So the past six months or so, now that I’ve reached my one year mark, and have surpassed 2000 followers, I’ve been working on trying to get more ARCs of books coming out. I review books so often that I feel like I need to get my hands on these! So far, I’ve been hooked up with some awesome people and I’ve managed to get my hands on some, and its been awesome.
Recently, Meg Cabot had a contest on her Facebook page. If you took a picture of yourself with a copy of her book, Awaken, which was released back in July, she’d pick a random winner for an advanced copy of her 5th Heather Wells book, which is due out at the end of September. I did it, completely forgot about it and was absolutely ecstatic when I was informed I won.
She even signed it, and penned a note to me :) She is one of my absolute favorite authors and she remains one of my top inspirations as a writer of young adult contemporary novels.
I just got it last week, and sped through it. Now I am absolutely stoked to bring you this review of the novel.
I will warn you now, and most likely later, that while this review does NOT contain spoilers for THIS particular novel, it will contain spoilers for the previous four. If you had not had a chance to read this series, I suggest you do so and then get back to this review! :)
The Bride Wore Size 12 by Meg Cabot
GoodReads / Amazon / Barnes and Noble
This title will be released on September 24th, 2013
Genre:
contemporary, romance, mystery
Part of a Series?
The 5th novel of the Heather Wells series.
This review will NOT contain spoilers for this particular book but it will contain spoilers for the first four.
You May Like if You Liked:
The Boy series by Meg Cabot, books by Diana Kauffman
Plot Summary:
We’ve finally made it. Heather Wells is finally going to be marrying the love of her life, Cooper Cartwright, and they’re ready to plan the wedding and get married and start their lives together. Of course, in Heather’s world, that cannot happen easily. Its the week before school is schedule to start at New York University where Heather works as an assistant resident hall director of Fischer Hall, and she’s dealing with the normal problems. She has to keep the RAs in line, keep her boss Lisa safe (and possibly tell her she’s pregnant?), and handle the ridiculous amount of students who want to move into the hall now that a prince lives in the building. The last thing she needs is a dead RA, but she gets it anyway.
The police rule out her death as an accident, that she died of asthma but after Lisa and Heather figure out that the RAs lied about seeing the dead RA the night before she died, Heather isn’t so sure anymore. And of course because she’s Heather Wells, she soon gets involved in an investigation to find out who killed the student, all while trying to plan her nuptials. And then guess what? Her mom, yes the one that ran away with her manager and all her money from her pop singing days, is back.
The Bad:
Okay, without doing any spoilers (spoiler free reviews here everyone!), I thought that the killer’s motives were…weird. It was really what I expected and I kind of had a raised eyebrow at his/her motives. I didn’t think it was as strong as the motives we’ve seen from the killers in the previous novels. It seemed a little weak. It didn’t really detract from the story at all but it did make me pause for a moment, like, hmm, that’s weird.
The Good:
I LOVE Heather Wells. I seriously think she’s one of my favorite characters ever. She’s a unique character, you know? She was a former pop star, queen of the shopping mall circuit before her mom ran off with her manager and money and she gained a few pounds and was dumped by her boy band boyfriend, Jordan Cartwright, and is now working as an assistant residence hall director. Its so fantastic outlandish and amazing. But its more than that. I adore Heather because she’s a real woman. She’s beautiful and obviously Cooper thinks so, but she isn’t abnormally gorgeous and all that. Characters like that really start to piss me off. Heather is so REAL. She’s a size 12, and she enjoys her food and she sometimes wishes she was smaller but she likes food and she becomes more and more comfortable with who she is. She’s an amazing character in my opinion. As a girl who is average size (size 12!), its great to see a character that isn’t a size 4 or 6, or god, a size 2. Its great to have a heroine that is someone you really can actually relate to in looks for once.
I also just love the humor of Meg Cabot. Her books make me laugh like no one else’s books have ever made me do. I love that her books follow the humor of a normal person, that her books show the general train of thoughts of a normal person. I love that she’s thinking of clues and what could have happened to Jasmine (the dead RA), but then she’s like, mmm, lunch, or hey, I have to try my wedding dress on. I LOVE the realism and seriously, I can’t say enough of the humor that is in her books. If I’m looking for a quick, addicting and fun read, I always turn to Meg Cabot and that is why she is one of my absolute favorite authors of all time.
I also love the seriousness (okay, besides the murder) she brought in with Heather and her relationship with her mother. Her mother hurt her in so many ways and it would be difficult for the two of them to reconcile and I think that Meg Cabot really brings a lot to this part of the novel. I don’t want to ruin it for you, especially since this is an advanced copy but I was really impressed with this particular part of the novel. It shows that kind of tense mother-daughter dynamic that can exist sometimes and I think she pulled it together very nicely.
I did love the story as well, I loved that even after four books, Meg still is able to make a murder happen in the same dorm as the previous four books and make it unique and surprising and addicting enough to keep turning the pages until the very very end. I zipped through this book so incredibly fast and was VERY satisfied at the end. I have never been much of a mystery reader; they’re always so over the top and ridiculously dramatic and sometimes I can’t keep up because of the way the main characters talk. Its not like that with Heather Wells. She creates a fun, fast paced, addicting mystery where you are wondering whodunnit and you’re trying to gather all the clues but you’re so busy laughing that you can’t even keep track of them, and then wham! Showdown and you’re in shock at who actually did it. That’s the brilliance of Meg Cabot.
I don’t want to say much more than that because it is a new release that won’t be released until late September and I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. What I can say is this: you won’t be disappointed with this novel. I have NEVER been disappointed by a Meg Cabot novel. She is able to take all the things we love about a mystery novel-the suspense, the buildup, the wondering-and packs it into a lighthearted and fun story. Her characters are all unique but real and relatable and she creates one of the most genuine and lovable main characters that I’ve ever read. Heather Wells will have most woman cheering, and I hope to see more of her in the future.
Rating:
4 out of 5 Stars
Recommended or Not?
Definitely. If you have read all the previous novels, this is a must read to finish off the series (or at least I think so. Are there more novels planned?). If you haven’t read any Heather Wells novels, I definitely recommend you do so. You will not be disappointed and you will bust your way through them.
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I hope you all enjoyed this review of The Bride Wore Size 12, and will be picking this book up when it releases in September!
Don’t forget to check out previous Book of the Week reviews here.
Happy Reading!
