Permanent Record || Permanently Reading Mary Choi Titles

Posted on by acouplereads

 

    Title: Permanent Record
    Author: Mary HK Choi
    Genre: Contemporary // Young Adult
    Page Count: 400 pages
    Rating: ★  ★  ★  ★  ★
    Publisher: Simon Teen
    Buy it: Chapters Indigo

 

 

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

After a year of college, Pablo is working at his local twenty-four-hour deli, selling overpriced snacks to brownstone yuppies. He’s dodging calls from the student loan office and he has no idea what his next move is.

Leanna Smart’s life so far has been nothing but success. Age eight: Disney Mouseketeer; Age fifteen: first #1 single on the US pop chart; Age seventeen, *tenth* #1 single; and now, at Age nineteen…life is a queasy blur of private planes, weird hotel rooms, and strangers asking for selfies on the street.

When Leanna and Pab randomly meet at 4:00 a.m. in the middle of a snowstorm in Brooklyn, they both know they can’t be together forever. So, they keep things on the down-low and off Instagram for as long as they can. But it takes about three seconds before the world finds out…

 

 

MY THOUGHTS

Going into Permanent Record I expected the book to be a dual POV as was Choi’s debut. To my surprise we had a single POV and from a male perspective. Choi has a way of surprising me. I was so in love with her first book, Emergency Contact, so much so it was my favourite YA contemporary read from 2018. Permanent Record was just not what I expected or was looking for from Choi. I can’t help but to compare to her first book but I will try to view this one singularly.

Permanent Record focuses on a lot more than budding romance. We dig deeper into the characters and their problems. Pablo is all of us 20 something year olds nearing their 30s. The majority of us can relate. I did find him a bit whiny though which is my biggest pet peeve with male POVs. A bit of a pity party if you ask me. I did really like his relationships with his family and the complications that came with those relationships. There was depth to it.

On the other hand we have a character who is completely unordinary that she seemed out of this world. Not many of us can relate to Lee whose celebrity status was mind boggling. The drastic differences between the characters created a bit of a wedge for me in the believability in the story but perhaps we need to suspend our beliefs with this one.

I didn’t engage in the romance in this one and that was what I wanted based on my previous experience with her first book. I felt as if something was missing.

I did enjoy the story overall and liked meeting Choi’s new characters. Excited to see where she goes next!

 
Thank you Simon Teen Canada for sending a copy my way in exchange for an honest review.

 

Comments (3)

3 Replies to “Permanent Record || Permanently Reading Mary Choi Titles”

  1. audreywritesabroad says: Reply
    September 11, 2019 at 3:06 am

    Ahhhh! I really want to read a book from this author she sounds amazing! What would you suggest I begin with?

    1. acouplereads says: Reply
      September 11, 2019 at 3:13 am

      I really loved Emergency Contact. If you like contemporary set in college and just a diff take on romance I’d highly recommend 💜

      1. audreywritesabroad says: Reply
        September 11, 2019 at 3:19 am

        I love all that I need 💜

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