I’ve been so anxious to get my hands on
Going Vintage
ever since I first saw the tiniest bit of information about it. I’ve
always been very, very fascinated with the 60′s and 70′s. Dazed and
Confused is one of my favorite movies, after all. I sometimes feel a
little cheated, like I was meant to be a teen or young adult in that
era. I mean the music alone was incredible. Another reason I was super
excited for this book was that I absolutely adored
Sean Griswold’s Head by Lindsey Leavitt.
It was everything that I love in a contemp. All of this might have
coalesced into expectations that were just a little too high, because I
didn’t love this book like I wanted to.
Mallory discovers that her boyfriend of 13 months is actually married
to another girl on his favorite online game. She just happens to
discover the emails between the virtual husband and wife, and they get a
little too close to real for her. So they break up and needless to say
Mallory is a bit distraught. When she comes across a list written by
her Grandma before her junior year, she decides to go vintage and do
everything on the list.
So, the reason I just explained all of that (because I usually don’t)
is because Mallory’s reasons never added up for me. I definitely get
why she dumped her boyfriend. That’s a no-brainier. But she then throws
everything into this list. She is consumed by it. It’s her way of
getting over The Tool and finding herself again….At least, that’s how
it’s explained, but it just never really aligned for me. I didn’t feel
this big connection to her feelings and the list. That just really took
away from the story for me.
Another thing I was semi disappointed about was the lack of 60′s
elements. Mallory tries to dress in 60′s style clothes, but that’s
mentioned only briefly. The ‘going vintage’ aspects really revolved
around getting rid of technology that wasn’t around then and that made
me a little sad.
So, enough negativity, yes? There were several things about
Going Vintage
that I really enjoyed. It’s funny. I found myself giggling often. The
relationship between Mallory and her sister Ginnie was great. Really, it
was probably one of my favorite sister relationships ever. The banter
between them was so entertaining. There’s also a Boy. An intelligent,
sweet, hipster boy. I pretty much adored him.
Going Vintage definitely wasn’t the book I
thought it was going to be, but I think a lot of that has to do with Too
High Expectation Syndrome (it’s a thing). Many, many other readers have
absolutely loved it. As a whole, I enjoyed it. I was never bored, but
it just wasn’t the book I wanted it to be.
