Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn

Gingerbread begins when Cyd Charisse moves home to San Francisco after getting kicked out of her fancy New England boarding school. Life in "The City" proves to be difficult when her mom and step-dad sentence her to Alcatraz (also known as her bedroom) and keep her from seeing her surfer boyfriend Shrimp. (Yes. His name really is Shrimp.) Cyd Charisse is eventually shipped off to New York City to spend some time with her real dad, Frank. In NYC Cyd meets her half-siblings Danny and lisBETH for the first time, and begins her journey to self-discovery.



I feel like I need to start off by saying that I DO like Rachel Cohn. I love love loved Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. I loved the characters, I loved the story, and I loved the voice Cohn created for Norah. I was so excited to start Gingerbread, but unfortunately it just did not hold up for me. I didn't care for Cyd Charisse's character at all. I thought she was a whiney, spoiled brat, and although I enjoyed parts of the story, I couldn't get past Cyd's annoying-ness. I had a hard time relating to her which I think is key to really getting hooked on a book. I also found it hard to believe that being sent to NYC was supposed to be a form of punishment, but I will say that once Cyd made it to New York the story did pick up for me.

I will be continuing with the Cyd Charisse series because 1) I already have them from the library, 2) I'd like to give Cyd a fair chance, and 3) I'm a sucker and can't give up on a series. Next up, Shrimp.