DNF Review: Lucy and Linh

Lucy and Linh by Alice Pung
Grade: DNF
Release date: September 6, 2016
An e-galley was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration.
Summary: Gilmore Girls meets Fresh Off the Boat in this witty novel about navigating life in private school while remaining true to yourself.

Lucy is a bit of a pushover, but she’s ambitious and smart, and she has just received the opportunity of a lifetime: a scholarship to a prestigious school, and a ticket out of her broken-down suburb. Though she’s worried she will stick out like badly cut bangs among the razor-straight students, she is soon welcomed into the Cabinet, the supremely popular trio who wield influence over classmates and teachers alike. 

Linh is blunt, strong-willed, and fearless—everything Lucy once loved about herself. She is also Lucy’s last solid link to her life before private school, but she is growing tired of being eclipsed by the glamour of the Cabinet.

As Lucy floats further away from the world she once knew, her connection to Linh—and to her old life—threatens to snap. Sharp and honest, Alice Pung’s novel examines what it means to grow into the person you want to be without leaving yourself behind.

When did I stop reading?: 35% into my e-galley
Why didn't I finish?: That "___ meets _____" blurb in the synopsis totally sounded like my thing. Unfortunately, Lucy and Linh didn't deliver like I hoped it would. The writing style and narration were hard to connect to and I felt so distanced from Lucy. Also nothing really interesting was happening. I also felt like, for 35% in, I didn't know any of the characters as well as I thought I should. The author name-dropped a lot of girls that I had trouble keeping straight, and Lucy acted like readers should know them as intimately as she did. So I didn't want to spend any more time on a book I wasn't enjoying.

The Verdict: Idk, maybe y'all might like this book. It just wasn't my type of contemporary YA.