Title: Going VintageAuthor: Lindsey Leavitt
Publish Date: March 26, 2013 (Bloomsbury)
Rating: Lunch Break Read
Format: Digital galley provided by publisher via NetGalley
Summary: When Mallory discovers that her boyfriend, Jeremy, is cheating on her with an online girlfriend, she swears off modern technology. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in 1962, Mallory decides to "go vintage" and return to a simpler time, when boys couldn't cheat on you online. She sets out to complete The List: run for pep club secretary, host a dinner party, sew a homecoming dress, find a steady, do something dangerous. But the list is trickier than it looks. And obviously finding a steady is out . . . no matter how good Oliver (Jeremy's cousin) smells. But with the help of her sister, she'll get it done. Somehow. Leavitt perfectly pairs heartfelt family moments, laugh-out-loud humor, and a little bit of romance in this delightful contemporary novel.I cannot even tell you how long I have been waiting for Going Vintage. Since last summer, at least, because I did a Waiting on Wednesday featuring it last August. I just loved the whole idea. I adore vintage and antique things. I have thought about taking technology hiatuses before. Throw in the most adorable cover ever, an interesting event catalyst, and a love interest who happens to be the ex's cousin? Yeah, I'm so there.
Going Vintage wound up being worth the wait! Mallory's inner monologue was freaking hilarious! She was so straightforward and refreshing, and I really enjoyed being inside her head. Even though she was far from perfect, Mallory always had good intentions. I also loved her relationship with her little sister, Ginnie. Ginnie was fantastic. She was a total crazy health nut super awesome soccer player - and therefore basically everything I'm not - but I really liked her. The scenes between her and Mallory were some of the best in the book.
And then there was Oliver. I've never seen a YA boy like him. It's actually really difficult to describe him, but he was incredibly endearing, funny, and different. And, to pull a quote from the book, he was "a pen-and-paper lister, a beautiful and dying breed." Which always amounts to extra brownie points in my book.
Really, my only problem with this book was that there was a lot going on, and it wound up feeling kind of disjointed and chaotic at times. There were basically three big storylines, but the focus dedicated to each was inconsistent. I would have liked a lot more with Oliver, a little more with her grandmother, and less with her parents. Or perhaps for them to just be dealt with a little differently. I had issues with her parents, but I liked the element of realism it added, because obviously not all families are perfect.
Overall, I was a fan of Going Vintage. It was one of the most interesting premises in a YA contemporary I've seen in a while. Since Mallory was already a vintage clothing junkie with dad who dealt with antiques, it went really well with her character, too. Going Vintage was a cute, original read that would be a good addition to anyone's spring reading list. Also, I just discovered there's a whole Tumblr inspired by this book, so go check it out!
...I’m with Jeremy. I love writing that. It says that I’m his and he’s mine, and between the lines there is belonging something I didn’t feel at Orange Park High School until we started dating.
Lists add a number to randomness, give ideas the illusion of order.
You can’t trust a guy showing off more cleavage than you.
I don’t know. I don’t know what he’s thinking. I don’t want to know the answer unless I know the answer is what I want it to be, and I don’t know what I want him to want.
*All quotes from ARC or galley, so final copy may be slightly different.
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