Review: 52 Reasons To Hate My Father by Jessica Brody

Title: 52 Reasons To Hate My Father

Author: Jessica Brody

Published by: Farrar Straus Giroux

Released: 2012

Summary: Lexie Larrabee is the daughter of a very rich man, and with that position comes a certain set of expectations. Namely being a spoiled brat, partying every night, drinking until you throw up, and being irresponsible at every turn. There's always someone to clean up Lexie's latest disaster and someone else to sweep it under the rug. Lexie doesn't have father daughter time, so instead she gets the cold hard cash and everything else a filthy, rich girl could want. Then comes the day where she crashes her brand new exotic car into a convenience store and suddenly her inheritance is in jeopardy. Her father has come up with a new strategy to deal with Lexie, tough love. In order to secure her inheritance, she must complete 52 minimum wage jobs in the course of a year. Lexie is displeased, and then her dad has the gall to hire a babysitter, sure he's a little cute, but he's yet another annoyance to Lexie's grand plan of living large. What's a spoiled rich girl to do when she suddenly doesn't have the money?

My Thoughts: Well, this was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. Now that's not a bad thing, but it's not necessarily a great thing either. This was a fun, fast read, but there were times where I wanted more funny, more heart.

It's pretty hard to like Lexie in the beginning of this book. She's a brat, a very annoying brat. She spends most of her time throwing tantrums, yelling, screaming, and copious amounts of drinking. She's not exactly someone you sympathize with.

The 52 jobs are kind of skipped over in the story. I thought they would have a more prevalent role. We get to witness the disasters that are some jobs, but all the others are just temporary details quickly mentioned. I was also surprised that the book ends without her having finished all the jobs. I want to say we go through about 28 of her minimum wage jobs and I was expecting the full course to take place and the lesson to come at the end of it.

I enjoyed the romance, the build up and everything. That was cute.

I don't know how much a fan I am of her father. He had his reasons for being MIA most of her life, but I didn't feel that they were good ones. She really doesn't have a relationship with her father and that's mostly his fault. He's hired all these people to take care of her and cater to her every whim and need while he checks out. I mean, Lexie is a product of her environment, so it's really no surprise she grew up to be a brat. You can feel Lexie's pain of wanting a relationship and her dad not being willing to give it. Maybe the moral of the story is that money can't buy happiness.

I know that sounds like a lot of negatives, but this wasn't a bad story. It was fun, fast, sometimes cute. I guess it just wasn't the perfect chick-lit I was searching for. I've heard that movie rights have been bought to this book and I think it would make a cute movie. So I did enjoy it, but I didn't find it 5 star amazing. The synopsis really sets you up for what you're going to get. If this book sounds right up you alley, then give it a read.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3/5

What I expected, but kinda fun.