Friday Reads: ARC Review of First World Problems by LeighAnn Kopans!!

Hello guys! Happy Friday!

I hope you guys have had a good week, mine managed to improve little by little, and now you're ready for Friday and the weekend, I know I am!

Yesterday I skipped a Thursday post cause I was busy baking and cooking and preparing for a Desi Bollywood party I'm having with my friends later today, might share some photos here on Sunday!

Today's entry for Friday Reads is for a book that released this week and that you should all go check out and buy! It's become another of my fave contemporaries of the year, and you guys know I'm not very keen on contemporaries! And keep an eye on my Twitter over the weekend, there might be a giveaway coming too!

As I got the ARC from the author for an honest review, this one also counts for my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge!

First World Problems by LeighAnn Kopans

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Loved this one! Perfect comfort read that made me feel happier about things and this awful world sometimes!

I'm not the biggest contemporary fan, as I keep saying over and over, but I keep finding lil gems here and there that make me realize I might not love the genre, but I need to keep giving it a try.

First World Problems is a companion novel to Solving For Ex, one of my fave contemporaries of the year, so when I got the chance to get an ARC for this one sent by the author (thanks LeighAnn!) I jumped at it!

We first met Sofia in Solving For Ex and she was not a nice or sympathetic character, she's the one you love to hate, and she hasn't really improved much by the time we meet her again in this book, but since this is her story, we get to see what's behind that mean girl face of hers.

It all starts with Sofia going a bit overboard with a credit card (a bit = waaay too much) and her father decides that he needs to put a stop to her selfishness and sense of entitlement, so between him and his wife (Sophia's stepmom) they decide to send her to Guyana, to do community service work to help the people there into sustainable development in very dire situations.

It goes without saying, she rages, cajoles and tries every trick in her book to avoid it, but there is sent to the middle of the jungle to join a group of young people trying to make a difference.

The character development of Sofia during this book was fantastic! We meet her at first and we know she's the spoiled and entitled brat from the previous book and we're glad to see her dumped into a tough place and hope she'll be taught a lesson. And she does get her lesson and we also get one, in character development, cause from a character that I couldn't stand, little by little I was give a character I wanted to peel layers from and a character I wanted to cheer for and finally a character to feel proud of!

I loved the other characters in the book, Callum and Arielle and Lena. They were all quite well rounded up and I couldn't help but love the hate to truce to love between Callum and Sofia, and the way she found friends in Arielle and Lena, despite each others reservations.

Another thing that I loved and really made the book work for me was how realistic the whole setting of Guyana felt and read. You just feel like you are there, from the latrines, to the chicken of the trees to the shit flinging! I loved the descriptions of the treks through the jungle, the work in the gardens, the indian style cooking, the preparation of handmade cosmetics... And add to that the lovely drawings scattered through the book (not in the ARC, but yes in the finished copy) and you get yourself a fantastic and vivid setting.

If you loved contemporaries, you must add this one to your list and if you don't, give it a try, it might surprise you! Still a bit undecided between 4 to 4.5 stars, but planning a re-read already!



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