I am a big fan of Adriana Trigiani and have read all her books for adults. "Very Valentine" is actually one of my very favorite books of all time. When I found out she was writing a book for young adults, I immediately knew I was going to read it. I have a 15-year-old daughter who is a freshman in high school so I also wanted to read it since I thought it might appeal to her.

My take on this novel is that it is a refreshing change from what is predominately out there for this target audience. Most of the books that seem to be geared toward the tweens and teens are along the lines of "Gossip Girl" or other books that focus on bad behavior and obsessions with boys. In this YA novel, the primary character is sent from Brooklyn, New York to South Bend, Indiana for a year of boarding school. The story primarily focuses around how she adapts to an environment where she doesn't want to be and grows and matures along the way. Healthy friendships with her roommates are featured and two boys are major characters, but the relationships are age appropriate and there are lessons to be learned.

While this book doesn't have the same level of wittiness as her adult novels, there is humor and the book is enjoyable to read for all ages. A wonderful addition to the genre and one I would be more than happy to recommend to others (again, leaving out the bad role models and terrible behavior found in many other YA novels).

As readers of my Adriana Trigiani reviews [...], I'm a big fan of her work. But given that I'm quickly departing the ranks of the thirtysomethings in favor of life as a fortysomething, I was a little nervous about how best to approach her latest book, VIOLA IN REEL LIFE. Unlike her previous efforts, Trigiani has written this novel for a young adult audience. And it's been (ahem) a while since I've been in that age bracket.

VIOLA IN REEL LIFE tells the story of 14-year-old Viola Chesterton, a talented and warmhearted Brooklyn girl who loves nothing more than to look at life through the viewfinder of her video camera. An aspiring filmmaker, she is less than thrilled when her parents, who are documentary filmmakers, deposit her in an Indiana boarding school while they head off to film in Afghanistan. A New Yorker through and through, she's convinced she'll die without the charms of Greenwich Village, Chinese food and her BFF Andrew. However, landing in South Bend may not be the end of the world after all. She learns that her three new roommates have quite a bit to offer in terms of friendship, and she finds that her skills as a filmmaker have an opportunity to shine in an upcoming film contest. She even meets a boy....

As with Trigiani's other novels, the strength of VIOLA IN REEL LIFE lies with its characters. Viola is fun and smart, and not afraid to take some chances in life. Trigiani's ear for teen dialogue seems pretty on the mark as well --- with the exception that Viola is a lot more comfortable with a first date/first kiss situation than I ever was at that age!

The pacing may seem slow to fans wrapped up in the Twilight craze, but this in part could be due to the fact that VIOLA IN REEL LIFE is the first book in a planned series. If so, that explains a lot about where the novel does --- and doesn't --- go. While Viola is well-defined and likable, her roommates are cast in supporting roles that beg to be fleshed out, leading one to wonder whether future installments will more closely explore their lives or events from their points of view. Also craving some attention are Viola's friends back home, Andrew and Caitlin, who the reader only gets to know, at this point, via IM and text messages.

Charming and wittily engaging, VIOLA IN REEL LIFE is sure to be a hit with Trigiani fans of every age. Her light touch with her characters makes readers root for their success, and Viola is no different. Trigiani also is excellent at creating a sense of place, and while Indiana may not be New York, she does a nice job of allowing the area's beauty to develop through Viola's eyes. The supporting characters, while a bit uneven, help create and sustain the warm atmosphere for which her novels are known. Readers of Trigiani's work will not be disappointed, and I have no doubt that she'll pick up more than a few fans in the younger age bracket as well.

--- Reviewed by Lourdes Orive

I enjoyed reading this book. It was fun to read about what boarding school life would be like for a normal kid, not just a rich one. I liked all of the roommates--when I first started the book, I expected them to not get along and to dislike the roommates. But the author took a different route and made all of the girls nice and get along. I also liked the whole film aspect of the story. I thought the short film Viola makes at the end was a great idea. The only thing I didn't like was sometimes Viola seemed a little immature. I know that she was only fourteen years old, but some of the things she thought and said just seemed a little young for her age. Overall, this was a fun, young adult read!

Teens back in school have their "required reading" ahead of them but in a spare moment
or two taking a break with VIOLA IN REEL LIFE might be an enjoyable diversion. Young readers could relax with this novel and might feel a connection with the protagonist and her transition. It
might be encouragement for others in similar situations. Ms. Trigiani's story is thought provoking
and useful but perhaps most of all it's entertaining. Let's not forget the laughs generated throughout that are so necessary in today's REAL LIFE!