Name: Roomies
ISBN: 9780316217491

Tara Altebrando

Sara Zarr

The countdown to college has begun. When Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment at the beginning of summer, she shoots off an email to coordinate the basics: TV, microwave, mini-fridge. She can't wait to escape her New Jersey beach town, and her mom, and start life over in California. That first message comes as a surprise to Lauren in San Francisco; she had requested a single. But if Lauren's learned anything from being the oldest of six, it's that you can't always get what you want, especially when what you want is privacy. Soon the girls are e-mailing back and forth, sharing secrets even though they've never met. With childhood friendships and family relationships strained by change, it suddenly seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives...and each other. With humor and heart, Sara Zarr, National Book Award finalist for Story of a Girl, and Tara Altebrando, acclaimed author of The Pursuit of Happiness, join forces for a novel about that time after high school when everything feels like it's ending just as it's beginning.

Roomies

Savindi Jinasena

All quotes have been taken from an uncorrected copy

Cover Gushing Worthiness:The cover of Roomies is cute and fun. I think it perfectly depicts a freshman’s room in University.

Review:

  
    You can’t ever really know how it’s going to be with a person until you meet them and hear how they talk, and see what kind of expressions they make and stuff. You have to spend with people. That’s how you become friends.
  


To be honest I’ve been mulling over how I want to review this book because it didn’t seem like I could review the normal way I do review books. If I did it that way I think this would be a very long book review since I would have so many things to say. However I was inspired to review it differently after reading my friend Keertana’s super creative reviewfor it. However instead of using the word ‘Room’ for my review, I decided to use the term ‘Freshman” since Elizabeth and Lauren are on their way to become first year students.

My experience as a freshman was very different from Lauren and Elizabeth’s since I already knew the people I was going to share a triple room with, so I was really interested in reading a book that promised a different experience than the summer I had before going away to University. While I had problems with the book, I still enjoyed it-probably because it depicted how two people can understand and misunderstand each other because of the way they communicate over technology.

Freedom
For both Lauren and Elizabeth the prospect of living away provides a sort of Freedom that both of them have never experienced. For Lauren it is a chance to escape the busyness and chaos of living with five other siblings plus two busy yet loving parents. Elizabeth on the other hand sees the prospect as escaping from the complicated relationship she has with her mother and from the changing friendships she has within her group of friends. Living away from home provides both girls an opportunity to find out what it’s like to live alone and from everything they’ve held as familiar. Interestingly I think getting used to silence was something Lauren dreaded and wanted to experience at the same time while Elizabeth on the other hand seemed to dread the uncomfortable silence that engulfs her at home.

Relationships
Relationships are an important and integral part of Roomies and what I appreciated the most in this book is how Zarr and Altebrando tackled them. Lauren and Elizabeth each have complicated relationships with the people in their lives and are trying to figure out how they’re supposed to deal with them. For Lauren it’s with her siblings and parents along with her best friend Zoe (I’m sorry if this is incorrect, I read the book a while ago!) and her potential boyfriend while Elizabeth is dealing with the same issues, but at the same time differently. What I also appreciated in this book was how the authors tackled the question of race. You see Elizabeth struggle with feeling both awkward and curious about asking Lauren about her potential boyfriend’s race, but not knowing what the ‘politically correct’ term is to ask that question. I think in an age of heightened political correctness we all struggle with the question of addressing someone from a different race than you. It’s not only Elizabeth who struggles with this question, but Lauren does too. As a reader you see Lauren asking herself questions like “Is there a certain way I’m supposed to behave?” or “Are my parents behaving normally or are they totally freaked out right now?” I think all of us have been where Lauren and Elizabeth have been at some point in our lives and we’ve asked the same questions from ourselves and those around us. While sometimes I felt like I could have done without the romance in this book, I still appreciated the realism of it. The relationships in Roomies felt real. There was an honesty to all of them which was refreshing and insightful and I hope I get to read more books that truly grasp the complexities of the relationships we hold dear.

Email communication
I think Roomies showed us that basically email communication is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because it helps reach people in record-breaking time, but at the same time it helps enforce assumptions that can be completely wrong and can create problems. We see this a lot in Roomies  and I love how the book addresses that in order to become friends with someone, sometimes you do have to meet them. Then again we can also make the argument that online friendships can be fostered and can be great. They can, but usually our first form of communication is most often and if not 99% of the time super friendly. It’s not so in the case of Lauren and Elizabeth as replies start flowing back and forth. Both girls make assumptions about each other from the start and they are not too friendly if I may say so myself, but at the same time you can’t blame each other either. We’re so used to email communication and when people don’t respond the way we want them to, we’re automatically on the defensive. However what I liked about Lauren and Elizabeth’s communication is that they both understood that no one could relate to what was going on in their lives except each other and that brings them both hurt and comfort at the same time.

Shared Secrets
I think sometimes it’s easy to share our secrets with a complete stranger than it is with people close to us, especially when you’re a teenager. This is the case in Roomies. While the book showed the consequences of sharing secrets with a stranger, it also showed the repercussions of keeping secrets from those we consider close. Again I think we’ve all been there at some point where we’ve intentionally or unintentionally kept secrets from our close friends and family and have had to live with the consequences for better or worse.

Home
Like the relationships, home is an important element in Roomies. As the summer progresses Lauren and Elizabeth realize how much they depend on home. Home is what is familiar, home is security and home is also happiness. It is where life lessons are learned. However I like how Zarr and Altebrando address how while you maybe away from home the feelings of nostalgia never fade away. Home is also where problems are solved and Lauren and Elizabeth both realize that as time goes by. They realize that you can never properly leave home without solving the issues that have plagued them until now.

Moments
Moments are an important aspect in Roomies because they provide snippets to the reader of the girls’ lives. The moments in this book also provide progression in the story. There are some truly touching moments such as a breakfast Lauren has with her parents before she leaves for University and a Zumba class Elizabeth has with her mom. These moments again go back to the concept of home and the importance it holds for both girls knowingly or unknowingly. There are also moments that are ambiguous-especially when it comes to the Romance. I have to admit that I liked this ambiguity because it left things open-ended and it didn’t succumb to the usual cliches of romance in YA/NA novels.

Arrival
If there’s one thing that I disliked in this book, it was the ending. I really wanted more from Lauren and Elizabeth’s perspective. I don’t want to give more away because that would be spoiling the book for people interested in reading it. Those who read it will understand what I mean!

New Life
 Ultimately Lauren and Elizabeth are embarking on a new chapter in their life. While they've experienced a roller coaster of emotions when it comes to their relationship, they’re still starting a new life together whether it be as friends or just roommates.

Overall I really enjoyed Roomies. While I struggled sometimes to differentiate between the altering povs in the end it became easy. While I never felt like I could really root for these two characters, I appreciated the honesty in which they were portrayed. In the end both girls were just as confused and scared of the future, something that all of us can relate to. I’m not sure if this book goes as young adult or new adult, but if it’s the latter then I hope there will be more books written like this.

My Rating: 3/5

Would I Recommend It? Yes


  
    Roomies is published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers and is available at local bookstores. This Advanced Reader Copy was obtained via Netgalley. Thank You Netgalley for providing this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Jeannette Ordas

It should be clear by now that Sara Zarr is one of my favourite YA authors and this book is no exception. 2 people, about to go to college and become each others roommates, get to know each other via email. The story and characters felt real and honest and the book dealt with race in a very honest and real way as well. Also, any romance that starts out with a trip to a thrift store has got to hold some promise. 4.5 stars.

Charlotte 

i loved the concept of this book: two girls who have never met, emailing each other because they will share a room together at the college they will attend.

Elizabeth and Laura were both authentic characters, with completely opposite home lives. the alternating nareative worked quite well to show the correspondence and how each of them reacted and replied. i thought the middle part where elizabeth got incredibly upset with laura was a bit too melodramatic. of course, it felt rather bittersweet, as both characters prepared to leave their friends, family, and new relationshop and life as they knew it, but there was also excitement at the new experiences and new things they would discover.

Jill Connors

This is my new guide to life. Really great base and continuing throught the story. The characters really evolved and it was really enjoyable!

Clara hash

3 stars

I won't make a big review because I read this a week ago and I almost forgot every little things I wanted to say.
but, in a global idea it was cool, but kinda slow in the beginning. I need action, in a book and a lot of drama to really appreciate it and I didn't got enough with Roomies.
Cool story otherwise, a great summer read if you are going in university next year!

b.andherbooks

EB and Lauren live on opposite coasts, but they will be randomly assigned roommates at UC Berkely in the fall. They strike up an email correspondence during the summer before their freshmen year, and various incidents threaten their friendship before they even start living together.

Really charming and authentic feeling story; Roomies really reminded me of the summer before my freshmen year of college. Many fears of change, including leaving old friends who you already feel like you are losing before you actually leave, new romances that may not be worth it when you are about to uproot your life, and family drama. Sometimes multiple authors can be problematic for me, but it really worked here.

Find this review and more at 
  kimberlyfaye reads
.

Nearly a year ago, I was ridiculously excited to get an invitation to claim a review copy of Roomies from NetGalley. Having had my share of drama with roommates over the years (and some very good roommate experiences, too), it really sounded like something I would enjoy. Somewhere along the way it got shoved aside. When I would think about going back to it, I'd look at the other reviews on Goodreads and shrug and move along to something else. I'm glad I finally decided to give it a shot this week. I thoroughly enjoyed it and, honestly, wouldn't mind a second book with these characters. 

Roomies is told in a very unconventional way – through both a series of emails and in first person with alternating perspectives of Elizabeth and Lauren. I can never get into books told solely through letters or poems. I get bored. I find myself skimming and then I lose the whole point of the book. That was never a problem here. I enjoyed watching as these girls tried to get to know each other through a series of emails and how they were handling their day-to-day life in their own thoughts. 

I honestly can't say that either Elizabeth or Lauren were particularly likable. Despite that, I was still able to connect with them in my own way. Each of these girls was struggling with aspects of their life. Elizabeth with her father abandoning her and her mother being a complete and total jerk. I seriously despised that lady. I could go on a three-paragraph rant about all that was wrong with her, but I won't. She also had some relationship issues and a potential budding new love that she would have to leave when they both went away to college. Lauren was dealing with never being alone or doing things for herself. She had five younger siblings that she cared for and that came with its own problems. Unlike Elizabeth, however, she had good parents. They were just stretched thin. She, too, had a budding romance and friendship issues. 

I thought the friendship they began building throughout the summer was the real thing. It had ups and downs, judgements and fights, communication issues and times they were really there for each other when no one in their current day-to-day life would understand what they were dealing with. I enjoyed watching them open up and test the waters with some "overshares." That's how you build a real friendship, after all. They may have had their differences, and there may have been some maturity in reaction to said differences, but it was realistic to me. It was just happening through email instead of face-to-face. 

I adored the love interests in this story. Both of the romances were sweet in that "first love" uncertain kind of way. They were good guys and, of course, in my ending, both couples manage to escape the pitfalls of a long distance relationship and live happily ever after. I know that might not be realistic, but a girl can dream, right? 

I won't spoil the ending for you, of course, but I do have to say that I'm not generally one who enjoys ambiguous endings. I like my standalone books to wrap up nicely at the end, with as few loose ends as possible. Don't make me write the ending of your book. All that said, there are times when an ambiguous ending isn't a bad thing, and Roomies is one of those times. I actually really liked it in this instance. Of course, that said, I would love to learn more about college Elizabeth and Lauren. I definitely think there's potential for more story there and I would happily read it. 

It's been a long time since I went off to college and dealt with the amount of unknowns that Elizabeth and Lauren did in this book. But, Roomies brought it all back and, even better, made me remember all the fun my Freshman year roommate (and floormates) and I had. Ah, the good ol' days. Not only was Roomies a great story, but it gave me a chance to look back fondly on some of my own roommates. And, uh, not so fondly on some of the others. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.