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    Pearl: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Pearl: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Pearl: A Novel
    Ebook195 pages2 hours

    Pearl: A Novel

    By Jo Knowles

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Bean (née Pearl) and Henry, misfits and best friends, have the strangest mothers in town. Henry's mom Sally never leaves the house. Bean's mom Lexie, if she is home, is likely nursing a hangover or venting to her friend Claire about Bean's beloved grandfather Gus, the third member of their sunny household.

    Gus's death unleashes a host of family secrets that brings them all together. And they threaten to change everything—including Bean's relationship with Henry, her first friend, and who also might turn out to be her first love.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateJul 19, 2011
    ISBN9781429975056
    Unavailable
    Pearl: A Novel
    Author

    Jo Knowles

    Jo Knowles is the author of the novels Jumping Off Swings and Lessons from a Dead Girl. She lives in Vermont with her husband and son.

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    Reviews for Pearl

    3/5

    6 ratings6 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Hmmm. I'm not sure what to say.
    • 2/5
      Review from personal copy (final edition given to co-worker for evalutation and given to me because we'd already ordered the book for the collection)

      Kinda sad, kinda expected, kinda thought the "truth" was a lot worse than it turned out to be.
    • 3/5
      Like many people, I picked this up because the cover was intriguing (and reminded me of Crossed), but the book is nothing like any sort of dystopian novel. I enjoyed this book because it was a short tale, but realistic. It's the story of two friends and their totally messed up families -- and their lives can be intertwined together, both on purpose and by accident. It's also about how important it is for parents to talk to and pay attention to their kids.
    • 4/5
      When I first added Pearl to my to be read list, I initially thought it was a paranormal read without reading the summary. The cover of Pearl is deceiving since Pearl isn’t a supernatural read whatsoever…it’s contemporary. I have to remind myself all the time to not judge a book’s pages by it’s cover. Pearl is a story about two very flawed, imperfect, and dysfunctional families, dysfunctional may be an understatement. Many secrets and lies are hidden among both families who are connected by Henry and Pearl(aka Bean). I love how close and comfortable Henry and Bean are since they’ve been best friends since they were seven and have their fathers being absent from the lives in common. They both only have each other has friends which makes them even closer.What occurred in the pages of Pearl, I wasn’t expecting. I’m not sure what I was expecting while reading this or even beforehand, probably a love story of some sort, but that’s far from what I read. No complaining is coming from me because at certain points while reading Pearl, I was a bit stunned. I had my mouth hung open in astonishment at one point while reading Pearl, If I was to tell you what it was, it would ruin the book for you. Pearl is a book if you mention too many things, you will be very spoiled and I try to stay away from those pesky spoilers.
    • 3/5
      This book is really fast read for me. I was able to easily step in to the story cause of the major drama going on. The plot line of this book is simple yet significant.Lots of secrets, floating around revealing themselves one by one that you are hooked on it like a Spanish novella.I love the main character Bean. She demanded answers and got them. Even though they weren't what she expected she handle it the best that she could. She knew her mother held secrets, she just never thought it would affect her life so greatly. I have to admit, that what the mother did was just, crazy. T he secrets she held cause so much trouble not only in her life but in her daughters as well. I felt like the mother was selfish and didn't take the chance to even help daughter. One thing t hat I also like in this book is the one stable relationship Bean had. I believe that without Henry, Bean would just be lost. I am happy that she had someone that she cared for there for her and honest with her. He didn't judge her or get angry with her. Instead he stood by her like the best friend he is and just held her. Their friendship could stand the test of anything and they both get through it. Pearl is a filled with dark secrets that finally come to light. Secrets that have been held for so long that they busted from the seem of the book blinding the reader. I gasped like I don't know how many times! At times it was intense, with angry emotions and saddness. Other times, you were finally happy the truth is out and everyone can just breathe.
    • 4/5
      Bean (née Pearl) and Henry, misfits and best friends, have the strangest mothers in town. Henry’s mom Sally never leaves the house. Bean’s mom Lexie, if she is home, is likely nursing a hangover or venting to her friend Claire about Bean’s beloved grandfather Gus, the third member of their sunny household.Gus’s death unleashes a host of family secrets that brings them all together. And they threaten to change everything—including Bean’s relationship with Henry, her first friend, and who also might turn out to be her first love.I'm not sure how to review Pearl. On one side, I really like this book, as a coming-of-age novel it's wonderfully well written and flows really well. On the other side, I hate it. I find it dull and the plot predictable and the characters stereotypical. So, I will write what I enjoyed about it, as I rated it four stars, which means I did like it a lot.Pearl is an an engaging character, she's never really had any relationship with her mother and her Grandfather's death really gives her that chance to get closer to her. Pearl is just growing up and her feelings for Henry are no longer that of a playmate, so it's nice reading about her exploring that. Henry's character, for me, however, doesn't really have me interested. He's there, but if he disappeared I don't think I'd actually notice. He's quite a background character.In a lot of ways this book is really about growing up. As I mentioned, Pearl is growing up and after Gus dies, so is her Mother. Just not in the right way. Her Mother, finally feeling free lets her friend pretty much move in and they do all the stuff that you would expect teenagers to do - pyjama parties, hair dying, you get the idea.Henry's and Pearl's relationship isn't what you'd expect from seeing the cover. Their relationship is closer to that of a brother and sister, so I'd like to see in a sequel if their relationship can work. One extra thing I should mention for YA fans - do you look at the cover and think, I know that cover! You should check out Matched by Ally Condie, you might be surprised. Needless to say, Pearl is nothing like Matched.