Twigs by Alison Ashley Formento

Twigs by Ashley Formento
Series: N/A
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Merit Press
Publication Date: September 18, 2013

One pint-sized girl. Ten supersized crises. And it’s high noon.

They call her “Twigs,” because she’ll never hit five feet tall. Although she was born early, and a stiff breeze could knock her over, Twigs has a mighty spirit. She needs it, as life throws a whole bucket of rotten luck at her: Dad’s an absentee drunk; Mom’s obsessed with her new deaf boyfriend (and Twigs can’t tell what they’re saying to each other). Little sister Marlee is trying to date her way through the entire high school; Twigs’ true love may be a long-distance loser after a single week away at college, and suddenly, older brother Matt is missing in Iraq. It all comes together when a couple of thugs in a drugstore aisle lash out, and Twigs must fight to save the life of the father who denied her.

I have several very upsetting things to say about Twigs. First of all, I can't believe I made it through this book! For the about the first 30% of this book, I really wanted to drop it. But I soldiered on, with the false hope that it would pick up for me. But it was all in vain, because to tell you the complete truth, I hated Twigs. The character. Because she was annoying and self-centered and immature and had little development towards anything good.

Upon first glance, I really thought that I might like this. Maybe I'd get into the rhythm of the book (everything kept happening all at once, with no explanation to be heard) and it'd be okay. But I never got used to it. I'm still slightly confused as to what all happened, because there was some serious drama going on in this book. And most of it was stupid.

 But let's get back to Twigs. I can't stand her, I truly can't, and I'm curious as to how anyone could! Apparently, babies and dogs both like her (she even uses the same phrase in each instance), yet no one from the real world seems to. Except for Helen, who likes her after she throws hair dyes (?) on her. Violently. So of course Twigs (after meeting Helen on the street randomly, again), proceeds to go spend the night with her, alone, without telling anyone where she's going and without a cell phone. This almost makes me want to go spend the night with someone I don't know... no it doesn't. Especially since Helen is...well... to say the least, she's a little bit psycho.

Your husband cheats on you? Okay, go destroy a pharmacy. What about when he's out with a girl (or whore as you like to call him)? You convince Twigs to steal his car with you, and she breaks his arm on the way out. Atta girl! But what about *gasp* when you get home with his car? Whatever shall you do with it? Oh, how about you smash it to pieces then have a neighbor drive it to the hospital (where he's being treated for a broken arm) and leave it outside. Awesome, your debt to society is paid. OMG WHY ARE YOU SPENDING THE NIGHT WITH HER? You don't know her, and you watched her do all of this before you spent the night. ALONE. WITHOUT A CELL PHONE.

Call me crazy, but that does not sound like a safe friend to stay with. Or be around. As the book wore on, though, I do have to admit that Helen does have some sane moments that make her okay. But she's pretty crazy, regardless. I keep trying to talk about Twigs, but I've been sidetracked. So, again.

Twigs was... how do I put this? She doesn't think things through.... She's prone to making untrue judgments... She only cares about herself... She's annoying... Nope, I just don't know how to put this, so please just understand that I didn't like her, and I don't know how to explain it.

The only light part of this book was Coop. I enjoyed several of the scenes that he was in; because he made it lighter and funnier. He really was a sweetheart, and I wish that he had been around more often. All in all, Twigs just wasn't the book for me. I don't know how to say it any better than that.