Sass & Serendipity, by Jennifer Ziegler

Sass & Serendipity by Jennifer Ziegler is a new take on Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.  That is where my comparisons end between the two books, because I never read Sense and Sensibility.  Rain your shame down on me classical lovers, but I got through as many as I could in my lifetime and I really enjoy modern writing styles a lot more, so I'm sorry.  I can tell you how I feel about this book though and I thought it was really good.  It's about two sisters who are so different it's hard to believe they're sisters at times.  Daphne thinks everything in life can be better dealt with once she has a fresh coat of lip gloss on and Gabby doesn't even see the point of wearing lip gloss.  Gabby is serious, dedicated and ready to help her single mom with everything, be it the bills or trying to keep Daphne in line.  Daphne just wants to be a kid and misses her dad more than anything.  The divorce was hard on both girls and they've both taken very different views on the whole thing.  Daphne feels like an outsider in her own home and wishes she could just go live with her dad, but if not, she's definitely going to partake in some fun teenage activities like going to prom.  Gabby, on the other hand, can't believe how selfish her younger sister is.  They're struggling financially and Gabby almost hates Daphne for spending precious money on a prom dress when she hasn't even been asked to the prom yet.  Gabby wonders how her little sister can be so self-absorbed and inconsiderate and Daphne wonders how her older sister can be such a killjoy and a pessimist.  When their financial difficulties get even worse it's liable brings out the best or the worst from each sister and their relationship is put to the ultimate test.  Will they learn to meet in the middle or just drift farther apart?  I would recommend Sass & Serendipity to any fans of coming-of-age, books about family and sisters, romance, YA in general, Jane Austen (apparently lol) or stories about overcoming hardships.

Favorite things: the contrasting personalities of the two sisters, the love story which gave the book another layer without taking over completely, the name Mule (which is apparently short for Samuel and oh-so memorable), the descriptions (especially one of a pink dress that stands out in my mind), the lessons each sister were able to learn, the wildly different perspectives each one had on the same thing and the pace which kept me interested and allowed me to read this book rather quickly.

Criticisms:  the character flaws each sister were given were a bit annoying and frustrating to read about, some things seemed so obvious that I wanted to shout through the pages for the girl to notice and pay attention and I personally didn't like the cover that much. 

Overall:  5 out of 5 stars!  This was a nice change from the paranormal and fantasies I've been reading lately.  :)

Note:  I was able to read this book as part of an ARC tour in exchange for my honest review.  I did not pay for this book, however that did not affect my opinion or review in any way.