I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Jacaranda Abbott has always tried to keep her mouth shut. As a foster kid, she's learned the hard way that the less she talks about her mother and why she's in jail, the better. But when a video of Jacaranda singing goes viral, a mysterious benefactor offers her a life-changing opportunity--a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school to study musical theater. Eager to start over somewhere new, Jacaranda leaps at the chance. She pours her heart out in emails to the benefactor she's never met.

Suddenly she's swept up in a world of privilege where the competition is fierce and the talent is next level. As Jacaranda--Jackie to her new friends--tries to find her place, a charming boy from this world of wealth catches her eye. She begins to fall for him, but can he accept her for who she really is?

Short and Sweet

After someone records a video of Jacaranda singing in a grocery store, a mysterious benefactor decides to send her to a boarding school to learn about musical theater. At the school Jacaranda thinks this is a great time to start over fresh no one has to know that her mother is in prison and that she’s been living in foster homes. Jacaranda writes emails to her benefactor and tells him everything going on in her life. Jacaranda also meets a boy, but will he stay when he learns the truth about her past?

Characters

Jacaranda: Jacaranda has learned it’s better not to talk about her mother and why she’s in prison. Jacaranda has had to live in foster homes and it’s been rough, so when she gets the opportunity to attend the boarding school she takes it. Jacaranda was a great main character it was hard not to love her. She was just entertaining and it was like seeing the world through her eyes. I loved how in awe she was of everything and she never took anything for granted.

Romance

Jacaranda and Jarvis: Jarvis is Phoebe’s cousin and he meets Jacaranda when he comes to visit Phoebe. These two were so cute together and I felt so natural and real between them. They were able to share their lives with each other (mostly) and they supported each other and were excited for one another. The only thing was Jacaranda always felt bad that Jarvis didn’t know about her mother so that always made her want to rethink things with Jarvis. I thought Jarvis was sweet though, even though he didn’t know what Jacaranda was hiding he would always try to reassure her that things would be okay between them.

My Thoughts

~ The book is written in emails, everything we read is Jacaranda writing emails to Mr. Smith. I thought it was great I liked how she basically recapped her day and experiences for him.

~ We don’t know who Mr. Smith is and neither does Jacaranda and I think that’s the great part, its a bit of a mystery.

~ Jacaranda meets Daisy and Phoebe. Daisy and Jacaranda hit it off but Phoebe and Jacaranda start off as frenemies. I really liked Daisy and Phoebe, Daisy was always there and someone Jacaranda could go to. Even though Phoebe and Jacaranda didn’t start off as the best of friends they do become good friends and I was glad because they helped each other a lot.

~ As Jacaranda learns there’s fierce competition and talent in the theater world but that doesn’t scare her off it just makes her work harder.

~ There was a big twist at the end that I wasn’t expecting, I think my jaw dropped it was crazy and I wasn’t prepared.

~ The pacing of the book was great and being a part of Jacaranda’s world was the best thing. I loved the characters and all of the emails it made it feel like I was there with her!

Overall

I loved this book! It was so cute and reading all of Jacaranda’s emails to Mr. Smith never got boring, I loved all of the updates she gave him. This book was amazing and I would read it again. I read this so fast it was hard to put down and following Jacaranda around while she navigates this new life and these new experiences was heartwarming and just put a smile on my face!