Friday, May 12, 2017

Seeking Mansfield By: Kate Watson- Release date May 16th!

I recently discovered an amazing site that lets you read and review books for free. If you've ever wanted to be an editor, but for some reason haven't quite ended up in the right job, then Netgalley is a good way to test the waters (so to speak). I've been on Netgalley for years and have been pretty perturbed with not getting any positive responses until recently. If you're interested in more of how to get more out of Netgalley, then I have a whole separate post dedicated to how to start seeking some positive responses. 

I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchanged for an honest review. This however, did not effect my opinions. Every opinion below is my own.

Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way...

Seeking Mansfield is a cutesy contemporary about a girl (Finley, or Fin for short) who has lost a lot of things in life and slightly lives the life of a modern day Cinderella. She currently lives with her dad's best friend and his family including his (cute) son, and evil daughter. And the one thing she really wants out of life is to go to the ball prestigious theater academy, and be an assistant director. But, her calm and calculated life change for the better and worse, when two teen actors move across the street from her. 

But, the romance...

You have Harlan, a HOT actor

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And Oliver, the boy she's known all her life. 

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I really loved how Ms. Watson showed the differences between two kinds of love. How one can be controlling, and one can just lend a helping hand. But she also didn't make Finley feel sorry for her sometimes steamy romance. Just confused. Which is understandable. 

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One thing I really loved about Seeking Mansfield is that it was more than just a typical teen romance novel. It was a book full of lessons that young adult readers can learn from and grow from. Everyone can relate to Fin in some way shape or form. Everyone has lost something, or has felt inadequate, or nervous about stepping outside of your comfort zone. And that's what makes this book so real. The author mentions several times how the main character needs to stand up for herself, but also makes it obvious that it's okay to have help from those who love you. 

"It's okay to let someone else do the fighting for you sometimes." 

Another theme that is incorporated very well, is how people are not always black and white, or good or bad. Sometimes people are a little of both, and it's important to remember that. 

One thing that kind of irked me the wrong way, was the way the other characters treated Juliette, Oliver's sister. Juliette is mentioned several times as an uncaring teenager, who's only concern is the way she looks to other people. She and other characters even mention how she's only using her boyfriend since he may become a pro baseball player. But, in the end she is also mentioned as being too smart for her own good. And I really think this book would benefit greatly from a sequel, not just for her benefit, but to see the growth of other characters as well. 

I would highly recommend this to any fans of Anna and The French Kiss or Love and Gelato as these two could be cousins of Seeking Mansfield .

Plot: 5/5
Character Development: 4/5
Character Diversity 2.5/5 
Cutesy Feels: 5/5 
Possibility of ending book slump: 4/5 
The Feels: 4/5

Follow me on Goodreads for more reviews! 
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/16210289-heather

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