Review: 52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody

52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody

Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.

Lexington Larrabee has never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either.
Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteen birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.
In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and, regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him.

Review:

Jessica Brody has quickly become one of my favorite contemporary authors. I've read all of her YA books (The Karma Club, My Life Undecided, and now 52 Reasons to Hate My Father) and each of them has been an enjoyable and entertaining read. Jessica always writes such strong, relatable characters and Lexington Larrabee was no exception. Even though Lexi lived a life completely different from my own, I still felt a connection with her and was rooting for her success. Jessica's novels are not only unique and original, but are fun reads that I can talk about with my friends and recommend to most anyone and know they will like it. 

52 Reasons to Hate My Father was another great novel by Jessica and I enjoyed getting to know Lexi and seeing what life can be like for the children of the rich and famous. Even though some would say her life is perfect, it is far from it, and as the novel progresses more and more of Lexi's layers are peeled back and it shows how she really is just a regular teenager. One thing I especially loved about this book was how it wasn't focused on romance, but more on Lexi and her character development. 

There were many important lessons imparted in this book; from the value of having a good relationship with your friends and family to the importance of understanding the world does not revolve around any one person. Each of the jobs Lexi worked at showed her something not only about herself, but about others as well. While it was entertaining seeing Lexi struggle to fit into the "normal" world, I was also encouraging her because I knew she could succeed. There are several interesting secondary characters and sub-plots that keep the book moving and I thoroughly enjoyed 52 Reasons to Hate My Father. 

My only complaint is that I wish we got to see more of Lexi working at the various jobs. Most of them are just skimmed over and only a few are actually focused on. Of course I understand the book would be way too long if it talked about all 52 jobs, but I still wish we could have learned a little more about some of them. Many of my favorite scenes took place at Lexi's various places of employment and it was refreshing to read about a character in high school that had a job (even though it was an unconventional twist in Lexi's case!)

Overall, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father was another great book by Jessica Brody and while it was not my favorite of all of her novels, I still really enjoyed it. Now I am just counting down the days until her next novel is released!

By the way, did any of you who have read all of her books pick up on the reference to My Life Undecided in this book? I loved that! 

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

July 3, 2012/Farrar, Straus, & Giroux/352 Pages/Young Adult

Source: Won (from author)

Other books by this author: The Karma Club, My Life Undecided