Book #76: Going Vintage by Lindsay Leavitt

I heard about this book when it was one of the Whitney Awards finalists (the awards given for Mormon writers) and thought it sounded cute. And our library here had it, so why not? I got through it very quickly today--it was a cute, fast romance with an interesting twist.

Mallory breaks up with her "tool" boyfriend (I am bugged by that word in normal life, and Mallory seems very fond of calling all men she knows tools) after finding out he's got a second, secret attachment with his online "wife" in his virtual life online. The same day, she finds a list of goals of her grandmother's from when she was 16 and decides that being a teenager back then must have been so much better than it is now. She decides to swear off all technology and live her life like it's 1962, with only things that were available then, and talks a lot about how technology is the main problem with people today. She makes it her goal to achieve her grandma's list, and in the process--guess what?--finds someone else to love!

First, I'll just say--this was a cute story; it really was. I liked Oliver (her new love interest; I'll tell you that because it's obvious from the very first mention of him that he's next in line) and thought he was cute and the romance was intriguing. But oh man, even as I liked the story, I was annoyed by a lot of premises about the book. The whole decision to leave off all technology just seemed ridiculous and never made any sense to me. She even refuses to use the computer to do her homework, like she was morally offended by technology or something, and I just kept rolling my eyes at her. Also, Mallory talks so much about being so hurt and heartbroken after breaking up with her old boyfriend, but there's no actual evidence of her being sad. I don't know; it just didn't seem all that convincing to me. You can't just say "I'm sad" and make us believe you. And then the whole determination to live completely in the 1960s was just annoying too, because yeah, life was pretty lame in the 60s too. Just for different reasons. Come on, Mallory. Luckily, there was a twist with the grandma that showed her that and helped Mallory to stop being all selfish and self-absorbed and obsessed with this randomly chosen era. So, overall, although I did like this book, I was annoyed by it as well.