The Book Barbies: |Review| Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe by Shelley Coriell

Title: Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe
Author: Shelley Coriell
Expected publication: May 1st 2012 by Amulet Books
Genre: YA realistic contemporary, humor, romance
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

Goodreads summary:

Big-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school’s struggling radio station, where the other students don’t find her too queenly. Ostracized by her former BFs and struggling with her beloved Grams’s mental deterioration, lonely Chloe ends up hosting a call-in show that gets the station much-needed publicity and, in the end, trouble. She also befriends radio techie and loner Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe faces her loneliness and helps others find the fun and joy in everyday life. Readers will fall in love with Chloe as she falls in love with the radio station and the misfits who call it home.

Racquel's thoughts:
Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe was not what I expected and that's a good thing! Going into the book, I thought it's going to be a cute, fun one sitting read and while yes it was fun, cute and I finished it a few hours, Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe still managed to weave serious issues into it's plot while still remaining to be a light read, A perfect balance between fun and meaningful!

Chloe has lost her best friends, her five brothers are away at college, her parents are busy surgeons and her Grandma's disease is becoming a serious problem and Chloe's junior project, a very important assignment that will determine her college acceptance has changed. But when Chloe is forced to join the radio station team at her high school she slowly regains her liveliness despite her being against being part of the radio station from the beginning.

From the first paragraph (if you didn't believe the summary) Chloe tells us she loves being a burrito or in other words, the center of attention.

I loved being a burrito. Not the actual costume, a stinky ankle-length tube of compressed foam with scratchy shoulder straps. No I loved the physical act of being a burrito- more precisely, of getting people to notice me- and I was good at it.

Bam, first paragraph of the book and I knew it was a winner! We all read the story of the shy girl, the bullied girl, the underrated girl, the innocent girl, the shy girl, the underrated girl, the quiet girl and yeah I'm just repeating myself now. There is nothing wrong with reading those stories but it gets... boring. However, Chloe was a breath of much needed fresh air. She loved wearing vintage shoes, she was fun and outspoken and made sure her purpose in life is to make people laugh. Definitely NOT your typical YA main character and I can kiss Shelley Coriell a million times because she broke through the usual trend.

Chloe liked being the center of attention but she also had a big heart with the best of intentions always in mind even if sometimes her actions say otherwise. But guess what? She's a teen girl! She's not perfect nor is anybody. Shelley Coriell portrays this quirky, funny girl in such a realistic teen way, I swear to you this Chloe character is real somewhere out there. I actually see a lot of her in some people I know and I just loved that so, so much. Some reviews I have seen say that sometimes Chloe's annoying but that's all the better! Have we ever met a person in our life who didn't once get on our nerve? Mom, dad, sister, brother, husband, wife, friend, teacher or boss! Chloe is now one of my new favorite characters thanks to her being comfortable in her own skin, extremely, extremely realistic, super well developed, different than your average cliches, and all around fun, nice girl.

I hope I have convinced you that I adore Chloe and you should too but besides that, the book was also filled with an interesting plot and a cast of enjoyable characters like Chloe's bosses and Chloe's grandma who is her closet friend and the rock in her life and an absolute hilarious, amazing 82 year old lady! Also the radio station group was a fun one, especially dragon Clementine. I cannot tell you how many times I laughed during her's and Chloe's banter.

Also, Duncan, the radio station technician, was an absolute treat to the book! He had home problems which broke my heart but seeing him with Chloe and how they both helped each other through their tough time was really heartwarming and sweet. Their relationship wasn't just built on attraction, but friendship and the tough times that they got through together and I completely loved that.

Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe wasn't just a fun book, it also presented serious issues like drug abusive, home and parent neglection, mental illness and loneliness but Shelley Coriell managed to still make the book an enjoyable and often funny read. I think she presented her characters very realistically which is something I don't say often when it comes to YA books and the romance was definitely sweet and swoony. I would recommend Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe a million times!

Rating: 5 hearts~ absolutely adored everything about it!