My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
----Ansel Adams
Lauren Gibaldi, an American author, pens a sweet yet poignant YA contemporary novel, Autofocus that revolves around a young girl trying to find the story about her birth mother for a special family related photography assignment, and in her quest, she goes back to her best friend for help but success doesn't always comes easily thereby landing her up into the way of more challenges that is often romantic and at times heart breakingly painful.
Synopsis:
Family.
It’s always been a loaded word for Maude. And when she is given a senior photography assignment—to create a portfolio that shows the meaning of family—she doesn’t quite know where to begin. But she knows one thing: without the story of her birth mother, who died when Maude was born, her project will be incomplete.
So Maude decides to visit her best friend, Treena, at college in Tallahassee, Florida, where Maude’s birth mother once lived. But when Maude arrives, she quickly discovers that Treena has changed. With a new boyfriend and a packed social calendar, Treena doesn’t seem to have time for Maude—or helping Maude in her search.
Enter Bennett, a cute guy who lives in Treena’s dorm. He understands Maude’s need to find her mother. And as Bennett helps Maude in her search, she starts to find that her mother’s past doesn’t have to define her own future.
Lauren Gibaldi has crafted a beautiful and timely coming-of-age story that poses the question: Is who we are determined at birth, or can we change as we grow?
Maude, a high school teenager, needs to find out about her deceased birth mother, Claire, for a family-related photography assignment and for that she visits her best friend, Treena in Florida State University where Claire too attended her classes. Unfortunately for Maude, instead of finding out about her mother, she is forced to attend parities and social meaningless gatherings with Treena and her new boyfriend. To rescue Maude, Bennett, a cute nerdy Treena's dorm-mate steps in to help Maude find out about her mother's teenage life. And little did Maude knew that she imagined a rather cleaner and decent version of her mother, while finding out about her life and about the things she did. Meanwhile, a sweet, innocent romance somehow blossoms between Bennett and Maude, and surprisingly Maude too manages to reciprocate her feelings despite of her no emotional attachments demeanor.
Having read the previous book, The Night We Said Yes by the author, I wasn't expecting much from this book, as the last book disappointed me a lot. And surprisingly, this book turned out to be pretty decent, although the story is cliched and stereotypical but the emotions play a huge part to make all the wrongs into right. Most above all, the flawed yet corny protagonist stands out in the story and will make the readers ache for her troubles.
The author's writing is strong and very polished, laced perfectly with enough emotions, that will move the readers deeply. The narrative style of the author is free-flowing and articulate and with an evocative prose, the pacing is slow at times, but moderate most of the times. The story opens a bit slow right in the beginning, then it gradually picks up speed and eventually, the readers will finally find losing themselves into the depth of the story.
The characters in the book are really good and well developed. The main character is flawed, multi layered and kind yet independent, that gives her a modern fierce teenager outlook. Her realistic demeanor while facing through life's pretty grim challenges will make the readers fall for her. The rest of the supporting characters are also well etched out, but not that impressive.
The romance part was okay, not that extraordinary or compassionate enough to make the readers feel for the love. In a nutshell, the story is compelling and real yet it could have been much better if the story was little less cliched.
Verdict: A coming of age hopeful story about a teenager's search for her dead mother's life.
Courtesy: Thanks to the author's publicist for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
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Author Info:
Public librarian and author of THE NIGHT WE SAID YES, MATT'S STORY (a Night We Said Yes novella), and AUTOFOCUS (out 6/14/16), all with HarperTeen / HarperCollins. Fan of dinosaurs and cheesy jokes. And you.
Visit her here
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I have this one on my list. I think I will need to be in the mood for this kind of read. It sounds emotional and intense.
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