52 Reasons to Hate My Father - Jessica Brody

Young Adult
Pages: 352
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Release Date: July 3, 2012

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.

I don't tend to read many humorous books. And I don't know why. I will have to amend that. I haven't had this much fun--just plain fun--reading a book since... maybe Ruby Oliver? I don't know since when, honestly. But this book was like a party without the hangover. I honestly loved the fact that we get to indulge in this rich and famous type story without it being the typical, overdone tale of rich-girl-realizes-there-is-more-to-life-than-money. It was like the perfect R-rated story behind a Us Weekly headline. It will appeal to female readers of any age, with its sweet romance and laugh-out-loud circumstances.

While it does have a lot of comedy going on, it also has its drama storyline and Lexi's character growth was very well done. All the characters felt real and all the situations believable. Lexi was overly relatable for her type of character, I thought she might be a bit more obnoxious to be honest, but I really liked her. While it's pretty obvious how the plot will unfold, it was very entertaining to experience and we do get some surprises scattered around. Brody's writing flows with ease.

The book is just like a fun romantic comedy film, and I can't help but wish it actually gets done someday--I wouldn't miss it. This is simply a treat to read. I would recommend this to the entire female YA crowd because it's something so fresh and different it almost felt like a vacation from my other books. I'll need to read more of Jessica's books now.

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