Review / Over the Top

Book: Over the Top (2021)
Author: Alison Hughes
Genre: MG, Contemporary

Opening lines from the book …
There was no getting away from it: the house was pink. It wasn’t a shade of coral or peach. It wasn’t pinkish. It was vivid, candy-floss, lip-gloss pink. Bright pink. Deliberately pink. In-your-face pink.

 

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK…

1) The opening lines made me cringe just as Diva (the main character) cringes. A pink house? And yet this is the one main feature that grabs her mother’s attention. Not really a spoiler: They buy the house.

2) Oh boy, her mother. What a character! She is definitely over the top. But I do love the character arc here. I mean, just the fact that she names her kids Diva and Hero! Oh, and she has a party planning business. How fun is that!

3) I loved Hero the younger brother. I like how he connects with Diva. They have such a good relationship. And he also inspires Diva with his outgoing personality. (She’s actually rather shy/quiet. The opposite of her name!)

4) The theatre angle was great. The show is The Wizard of Oz and well Diva gets quite the interesting part in the musical. Of course, she’s up against her nemesis: Miranda. Yes, not only is Miranda a bully, but she’s also Diva’s next door neighbor.

5) I totally got Diva’s reaction to her mother’s birthday “surprise.” No spoilers, but … just wow.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, I did enjoy this book. I especially related to Diva and loved watching her grow and navigate her new world. And even though it was hard, she made some good choices.

 

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YOUR TURN…

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Note: I’m posting this for Greg Pattridge’s Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday…