Hey guys! So I just finished the American Girl novel, "Lea Dives In" by Lisa Yee. This is the first book in Lea Clark's (GOTY 2017) book series. I have a few thoughts on it, so I will have a spoiler-free section and a spoiler section.
NON-SPOILER SECTION:
"Lea Dives in" by Lisa Yee is the first book about Lea Clark. Lea and her family are going on vacation to Brazil for two weeks to meet up with Lea's brother Zac. He is studying in Brazil for a year. I enjoyed this read, it was quick and only took me about 2-3 hours to finish. It's not my favorite book by AG (That was Rebecca Rubin's first novel!) but it was still fun to read. The writing style was just really easygoing and chill, but it did sometimes feel a little forced. I think I would rate this a 3/5 stars.
SPOILERS!!!
Quite a few things kind of irked me in this story. Let's start with Zac and Lea's relationship. They fought about really dumb things. And I also didn't understand why Lea got so mad about Zac calling her 'Cricket.' It was a fun little nickname, and I didn't think it was baby-ish. My older sister calls me 'munchkin' and 'monkey' all the time, and it doesn't really bother me.
One thing I did really enjoy was hearing about Ama, who was Lea's grandmother. She was just so wise and understanding. You can also see that Ama wasn't necessarily fearless, but she was very brave. She got nervous sometimes, which gave her another dimension. Her character was phenomenal.
My favorite scene was when Lea went snorkeling for the first time. I loved hearing about how she saw the coral, fish, and plants, and how she forgot about her fears when she snapped pictures.
On page 105, Lea mentions how Ama gave a baker in Paris, France a recipe of pie. (I think it was a pie, maybe a cake.) I know that they're a lot of bakers in Paris, but what if that was Grace Thomas's uncle? (Grace Thomas: GOTY 2015) Ooohhh... fanfiction idea. :)
There are a couple of things I want to remember from this book. I liked Ama's mantra: "Test yourself. You will never regret it." It's something I want to remind myself with, since sometimes I struggle to push myself.
I was confused about who Paloma was. I thought that Zac's fiance's name was Paulina, or Paula for short. (I saw the movie last year, before I read the book.) But Paula could also be short for Paloma. So I'm wondering if the two are just friends, or are going to get married, like in the movie.
"When you go somewhere, you don't just take- you leave something behind as well."
I want to remember that as well!
Okay, so now let's discuss the ending.
Most all loose ends were tied by the end, so I think it should have just ended there. I'm wondering what will happen in the next book, since in the movie, it started off with Lea telling the story about her dad falling off the cliff, like in this book. Does that mean that the story of Zac being missing happens in the next book? Then, what will happen when Lea and Zac go to the rainforest?
The end with the sea goddess was kind of unnecessary to me. Lea giving the compass away didn't really add anything to the story. I thought that Lea should have bought a bracelet for the goddess and for herself. That way they would've been "bonded" together.
UN-SPOILERS! :)
Anyways, those were my thoughts on this book. Make sure to comment your opinions, so we can continue the discussion! I know this is late, considering that is is now 2017... but I hope you enjoyed nonetheless! I will be reading the other AG books, and reviewing them on Mondays! I'll get back to you on the next book, "Lea Leads The Way."
NON-SPOILER SECTION:
"Lea Dives in" by Lisa Yee is the first book about Lea Clark. Lea and her family are going on vacation to Brazil for two weeks to meet up with Lea's brother Zac. He is studying in Brazil for a year. I enjoyed this read, it was quick and only took me about 2-3 hours to finish. It's not my favorite book by AG (That was Rebecca Rubin's first novel!) but it was still fun to read. The writing style was just really easygoing and chill, but it did sometimes feel a little forced. I think I would rate this a 3/5 stars.
SPOILERS!!!
Quite a few things kind of irked me in this story. Let's start with Zac and Lea's relationship. They fought about really dumb things. And I also didn't understand why Lea got so mad about Zac calling her 'Cricket.' It was a fun little nickname, and I didn't think it was baby-ish. My older sister calls me 'munchkin' and 'monkey' all the time, and it doesn't really bother me.
One thing I did really enjoy was hearing about Ama, who was Lea's grandmother. She was just so wise and understanding. You can also see that Ama wasn't necessarily fearless, but she was very brave. She got nervous sometimes, which gave her another dimension. Her character was phenomenal.
My favorite scene was when Lea went snorkeling for the first time. I loved hearing about how she saw the coral, fish, and plants, and how she forgot about her fears when she snapped pictures.
On page 105, Lea mentions how Ama gave a baker in Paris, France a recipe of pie. (I think it was a pie, maybe a cake.) I know that they're a lot of bakers in Paris, but what if that was Grace Thomas's uncle? (Grace Thomas: GOTY 2015) Ooohhh... fanfiction idea. :)
There are a couple of things I want to remember from this book. I liked Ama's mantra: "Test yourself. You will never regret it." It's something I want to remind myself with, since sometimes I struggle to push myself.
I was confused about who Paloma was. I thought that Zac's fiance's name was Paulina, or Paula for short. (I saw the movie last year, before I read the book.) But Paula could also be short for Paloma. So I'm wondering if the two are just friends, or are going to get married, like in the movie.
"When you go somewhere, you don't just take- you leave something behind as well."
I want to remember that as well!
Okay, so now let's discuss the ending.
Most all loose ends were tied by the end, so I think it should have just ended there. I'm wondering what will happen in the next book, since in the movie, it started off with Lea telling the story about her dad falling off the cliff, like in this book. Does that mean that the story of Zac being missing happens in the next book? Then, what will happen when Lea and Zac go to the rainforest?
The end with the sea goddess was kind of unnecessary to me. Lea giving the compass away didn't really add anything to the story. I thought that Lea should have bought a bracelet for the goddess and for herself. That way they would've been "bonded" together.
UN-SPOILERS! :)
Anyways, those were my thoughts on this book. Make sure to comment your opinions, so we can continue the discussion! I know this is late, considering that is is now 2017... but I hope you enjoyed nonetheless! I will be reading the other AG books, and reviewing them on Mondays! I'll get back to you on the next book, "Lea Leads The Way."
Bye!
~BellaAnnRenaexxx
Comments
Post a Comment