Review by Alex- Waiting for You

Waiting for You by Susane Colasanti

At the beginning of her sophomore year, Marisa is ready for a fresh start and, more importantly, a boyfriend. So when the handsome and popular Derek asks her out, Marisa thinks her long wait for happiness is over. But several bumps in the road, including her parents' unexpected separation, a fight with her best friend, and a shocking disappointment in her relationship with Derek test Marisa's ability to maintain her new outlook. Only the anonymous DJ, whose underground podcasts have the school's ear, seems to understand what Marisa is going through. But she has no idea who he is- or does she?

In this third romantic novel from Susane Colasanti, Marisa learns how to be in the Now and realizes that the love she's been waiting for has been right in front of her all along.

Waiting for You is an extremely cute read. It has nice, simple writing that flows easily and goes quickly. The characters are cute and well done. They seem like actual teens with many flaws. They're quirky and different and especially easy to relate to.

On the other hand, the book can be awfully annoying. There were just little things that bugged me, like the fact that Marisa said "whatev" instead of "whatever". It's used almost a dozen times and each time I just felt like banging my head on a wall. I guess Colasanti used it to make Marisa seem younger and like an actual teen, but not everyone says "whatev". Maybe it's just me- I'm against that kind of slang.

The voice sounds very young. Marisa is going into sophomore year (gr. 10) which is pretty much my age. But she was just whiny and seemed younger than that... She just was quite immature. I wasn't able to get attached to any of the characters.

Of course, Waiting for You is predictable. The mystery DJ isn't much of a mystery- it's pretty obvious. What I didn't like about the DJ plot is that the DJ and the actual person seemed like two different people. I wasn't able to connect the two together.

There were lots of cultural references that I found really great. I love references! They included lots of John Mayer songs and books by Laurie Halse Anderson such as Speak and Twisted.

Overall, Waiting for You is a light read that most teens or older can relate to. It reads quickly even if it's a thick book. I suggest putting on background music while reading. It's not a difficult read you have to concentrate on, and music might enhance the reading. It's not so much to my tastes, but I could see others liking it. Fans of Deb Caletti or Sarah Dessen, those kind of books, would like Waiting for You or any of Susane Colasanti's previous books.