Firstly, thank you to Nicole with The Book Report Network for sending me a copy of this book! Simply from reading the synopsis, I thought it sounded like an interesting premise and a promising story. Upon starting the book, I realized it was set in the 80's, which I also found to be a nice change from the modern setting that is usually depicted in stories lately. While I initially found the relationship between Tessa and her mother (and their move to an ashram) intriguing, ultimately the story fell flat for me.I think the reason it didn't resonate is that I simply couldn't relate to the characters. I have never felt the way Tessa did, nor did I ever contemplate acting the way she did and making some of the decisions she chose. While this is supposed to be a young adult novel, I was really turned off by the amount of sex and drug use that was depicted. I guess it happens, but I have to admit if I had a 14-year old daughter, I would not want her reading this novel, nor do I really feel that is appropriate for anyone in that general age group. The first part of the story that focused on the move to the ashram and the effect it had on Tessa and her mother was certainly interesting, but the story started going downhill shortly thereafter.The writing is generally solid, with my only complaint being the use of first person point of view. I seem to have become more sensitive to that lately and I really thought some of the phrases felt awkward simply because they were written in first-person. So, while I can appreciate that many people would probably enjoy Karma for Beginners, it did not work for me, nor would I feel comfortable recommending it to others. 14-year-old Tess lives with her mom in....well that's kind of the problem. They move around A LOT. Some people might call Tess's mom, Sarah, a freak, but she'd prefer to be called a free spirit. It's Sarah's quest for happiness and personal fulfillment at lands the two of them at a compound for an off beat spiritual group (read: cult). While Sarah feels she's finally found where she belongs, Tess feels more lost than ever. The only person who makes her feel grounded is 20-year-old Colin. Tess starts to lie to everyone around her in order to spend time with Colin - and that's just the start of her problems.I wasn't amazed by this book, but I did like it. Tess and Sarah were both compelling characters and at times I didn't know who I felt more sorry for - Tess, who's own mother is so self-absorbed she misses her daughter's birthday, or Sarah, who wants acceptance so badly she's willing to do anything for it. Actually, you could aruge that both characters crave acceptance, love, understanding and are both incredibly self-absorbed (although Tess, at 14/15 is supposed to be).Tess's budding relationship with Colin is so disturbing. I can understand Tess getting so wrapped up, but the fact that Colin didn't see anything wrong with it REALLY bothers me. I did have a small problem with the time frame. The best I could figure, the book is set in the mid to late 80's, but aside from the author wanting to be able to reference music, I didn't see any particular reason for it. I'd be reading along, then there'd be an 80's music reference that would totally throw me off.Overall this was a good book. I'd recommend it for high school readers because of the drug use and sex scenes.
What do You think about Karma For Beginners (2009)?
Interesting character study that had me at the beginning, but really lost me at the end.
—banniegirl
It was freaking weird and I might have actually hated it.
—jdreher777
