And We're Off

This review will contain spoilers.

Goodreads Summary: Seventeen-year-old Nora Holmes is an artist, a painter from the moment she could hold a brush. She inherited the skill from her grandfather, Robert, who's always nurtured Nora's talent and encouraged her to follow her passion. Still, Nora is shocked and elated when Robert offers her a gift: an all-expenses-paid summer trip to Europe to immerse herself in the craft and to study history's most famous artists. The only catch? Nora has to create an original piece of artwork at every stop and send it back to her grandfather. It's a no-brainer: Nora is in! Unfortunately, Nora's mother, Alice, is less than thrilled about the trip. She worries about what the future holds for her young, idealistic daughter and her opinions haven't gone unnoticed. Nora couldn't feel more unsupported by her mother, and in the weeks leading up to the trip, the women are as disconnected as they've ever been. But seconds after saying goodbye to Alice at the airport terminal, Nora hears a voice call out: "Wait! Stop! I'm coming with you!"

I love contemporary books. This is not a new fact. My favorites are set in Europe! So when I heard about this book, I was so excited. Unfortunately, it was not what I expected. I give this book 3 stars.

While it does take place in a few different countries, it doesn't go into much detail in those countries. It didn't really explore the settings, and it really bashed Belgium. I would have liked more detail and exploring in the countries that the characters go to in this book but since the book was short, there wasn't enough to explore.

The other annoying part of this book was the mother daughter relationship. Yes I get it, mothers and daughters fight, but this fighting between them was so repetitive. How many times do we need to read about the same fight over and over! Nora, the daughter in the story was annoying, whiny and just a character I could not connect with. Her mother was a push over and a bland character. I could not find any redeeming characters at all in this book.

The book is being shipped as a good read for fans of 13 Little Blue Envelopes and Gilmore Girls. Well I never watched Gilmore Girls but I am a big fan of 13 Little Blue Envelopes and I didn't feel like this could compare!

So this is a short review on a short book and there is not much more I can rant on this, so over all, bland, un-likeable characters, a European setting that did not excite and a bunch of art.