With a more than useless mother and raised in part by tough-as-nails Willie, the brothel madam, and her best friend Patrick's dad, owner of the bookstore where she lives and works, Josie is ready to experience life in the real world, not just between the pages of her beloved books. Willie offers to pay for Josie to go to a local college, but that's not enough for Josie - she wants to be more. More than a girl from the Quarter who cleans Willie's girls' rooms in the early morning and works as a bookstore clerk during the day.
When Josie and Patrick have a chance run-in with wealthy architect and Vanderbilt alumni Forest Hearne from Memphis, who stops in the bookstore to buy a book of poetry for his wife, she has no idea that her fascination with him (and his college education) will become anything more than her usual imagining that such an educated, cultured man might possibly be her father. When Forest Hearne turns up dead on New Year's Eve in a Quarter club, his wallet and expensive watch missing, the police call it a heart attack, but Josie knows better. Especially when she finds Mr. Hearne's watch in a sock beneath her mother's bed in her room at Willie's.
Josie knows her mother is mixed up in something bad. Willie does everything she can to make sure Josie is safe, and kept away from her mother and her bad news, no good man Cincinnati, but even Willie can't protect Josie all the time. All Josie wants is to keep clean and clear of the dark, seedy underworld her mother is playing with - because if she doesn't, she knows she'll never get out of New Orleans. Even if it means leaving Patrick and his dad behind, and quiet, good looking motorcycle bad boy Jesse Thierry. Who doesn't say much, but always has a nod and a Hey for Josie.
This book was, quite simply, amazing. Josie is fierce, funny, fiery, street smart and book smart, and totally the kind of friend I want in my corner. I love that she has the strength to go for what she wants, even when all the odds are against her, and I love that she's the kind of girl who isn't afraid to fight for the people she loves. And Josie isn't the only great one in this book - all the characters will find a way into your heart. Tough, savvy Willie who loves Josie like a daughter; sweet Cokie, Willie's driver and the closest thing to a father Josie has; fun-loving Charlotte, who befriends Josie and cares only about her friend, not where she comes from; bookish, anguished Patrick; and swoony James Dean-esque Jesse Thierry and his motorcycle. After the bittersweet beauty of her first novel, Between Shades of Gray, and now this tale of a girl who wants to own her future, I can't wait to see what author Ruta Sepetys writes next!
Megan
(who just finished Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, and oh oh oh, I just want to wrap that book, and Ari, up in a big hug!)
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