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April 22, 2013

Mini Reviews: Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock & Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway


So this is sort of the oldies edition of mini reviews. The below two books have been on my wish list for the longest time. The library I signed up at had them and I grabbed them immediately. I am just happy I finally got to read them!


Dairy Queen (Dairy Queen, #1)
Dairy Queen (Dairy Queen #1)
Catherine Gilbert Murdock
June 4, 2007
3.5/5 stars

Dairy Queen's D.J. is a sophomore who has taken way too much responsibility at her age. Because of her father's recent back problem, she found herself in charge of their whole farm, from milking the cows, plowing the land, transporting the hay, to trying not to not flunk out of high school, something that has become a challenge. D.J. was a very opinionated character, the only hitch to that is that she keeps all her opinions to herself, as in the readers know about them, but she can't seem to verbally convey them to her dad, mom, younger brother, and even two older brothers who left the house and never looked back almost six months ago, during "the big fight". I found D.J. to be a very whiny and weak character in the beginning. She would complain constantly to us but plaster on a smile in front of everyone. When Brian asks for her help in football training, she accepts. Her older two brothers play in the big leagues right now. Brian and D.J. felt a bit awkward in the beginning, I honestly didn't feel like they could click together and I felt no chemistry whatsoever. However the good news is that the second half of the novel gets better, good enough for me to finish the novel and give it a 3.5. D.J. finally seems to realize that keeping everything in won't solve anything and caring about pleasing everyone but herself isn't really working in her favor. Brian didn't leave a big impression on me but I am hoping to see more of him as well as D.J. 2.0 in The Off Season, the sequel of this novel. 

For fans of: Sarah Dessen's What Happened To Goodbye and Elizabeth Scott's Perfect You

Audrey, Wait!

Audrey, Wait!
Robin Benway
April 2, 2009
4/5 stars

Audrey, in the first chapter, finds herself the center of attention because of a song her ex-boyfriend wrote about her after she broke up with him. The song is called "Audrey, Wait!" the last two words he told her before she ran out of his house after breaking up with him. Audrey isn't just horrified of the publicity, but also annoyed that Evan would be so open about their relationship. Her friends calm her down because the song will fade away by itself. No one imagined that the song would bring Evan's band to stardom, topping the music singles charts in the US AND UK. Not only does Evan's band shoot to stardom but Audrey seems to forcefully get strapped along for the ride. Everyone wants to know who Audrey is. She started getting calls from all the major news agencies, magazines, newspapers, and even from sponsors and tv stations. To say it simply, Audrey has become a celebrity. This novel is about Audrey's struggle in the unwanted spotlight as well as trying to find her place and figuring out a way to live with all this publicity. I really loved Audrey's voice, she spoke to us directly. She was also very independent, vocal, and always spoke her mind. Her conversations and encounters with her parents as well as her humungous cat were very humorous. The new love interest (yes, Evan starts touring in Tokyo and all over so we don't see him) was cute, but again, he didn't leave a big impression on me. I have to say, with my super high expectations for this novel, I was glad that I enjoyed it in the end. Yes, I didn't love it, but it was very entertaining. 

For fans of: Meg Cabot's How to be Popular & Teen Idol and Lauren Conrad's L.A. Candy trilogy


14 comments:

  1. I love this meme! I have a similar one I made up in like 5 mins and I've only done it once... you could say the meme failed. XD

    While I haven't heard of these books, they sound quite cute!
    Lovely reviews Juhina! <3

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  2. So happy you liked Audrey, Wait! I will be reading that soon and it sounds so good! :D

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  3. I loved Audrey, Wait too. It's one of my favorite YA contemporary reads. Of the lighthearted kind, anyway.

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  4. Audrey, Wait sounds like a book I would really enjoy!! I have been wanting to read Dairy Queen too. My library has the audiobook for it so I will most likely listen to it rather than read it. Great reviews!!

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  5. Audrey, Wait sounds cute! I have only read one other book by Benway, so maybe I'll give this one a shot, as well.

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  6. I'm so excited to read Audrey, Wait! now. Audrey sounds like a great main character and the overall story sounds enjoyable. Great reviews :)

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  7. These both sounds really good. I haven't seen either of them so I like that, and I am definitely going to have to check them out. :D Great reviews.

    Jenea @ Books Live Forever

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  8. Dairy Queen really rubbed me the wrong way, but I'm looking forward to getting to read Audrey, Wait! one of these days.

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  9. The second half of Dairy Queen defintiely picked up for me too, I adored D.J's character development over the course of the book, and I can't wait to see how you get on with The Off Season, it was my favourite read of the series. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy Audrey Wait as everyone else did, but that may have been because I picked it up after a book which I really loved, so I may have to give it another go sometime. Great reviews Juhina! :)

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  10. I really enjoyed Dairy Queen when I read it, I totally agree with you I didn't expect D.J. and Brian to click at all but I enjoyed it! I randomly picked up Audrey Wait! last year from my library because I was bored and I ended up enjoying it, it was a cute read. I want to read Robin Benway's new book that either just came out or is coming out soon, I think it's Also Known As but I can't remember. Great mini reviews though :)

    Paige @ Comfort Books

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  11. I'm glad you enjoyed both of these! I liked them both a lot. It's been awhile since I read Audrey, Wait but I read Dairy Queen not too long ago and liked it a lot. I wasn't sure how the romance was ever going to happen! I liked her growth quite a lot as well.

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  12. Both of these sound like fun reads, but I'm especially excited for Audrey, Wait! since I enjoyed Robin Benway's other books so much. I love how well-written and witty her characters are, and I'm so glad you liked this one!

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  13. Yay, 4 stars to Audrey, Wait! I have this on my shelf, and after having so much fun with Also Known As, I just know this one's got to be good. :)

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  14. I've read a lot of great things about Audrey, Wait!

    Definitely adding it to my TBR.

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