Very LeFreakby Rachel Cohn
Recommended for Cohn fans
Very (Veronica) is a techno wild child with a complicated past. It's easy to fall for lively Very: she plans flash mobs using a social network she programmed at college, makes play-lists for every situation (even to apologize to her roommate after hooking up with a mutual friend), and has an intense fantasy life with El Virus, a stranger she meets online. She loves to throw killer parties and manages to get her entire circle of friends and Columbia University educators to throw her an “intervention”. This intervention is not for drugs and alcohol though; it’s for her dependency on technology. With the threat of expulsion and scholarship loss Very heads to a tech-detox center in the Vermont woods.
Cohn’s mix of fun, and far-out characters sits uncomfortably with the somber subject matter, including Very's bad first sexual experience at age 12 and the death of her mother. As I read this I would feel increasingly impatient with Very’s behavior and then feel sympathetic when another life tragedy was introduced. Her story never feels entirely cohesive and the ending was disappointing, but readers will have fun watching Very in action. Ages 14–up.
Cohn’s mix of fun, and far-out characters sits uncomfortably with the somber subject matter, including Very's bad first sexual experience at age 12 and the death of her mother. As I read this I would feel increasingly impatient with Very’s behavior and then feel sympathetic when another life tragedy was introduced. Her story never feels entirely cohesive and the ending was disappointing, but readers will have fun watching Very in action. Ages 14–up.
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