Book Review: The Sharp Time by Mary O'Connell

Title: The Sharp Time
Series/Sequel? No
Author: Mary O'Connell
Genre(s): hard topics, realistic fiction
Age Level: YA
Page Count: 228
Perspective: First-person Female
Summary from Goodreads: Sandinista Jones is a high school senior with a punk rock name and a broken heart. The death of her single mother has left Sandinista alone in the world, subject to the random vulnerability of everyday life. When the school system lets her down, her grief and instability intensify, and she ponders a violent act of revenge.

Still, in the midst of her crisis, she gets a job at The Pale Circus, a funky vintage clothing shop, and finds friendship and camaraderie with her coworker, a boy struggling with his own secrets.

Even as Sandinista sees the failures of those with power and authority, she's offered the chance to survive through the redemptive power of friendship. Now she must choose between faith and forgiveness or violence and vengeance.
Review: I finished. Oh, thank God I'm finished.

This book took forever to read. It's short enough that I would normally have finished it in a few hours, but it took me a week to finish instead.

And the thing is, I'm not sure why. It wasn't an awful book. It just... wasn't very interesting. The characters were all very well developed, and I enjoyed reading about each of them. Sandinista was defiant, unique and spunky, and I liked her as a character. But the plot was greatly lacking. I felt like there wasn't anything going on in the book. Sandinista was caught up on the same thing throughout the entire book, and it got annoying. So, don't waste your time on this book. Find a better realistic fiction novel - cause there are better out there!

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