[eARC Review] Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando

Monday, December 23, 2013




Title: Roomies
Author: Sara Zarr, Tara Alterbrando
Genre: Contemporary YA
Release Date: December 24, 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: eARC provided by publisher in exchange for honest review

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It's time to meet your new roomie.

When East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics: television, microwave, mini-fridge. That first note to San Franciscan Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each girl's summer -- and raises questions about how two girls who are so different will ever share a dorm room.

As the countdown to college begins, life at home becomes increasingly complex. With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by change, it suddenly seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives . . . and each other. Even though they've never met.

National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr and acclaimed author Tara Altebrando join forces for a novel about growing up, leaving home, and getting that one fateful e-mail that assigns your college roommate.



I have been a fan of Sara Zarr since I was in high school and I think i have read every book she has ever written. So when I saw she collaborating with another author for Roomies, I knew I had to read it, and I am so glad i did. These characters in this novel are some of the most real you will find in YA. They seemed to leap off of the page and right into my head, and I am still thinking about them, weeks after I finished the book.

Roomies is about two very different High School seniors who live in different sides of the USA, but have been assigned as roommates. They start an email exchange and from there, their friendship begins. What I think I loved most about this book was that these two girls never actually met in person throughout the entire book, but through their correspondence through email I felt like they had. They went through the ups and downs that every friendship goes through, and it was great to see that flipped in its head and told from a very different perspective.

Each girl had her own chapters and that was a great way for me to get to know both girls and for me to want to keep reading. Because if something happened in one chapters, then I would have to wait to see what happened next. I connected with both character and found myself feeling what they were feeling. I loved that each of them had their own issues, and that they shared them with each other, even though they had never met. I also loved that there was a touch of romance in each characters story, but at s=certain points I thought that the romance in one story was too perfect, and that there should have been more emotional moments. But i will let you figure out which character I am thinking of ;)

The end of this book could not have been more perfect for this type of story. I was satisfied and I really hope that these two authors work together again because what they created was amazing. They created something that I had never read before, a friendship based solely on writing and that is something that is not written about in YA anymore, and i loved it.

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1 comments

  1. I've never read a Sara Zarr book before but this sounds really interesting and definitely like something I could relate to

    ReplyDelete