It's rare that we get YA about freshman in college, so I was super excited to dive into this. It was adorable and compulsively readable. I found Danielle relatable from the first page, and Porter was all sorts of swoony. I also really appreciated the solid, drama-free friendship between Danielle and Zoe. A solid debut.

Danielle had big plans to go to Ohio state, she even had the toilet cover seat! When she fails her senior English class Ohio State revokes her acceptance. Danielle doesn't have a plan b until she decides to make up the class at community college. She gets a job at a bookstore where she meets the smirking Porter. She gets back in touch with childhood crush Luke who happens to be Porter's roommate. Perhaps going to community college won't be so bad after all.

In an Oyster Shell - The narrative is a bit dry and hard to get into at first, it ends really well.

The Pearls - I just love the title. The Big F it is so ominous. It reminded me of the Scarlett Letter. The cover with the big F on it helped to add to that reminder. The cover, title, and description is what drew me into this book. I am glad that I read it.

The romance was not typical. Danielle ends up with her childhood crush Luke. His roommate and her co-worker seem to be a better boyfriend to her even though they are not dating. It's not really a love triangle which is nice. It is just a juxtaposition of two guys that Danielle happens to be interacting with.

Danielle was an okay heroine. She didn't jump off the pages for me. Her best friend Zoe, however, was really fun and stole the show. She was vibrant and the greatest best friend a girl could ask for.  Zoe really jazzed up the narrative.

The Sand -  The narrative was a little dull. It wasn't exciting so it took me a while to get through it. I do like how it ended.

I enjoyed this book so much more than I was anticipating I would! Seriously. I'm positive it's now up in my top ten favorite YA contemporaries now!

Dani is a character everyone will be able to relate to on a certain level, whether you're still in your teens and unsure of your future or even if you're an adult that's at a crossroad in your life. She messed up big time - failing a class that eventually led to the college of her dreams to revoke her acceptance? That screams failure because what is she supposed to do now?

The thing I admired most about Dani was the way she owned up to her mistakes. Sure, she gave herself time to feel sorry for herself, she is human after all. But in the end she came up with her own plan and got sh*t done. She didn't rely on her mom, the one person who could easily fix everything for her, but grew up fast because she had to. This made it easy to relate to her and root for her happy ending.
As her plans change, Dani begins dealing with life at college and I enjoyed this part of the story! We get sort of the in-between that we don't see too often. We're usually about to graduate with characters or we meet them when they've been in college for some time.. But it was fun reading through Dani's college experience as she went through them all.

Taking a pause on speaking about Dani's personal plot.. Let's talk about the romance because I LOVED IT!! When I think of love triangles my usual response is WHYYYYYY?! But this one worked out perfectly for Dani's story and both of the guys were great. They play certain roles in the story and IT WAS JUST PERFECT OKAY. Of course.. Porter was always my favorite since day one. He is so caring and the way he opens Dani's eyes to the side of herself that she's always had was super sweet. He helped her embrace her OWN hopes and dreams for her life. SWOOON.

Gahh, there is so much to love about this story. The family dynamics were great, I really enjoyed her relationship with her younger brother! HER BEST FRIEND IS THE ACTUAL BEST! (Can we get a book about her please?!) Everything readers love about YA contemporaries is in this book. And fans of Kasie West or Morgan Matson are sure to love this one. Maggie Ann Martin's writing felt much like theirs but definitely stood out on its own in a beautiful way. She was able to weave everything important in life into Dani's story and I loved the outcome of it all.

Overall, I highly recommend this book! If you're looking for something light to read but still want a heartwarming story then pick this up!! So swoony, great self-discovery, and lots of family and friendship moments!

Say hello to one of my fav book this year : The Big F by Maggie Ann Martin
I finished this book in one sitting last Sunday. I love everything about this book: the cover, the writing, the plot and the characters. The book made me happy and left wanting more I really recommended you to add it on your TBR. The Big F will be released on 29th August 2017.
Thank you Macmillankidsbooks, Swoonreads, and Netgalley for giving me e-ARC

I really enjoyed this story by Maggie Ann Martin! A fun, contemporary romance that explores the world of a young woman who is trying to figure out what her future may hold. After failing her AP English course, Danielle chooses to attend the local community college for a semester and to get a work study job. She finds herself at the school bookstore, making new friends and trying to figure out Porter, the boy who is constantly recording things in a notebook and makes her a little crazy. Danielle reconnects with her childhood crush and a relationship quickly begins, while Danielle is trying to figure out what she really wants in life. I loved the different settings of the story, specifically the scenes at the bookstore and the English class. Danielle is struggling with her relationship with her mother throughout the story and it really does well illustrating the pressure parents put on their kids (and themselves) to follow a dream that not everyone may be on board with. I found that Dani was a likeable character and I adored the spark that Porter brought out in her. I didn't think that this would become a love triangle book and I'm very happy with how it ends! Looking forward to more from this author!

A heartwarming debut about family, friendship, and love, Maggie Ann Martin's The Big F tells the relatable story of a girl whose life just took a huge 360.

With a college-savvy mom and a rejection letter from her dream school, Ohio State, Danielle's plan for life takes a turn as her secret is exposed and she has to attend her local community college.

She meets her old crush & neighbor, Luke, who dazzles her with his charm, while his roommate, Porter, initially does the opposite.

Danielle's in for a journey of self-discovery that strengthens her connections with her family, friends, and most of all, herself.

I really loved reading The Big F. Like the title suggests, this is such a fun and lighthearted story that follows along with Danielle and how she works to overcome the issues as a teenager.

I related to this story a lot, especially as a teenager with college approaching rapidly. The stress Danielle is under is huge, and having a mom like hers doesn't seem to help much.

Either way, Danielle manages to work with grace. You can't help liking her since she's such a fun and relatable character. Some people might argue that there's a lack of depth in her character, but we can't expect all characters to have overly elaborate backstories. She says it herself when reconnecting with her old crush, Luke. Danielle had a good childhood and it the years were mostly school, friends, and family. Not everything in life has to be over elaborate.

I really enjoyed the entire plot. It's very classic contemporary teen fiction and reminds me a lot of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell with the freshman in college and themes of coming of age as well as some awesome literature teachers. If you liked Fangirl, I believe you'll love reading The Big F.

Martin's debut was pace very nicely and I never felt bored in the two hours I spent reading it. It wasn't awkward in transitioning and Martins prose and descriptions don't lug down the plot.

With such a lighthearted story, some people might think there's not a lot of messages in the work, but I think The Big F has its own messages, though different than other novels.

It's primarily a coming of age novel and follows along with Danielle as she forges her own path. Sometimes you just have to go where life takes you and stop thinking too much about the future.

There's a certain timeless quality to simplicity and just going back to the bare roots. I think this is what Martin managed to expertly do. The Big F wasn't overly dramatic--there weren't any serial killer ex-boyfriends or over the top love triangles. It was just Danielle, ordinary girl, trying to make something of her life and leave a legacy.

Life doesn't always end up how we want it to. Not getting into your dream college won't kill you (something I'll have to remember over the next few years). This novel is so important in showing how the ordinary can still be extraordinary.

One of the portions that I think could have used more stressed was the actual 'F' portion of the novel. Obviously, Danielle gets an F in her AP Literature class she fails, but I think this symbol could have appeared more in the novel.

All of the chapter titles start with an F-word & definition, such as "Failure." I think the F could have been a more important part of the novel, but the symbolism Martin uses already does a great job.

The romance wasn't the primary part of the novel which was refreshing. I liked seeing how Danielle interacted with the love interests (yes, plural) while still keeping a rational mind. Unlike other hormone driven teenagers, Danielle did a great job of not infuriating the reader with unwise decisions. She's one of those honest characters that make you wish you had someone like her as a best friend. 

Overall, The Big F was a fun and light story that I would definitely recommend to contemporary lovers who are looking for an easy read. This novel instills the reader with a nice sense of hope, and it definitely helped calm my nerves about the upcoming school year.

Don't forget to look out for The Big F, coming on August 29th! I know what's going onto my bookshelf next! 😉

******Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group via Netgalley.

This book was so incredibly cute! Danielle was such a likable relatable character. She made a F in her AP English class and because of this she was denied acceptance to Ohio State. Once Danielle came to terms with the consequences, she made a realistic plan to try and fix her mistake. I really liked how leveled headed and proactive she was. Danielle struggled with things all normal college freshman struggle with classes, love, relationships with family and friends, and trying to determine who she wants to be. This was such a great read about what happens when life doesn't go quiet how you expect it, and what you do to achieve your goals anyway.

Summary:
Danielle has had one goal in life...to get into Ohio State and she did it.  She had her acceptance letter in hand and was ready to move on to campus but then she failed a class senior year and her acceptance has been revoked.  Now, Danielle has to scramble to make a new plan but with help of her family, her best friend, an old crush, and a new friend she may find a better path then anything she had ever  imagined.

Review:
This book is getting a lot of love on Goodreads and I've got to say I don't get it.  The basic premise of this book is great.  Danielle is recent high school grad trying to find her place in the world just as her childhood crush returns and there is a little romantic reconnection.  Sounds like the perfect start to a flirty fun book that I would normally love except that's basically all there is in this book.  I wasn't particularly impressed by Danielle or her crush Luke.  They just never felt real or made me care about them, their issues, or their relationship.  I had a very similar response to Porter Kohl the new boy who may steal Danielle's heart.  He had a difficult past that alluded to but never really explained.  What were all the issues with his parents and did they purposely name him something that was allusion to the famous song writer Cole Porter or did no one in the creation of the book notice this.

However, I may have been able to ignore the weak character development and way to familiar plot if I hadn't been beyond annoyed about the the pages upon pages of inaccuracies about living in Cleveland area and The Ohio State University.  I will admit this is a personal pet peeve of mine. It seems that many authors like to base their stories in my home state without really knowing that much about Ohio and I would be surprised if I was the only one that noticed the issues.  First things first, the school is 'The Ohio State University' which means official letters from the school would not just say Ohio State.  The "the" is part of the schools name and not just a weird quirk of alumni as implied in the book.  Someone whose parents were alumni and was planning to attend the school should know this...it's literally on tee-shirts.  Secondly, community colleges in Ohio don't have football teams.  It just not something we do so it doesn't make sense for Luke to attend a community college of a football scholarship.  At some point in the book Danielle is considering transferring to Case Western Reserve University.  Danielle failed one class in high school and calls herself a C student when referencing another class...um, she's not getting into Case Western Reserve which is one of the most difficult school to get into in the state.  Plus, I couldn't figure out why the city Danielle lived in was fictitious but Porter is from a real city in the area.  Individually, I would have thought "Oh, this is a first time author and they didn't research well enough" but when everything is added together it made the book feel sloppy.

Bottomline: I'm sure there are some romance fans that will really love this book but I am not one of those people.  The writing and characters didn't work for me and the story was a little to familiar and followed a very obvious path so I recommend that readers beware before settling down to read "The Big F".

Final Rating: 2 out of 5

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dani Cavanaugh’s mom has planned out her whole future for her. As a college psychic, her mom works with high school seniors to help them find the ideal program and school for their interests. For Dani, a major in communications at Ohio State was the plan. Not in the plan was Dani failing her senior year English class and getting her OSU admission revoked. Dani’s determined to get her life back on track, so she enrolls at her local community college with plans to transfer to OSU next semester. But what happens when she realizes that her big life plan might not be what she wants anymore?

I first found out about this book through That Artsy Reader Girl’s 2017 Debut Author Challenge. Imagine my surprise when I found it on Netgalley and then was actually approved for an ARC! This turned out to be one of my favorite debuts of 2017.

If I’m totally honest, I wasn’t so sure about it when I first started reading. It took awhile for me to really get sucked in by the writing, and my natural state as #1 problem solver kept trying to kick in for Dani. I found myself thinking, “What kind of high school teacher fails a kid based on one paper? I’m sure she could have contested that.” I thought, “What kind of parents don’t care about what their daughter actually wants? Why are they more concerned about her lying than about the fact that she literally felt like she couldn’t tell them about her admission being revoked?” I also thought, “This is a good warning as to why you shouldn’t declare your major before you even start college.” But then I told myself to turn my brain off and just enjoy this book. And I did.

Initially, Dani is upset about her plans changing. She’d been accepted to Ohio State, a well-respected Big Ten university, and was now walking into the admissions office of Denton Community College with her tail between her legs. But it turns out that DCC is a really good fit for her. She makes friends. Her classes are tough but enjoyable. She even reconnects with her old neighbor and the two start dating.

Dani really takes her future into her own hands. She gets herself a job at the college bookstore so that she can save up money for her inevitable transfer. (I am super jealous because I would have loved to work at my university’s book store.) She finds herself an internship in a field that she loves. She grows as a person and becomes more responsible and more mature.

There are two main conflicts in this book. The first is between Dani and her mother. Because Dani’s mother, for as famous of a psychic as she is supposed to be, does not understand her daughter at all. She wants her daughter to be someone that she’s not, and it frustrated me immensely. Her mother even grounds her. Grounds her. I was, in general, pretty respectful of my mother while growing up, but I think I would have laughed in her face if she’d tried to ground me while I was in college. Dani is an adult. She is allowed to have her own opinions and make her own mistakes. I really disliked Dani’s mother for failing to realize that.

The second main conflict is between Dani and Luke, her childhood neighbor that she begins dating at the beginning of the book. Growing up, Dani had a huge crush on Luke. He was her best friend’s older brother and she swooned over him at every chance. Now, they’re both grown up and taking advantage of the fact that they’re allowed to be alone and kiss each other and nobody can stop them. But, the thing is, we never really feel any chemistry between them. Aside from their first kiss, they just kind of coexist on the page. Dani has a thousand times more chemistry with Porter, her coworker and Luke’s roommate, than she ever had with Luke. But much like Ohio State had always been Dani’s dream, so has dating Luke. Dani has to reconcile the fact that sometimes your dreams don’t turn out the way you want them to. That sometimes dreams can change, and that’s normal and okay.

I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Maggie Ann Martin definitely did justice to the genre, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

A perfect coming of age YA story, reminiscent of the books I read as a teen, focusing on family, friends, and love. Delightfully charming and witty.

"Being lost, being without the plan I'd armed myself with my entire life, got me out of my comfort zone in ways that challenged me and forced me to grow as a person."

Maggie Ann Martin debut? I dub thee for fans of Kasie West and Morgan Matson.

The Big F by Maggie Ann Martin was a breath of fresh air in the YA contemporary category. Instead of a story about a 16 year old falling for that one guy that sweeps her off her feet in the most unexpected ways we are given the story of post high school but not quite adult. Where YA contemporary has steadily given us that high school romance and NA/Chicklit gives us those mid-twenties/fresh out of college taking on the world through middle age stories, Martin has delivered us a refreshing story that manages to land right in the middle. While The Big F dances around the typical tropes it doesn’t exactly take the same path.

Dani is fresh out of high school and as the daughter of a college guru she is on her way to the college of her dreams or not. She’s failed her AP English class and her acceptance into the communications program has been taken away leaving her without a college plan. That is until she meets Luke, the boy next door who held her heart till he moved away when she was 11, wearing a t-shirt advertising the local community college. She finds herself enrolled into a community college as a last ditch effort to hopefully get back on track. If only she could figure out how to handle her new budding relationship, passing her classes and getting back into the good graces of her parents.

The Story-Like I said before, I loved that this didn’t follow all the typical YA contemporary tropes, but they are there, just not obnoxiously…

Firstly, lets touch on the base that she has a healthy relationship with parents that are, wait a minute, still together. There was no tragic death of one of her parents or a divorce sparking some kind of character building. Her parents were together, her family spent time together, and her brother was normal. Now, this book didn’t pretend that the world was perfect as her friends have had their own parental issues. It just wasn’t one of the defining issues for Dani. In fact, everything Dani goes through is self-inflicted and she figures it out on her own.

The boy next door trope is probably the biggest cliché in this book. Thankfully, the story doesn’t completely drive this one home, and uses it merely as a spring board for the plot. You know what the best part of this one was? It was almost more of a reach for a familiar connection rather than the one next door that is suddenly confessed to.

Lastly, the friend that sets you right trope. Dani had two friends like this. She had a friend to set her right emotionally, and a friend to check her when she was drowning academically, what a lucky girl. Even though they were there for her though, it wasn’t like her friends had to knock her silly and talk sense into her; they were just there for that extra push.

Was this the next story to make your heart break into a million pieces and then soar to the moon? No, but it’s the type of book you can enjoy over a weekend, silently cheering her on and grinning and her foolheartedness

The Characters-

Dani-Okay, I really liked her. I think my favorite part of her was that though she had her romantic tendencies she felt so tangible. She was realistic, straight forward, and had her weaknesses that didn’t put her in the damsel in distress category. Despite making some key choices that she has to fix, she is still fairly level headed. She doesn’t need people telling her what to do, just the usual pat on the back and reassuring words.

Luke-What can I say really? He is pretty much the perfect boy next door. What makes him so perfect? He is the boy we dream about when we’re 11 but realize that everyone has their flaws even if they sit on such a high pedestal.

Porter-Everyone needs that one friend that shakes things up. Porter is that friend that introduces you to new things without making you go buck wild crazy that your family is completely concerned. I feel like all the Porters of the world are underappreciated, and I thank Martin for helping the “gangly boy” stand out.

Zoe-This girl has got to be the best wing woman ever. Martin did such a good job of incorporating a supportive friend without her own issues becoming the plot of the story. Zoe isn’t some magical creature that doesn’t have any drama per se, but the book wasn’t about her and she did a stellar job as a supporting character by not stealing any drama thunder.

The Connection- Personally, I have always felt completely detached whenever I read about the following things in YA contemporaries who were obsessed with going to a university. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against this age old tradition of kids graduating high school and heading off to college. I loved that this book showed a little bit more of the alternative – the wonderful world of community college.

I consider my town a college town. Spokane has both Gonzaga and Whitworth, a remote campus for WSU downtown, EWU just a stone throw away in Cheney and two community colleges. I had the luxury of going to both community colleges over the course of five years, and while I missed the whole dorm/sorority bit, I don’t feel like I missed out on all that much as far as my education goes. I think one of my favorite parts of the book was really that Martin didn’t dog against community college, even though Dani’s mother was a consultant for college acceptance. It was refreshing to be reminded that while they don’t typically offer 4 year degrees, they are an amicable stepping stone for transferring to university for either catching up on requirements for a program or simply determining that maybe you don’t know exactly what you want to do.