Review: GOING VINTAGE by Lindsey Leavitt

Title: Going Vintage

Author: Lindsey Leavitt

Publication date: March 26, 2013

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Source: an ARC provided by the publisher for an honest review

When Mallory’s boyfriend, Jeremy, cheats on her with an online girlfriend, Mallory decides the best way to de-Jeremy her life is to de-modernize things too. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in1962, Mallory swears off technology and returns to a simpler time (when boyfriends couldn’t cheat with computer avatars). The List:
1. Run for pep club secretary
2. Host a fancy dinner party/soiree
3. Sew a dress for Homecoming
4. Find a steady
5. Do something dangerous
But simple proves to be crazy-complicated, and the details of the past begin to change Mallory’s present. Add in a too-busy grandmother, a sassy sister, and the cute pep-club president–who just happens to be her ex’s cousin–and soon Mallory begins to wonder if going vintage is going too far.

Review: 

Do you see where I got this book? The publisher! This is my first official ARC that has been provided by the publisher after I have requested it. I got an ARC before via NetGalley. I have even gotten an ARC from the very nice people at Disney-Hyperion after I interviewed the author. But I requested this one (and have been pining for it) and it has appeared! 

On to the novel now. It is clear from page one that Mallory and her boyfriend, Jeremy, do not belong together because the only thing going for them is physical attraction and even that is slightly going down the drain because of his nagging persistence. Then he wants her to do his paper for him and I was all, "What a tool." And even though I knew he was going to cheat on her because of the Goodreads synopsis, I was pretty smug that "tool" was basically the synonym of Jeremy throughout the whole book that was used by everyone.

I am so impatient to get on with my opinions with aspects of this book that I'm going to skip over the recap because you can basically get the gist from the synopsis above. Girl gets heartbroken. Girl finds life-changing list. Girl follows list to get over boyfriend. Girl discovers new things. Girl gets love interest. Girl has an entertaining story. 

Reasons why I love Going Vintage:

1. The lists. The book starts out with a list and every chapter start that way as well. I'm always curious to see what list will come up next because it is usually a clue as to what will happen in the chapter. Also, I am my mother's child and live by lists. Packing lists, to-do lists, order of importance lists, my favorite movies/books/authors/animals/fill-in-the-blank...lists are what keep me sane. I also think they can be quite entertaining and amusing like the ones in Going Vintage or in Top Ten Tuesday.

2. The fact that this is placed around being vintage. I love vintage. I see a clothing item that looks "vintage" and it makes me love it more. Decorative items, clothes, hairstyles...anything vintage and I'm interested. So the first thing that made me want to read this book was the fact that it was, yes, vintage. I loved the way that, while there were other conflicts in the story, we had to see Mallory live in the 21st century without a cell phone or any other item that didn't exist around her grandmother's time.

3. The characters. With this point, I will be having subpoints.

• Mallory. The leading lady and the source of most of my smiles. She has a strong voice from the beginning and entertained me the whole way. She's hurt and confused, but tries to be strong. She sticks with her beliefs and while like any girl, she has her soft moments where she thinks she might want to get back with Jeremy, she still holds on strong. I loved that about her. She's firm, tough, and has flaws like any other regular human being. 
• Ginnie. By far, the other best character in the story. Instead of a non-relative best friend, Mallory has her freshman, younger sister. Ginnie was charming, witty, and was *thisclose* to stealing the show.
• Oliver. He didn't take lead role or become certifiable swoon-worthy, but he did fiddle with my heartstrings. I liked him. He was sensitive, humorous, caring, and didn't try to place the romance in the spotlight. 

4. The humour. Lindsey Leavitt did a wonderful job at making me smile and laugh. I felt as if I was doing it the whole time. Mallory had a distinctively witty voice and Ginnie made me laugh as well. Basically, see #3.

5. The cover. I personally love the colors on the front. The pink and green stand out which makes it look so different from the rest of my books. I'm not a fan of how her leg looks, but bonus points for adding the records in there!

Now that I went over the positive, let me mention the negative.

There is not much that I can say negatively in this novel since it was such a fun read, but I was not fond of the ending. It felt wrapped up too nicely. The dance scene at the end? How was that realistic? Maybe that is just my evil thinking, but I wouldn't have behaved that nicely. I was a bit confused on why the grandma's subplot was added as well because I didn't see a need for it. However, the parental conflict added some mystery and provided a great subplot for me so I personally liked that part.

Verdict: Great narrative voice, fun plot, and excellent lists.

Are you going to read Going Vintage? What do you think?

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