The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding | Review

Book Review | The Reece Malcolm List | Amy Spalding

Apr 26

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | The Reece Malcolm List | Amy Spalding

The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding
Published by Entangled Teen on February 5, 2013
Genres: Contemporary YA, Young Adult
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

Things I know about Reece Malcolm:

1. She graduated from New York University.
2. She lives in or near Los Angeles.
3. Since her first novel was released, she’s been on the New York Times bestseller list every week.
4. She likes strong coffee and bourbon.
5. She’s my mother.

Devan knows very little about Reece Malcolm, until the day her father dies and she’s shipped off to live with the mother she’s never met. All she has is a list of notebook entries that doesn’t add up to much.

L.A. offers a whole new world to Devan—a performing arts school allows her to pursue her passion for show choir and musicals, a new circle of friends helps to draw her out of her shell, and an intriguing boy opens up possibilities for her first love.

But then the Reece Malcolm list gets a surprising new entry. Now that Devan is so close to having it all, can she handle the possibility of losing everything?

You guys know that I love to read debuts, so when THE REECE MALCOLM LIST by Amy Spalding came up on my radar I was all over it. PLUS! My name is Amy, the author’s name is Amy! I feel the kinship, friends, as tenuous as it may be. Really though, I liked the sound of THE REECE MALCOLM LIST: a young girl who doesn’t know her mother is forced to go live with her in sunny LA after her father dies. What I got was an enjoyable book with just the right amount of thoughtful seriousness, written with great humor and personality. I didn’t love everything about it, and I found myself liking things that surprised me, but overall Amy Spalding’s debut was a very good one, and I’ll be looking forward to her books from now on.

So the main focus of THE REECE MALCOLM LIST is Devan and her mom, Reece, with whom she has had no relationship for the first 16 years of her life. Reece is kind of a wild spirit, one of those passionate, flighty artist types that a you could never imagine settling down. When Devan–who, truthfully, was kind of…blah sometimes–shows up, the difference in their personalities is stark. Reece is a super-rich author who springs for Devan to attend this exceptionally expensive private school so that she can get her theater-geek on. They’re awkward with each other at first, but we slowly get to see them become closer. They don’t have anything like the relationship I have with my mother–they seem more like friendly acquaintances than mother-daughter–but I was happy for both of them in the end that they could enjoy having each other in their lives.

Speaking of Reece, she’s got herself a boyfriend in THE REECE MALCOLM LIST. His name is Brad, he’s British, younger than Reece, and AMAZING, both in general and with Devan. I LOVED HIM. Best guy in the whole book. Dear Amy Spalding, please make Brad a real guy and then introduce him to me please. Thanks forever! Love, Amy. I had no real fondness for either of the guys that Devan gets herself involved with (I’ll chat a little more about them in a sec), but even if they were great I don’t know that I would’ve liked them as much as I loved Brad. In fact, Reece and Brad’s relationship kind of made the book for me. I enjoyed reading about them more than I liked reading about Devan and her guys. Make of that what you will.

Even though I found myself liking the adults in THE REECE MALCOLM LIST more than I liked the kiddos, I liked Devan well enough. I sometimes thought she lacked something in the way of personality; she seemed to fade in her own story on occasion. She got more memorable towards the end when things get a little more intense and emotional, though, and Amy Spalding imbued her with a healthy dose of snarkiness. Her love and devotion to show choir and the theater was pretty awesome and different. As someone who had no experience with that environment in school other than going to and enjoying the shows as an audience-member, it was a completely new world to me, and Amy Spalding did a good job making it seem fun but competitive.

Now: THE BOYS. Devan gets herself quickly tangled up with two boys, Elijah and Sai. I wasn’t crazy about either of them: I liked Elijah the best, but he was hung up on his ex, and Sai…he was one of those guys who’s popular at school so barely paid Devan much attention there (she was not in his social circle), but he would confide in her outside of school. Sometimes. There were decent chunks of time when he would be caught up in other stuff, or he would be acting shady, OR he would be hanging out with his girlfriend (HELLO!). He wasn’t my fave. I’m telling you, BRAD IS WHERE IT’S AT. (Not for Devan OBVIOUSLY. But BRAD. TRUST.)

THE REECE MALCOLM LIST by Amy Spalding is a debut that largely delivered on its promise of great story and great characters. Amy Spalding has a really wonderful voice and is a writer that I’ll be reading more of for sure. I liked Devan a lot, and I LOVED Reece and Brad. I enjoyed reading about the growing relationship between Reece and Devan; the fact that they grew close despite their past was heart-warming. I’d definitely recommend THE REECE MALCOLM LIST, friends.