Review: This is Now by Maggie Gilbert

Summary:

A gritty, urban New Adult Cinderella story where the princess can do her own rescuing — she just needs someone to believe in her.
Sister to car thieves, ex-girlfriend to a drug dealer, high school dropout, no-hoper and loser — Jess is on the sidelines, watching her life become one epic fail. Her dreams of university are fading fast, as the people in her life fight to confine her to their own expectations.

Then she meets Sebastien, a gifted cellist from a very different walk of life. Sebastien is clean and strong and talented. He likes and respects her, but he too has expectations. Sebastien seems to think she can do anything, and Jess, despite her fears and the secrets she hides, is starting to believe him.
But just as Jess dares to hope, the secrets in her past and the lies in her present catch up with her. All seems lost and she has to make a choice. Between past and future. Between home and hope. Between now and never. And this is now.

Review: Like most New Adult novels, This is Now looks like a typical romance novel, however it refreshingly focused more on the main character’s growth. Which made it even more relatable since as a college student you’re trying to figure out what you will be doing for the rest of your life. In This is Now, the main character Jess has to figure out if she’s going to follow in her families footsteps and just do what is easy or apply herself and break free from her family’s restraints.

Also, Jess doesn’t come from a typical suburban household like most main characters she has brothers who steal cars for a living and who are also involved in drug dealing with her ex-boyfriend. It’s a complicated past. Those complications make for a great story. It’s hard not to root for Jess who wants to get out of her town, go to college and become an architect. Having such a complicated and unpredictable main character had me more excited to see how Jess would grow as a person then whether or not she ended up with Sebastian, the romantic lead.

Even though the love story doesn’t take center stage, it’s also a complex one that touches on class differences and family issues. Sebastian comes from a wealthy family, he doesn’t need to have a job because they can support him as he tries to make a career in music (which he happens to be a prodigy at). This causes problems for them as their different lifestyles clash. Yet, they are so good together that you can’t help but root for them.

There are not many complex, interesting and just all around great books in the New Adult genre, but This is Now is certainly  one of them. I would recommend it to any college student looking for something to read. However I have one warning Maggie Gilbert is an Australian author so there were many cultural references and  words that I had to look up but that’s what google is for. Plus, you get to learn about a different country in the process!
--Danielle
(Tomorrow is my review on the Vampire Academy Movie!)