jessysbookends

In Ciao we see Melissa getting to know herself and owning her decisions. Still immature and even selfish, we see her as a teenage girl trying to connect with her friends. She outgrows sad experiences from the past and keeps going. She begins a new chapter where incertitude dominates her. Is love a priority for her? Is friendship what she values the most? It is a new year and she needs to decide. She is between the boy she has forever loved and the boy who is a great friend. Maybe she cannot have both.

A new character is introduced to the equation, Cassie. She is a great friend for Melissa and quickly becomes part of Melissa's group. Cassie will be a character who will begin changes in Melissa. Melissa will see life different. I still think Melissa is a self-centered girl, and sadly it cannot be explained by her age. Since the beginning of the series she is portrayed as that. What redeems her is how we can detect a slow progressing maturity in her. Painful events make her grow.

Ciao is a story written in a simple way but shows interesting twists. I read it during two afternoons and enjoyed my time. It is well written but sometimes the epistolary style is exhausting. Sometimes, Melissa writes too formal and in that instances it is difficult to connect the journal entry to one a teenager would write.

I appreciate the author using as a setting a place where she lived and experienced life. I think many of us used to keep journals or diaries, in that way Melissa becomes a character we can feel empathy with.

Rating: 3 stars of 5, The journal style kept us from seeing Melissa on an active role, while interacting with her surroundings.

I recommend this series for Middle School and up

Review copy received from publisher via YA Bound/ Blog Tour for review purposes. This book was reviewed according to its merits.