Review: Tangled, by Carolyn Mackler

Tangled, by Carolyn Mackler
Published: December 29, 2009
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages:308
Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Jena, Dakota, Skye, and Owen are all at Paradise—the resort in the Caribbean, that is—for different reasons, but in Paradise their lives become tangled together in ways none of them can predict. Over the course of four months, through four voices and four stories, what happened in Paradise will change them all. 

In this extraordinary novel, the Printz Honor–winning author brings us her most accomplished work yet. Tangled is a story of the secrets we keep, the risks we take, and the things we do for love.

Carolyn Mackler's novels usually go one of two ways for me. Either I like it, or I don't. So far, there has never been one that was in between, until now.

I enjoyed three out of the four parts in the novel. I felt sorry for Jena, and devoured her portion of the book pretty quickly. By the time we got to Dakota, I had pretty much had my mind set on him being a douche, so I enjoyed getting inside his head and seeing what made him tick. He does cuss, a lot.  If you're turned off by that sort of thing, his portion of the book probably won't be very enjoyable for you. I personally don't mind swearing, because let's be honest here, there aren't many teens who don't. It's realistic.

Then came Skye's portion, which I couldn't have been more happy to finally finish. I found her dull, and catty. There was really no reason for her to do what she did in Jena's portion of the book, and she never really gives a reason as to why. Other than, "I'm a spoiled brat, so I do what I want." Okay, so I'm paraphrasing, forgive me.

I was pulled back in when I got to Owen's section. I loved how they included his actual blog posts(go figure), and the fact that the other three characters were pulled back into the story in varying degrees, which tied everything up nicely.

One thing I love about Carolyn Mackler is, she isn't afraid of exploring the things that occupy every teenager's mind. I know we'd like to think our teens are focused on schoolwork and their future, but if that were the case, would the YA genre be so increasingly popular? I don't think so. She isn't afraid to throw in the cursing, the sex, and *gasp* masturbation. While it turns many people off of her novels, I applaud her for it.

Cover

4/5

Plot

3/5

Characters

4/5

Pace

3/5

Ending

4/5

Writing Style

3/5