Member Reviews
It’s been a while since I read a coming of age story, and 806 seemed really different and unique, so I wanted to give it a try. It’s the story of three siblings (well, half-siblings if you want to get technical) heading out on a quest together to find their father. It sounded nice and light and cheerful, something I could desperately use right now (between reading one too many thrillers and the constant winter weather fluctuations, something happy sounds perfect right about now).
Our three main characters, KT (real name Katie, but insists on it being pronounced Kay-tee), Jesse, and Gabe. KT is pretty much a walking teenage girl stereotype; she’s in a rock band, dyes her hair, is a vegetarian, and a total brat. She’s also the main perspective for this story. The three children have nothing in common, except for the fact that they all have the same father. They all have the same sperm donor, number 806, as their father. Together they’re hoping to find him.
I wish I could say I ended up enjoying this book, especially because I really wanted a change in what I was reading, and this seemed like such a perfect choice. Unfortunately I didn’t, and it was actually a struggle to finish this one.
I will say that while I was annoyed with the book at parts (more on that later), I did really enjoy the lighter tone for the writing style. The problem is it really shouldn’t have been as light and fluffy as it was. It was jarring to have these kids trying to figure out who they are by hunting for their father – something that’s incredibly difficult to deal with, and yet the tone is pretty jovial. So while it was a bit odd, it did carry me through a good chunk of the book that way, so I guess I appreciate it.
Part of the problem was I really didn’t like KT. While she may be a teenager that does not excuse the way she treats everyone around her. She stomps all over her mother, saying nasty things that she knows will hurt her, all to get her way. She hated her step siblings on sight, because they weren’t ‘cool enough’ for her. And to make matters worse, she’s a pushy vegetarian that makes all others look bad. A toxic combination, to say the least.
I also have some real concerns about some of the subject matter in this book. All throughout the novel KT is being…well to be frank she’s being stalked. There’s a guy that has a massive crush on her, and even though she’s been more than clear about her lack of interest in him, he continues to pursue her and ask her out. He even goes so far as to hitchhike across the country to follow her. I can’t say this firmly enough: this is not healthy. Everyone reacts like it’s no big deal, and actually judge KT for telling him no. Again, this is not okay. In the end (spoiler warning) KT even ends up with the stalker. Let me say it again, this is not healthy or okay. I feel like the book went out of its way to normalize what is so very clearly an unhealthy and dangerous relationship.
My other concern has to do with the trouble of finding the children’s father. The whole thing is told in a fantastical sort of way, with unrealistic twists and turns throughout. It’s not being at all sensitive to the fact that there are real people in the world who have “do not contact” sperm donors for parents, and it doesn’t magically work out for them like it does here. This is also where the jovial tone really doesn’t help the plot. How am I to believe that any of these kids are actually struggling about who they are, when none of them actually seem to care? (Discounting the occasional temper tantrum here and there).
On the whole this book was a huge flop for me. Maybe if I hadn’t gone into it hoping to love it…but no I still think I would have hated KT and the really unhealthy subtext to this story. It’s such a shame too, because if this actually had been a happy story to match the writing style I might have loved it.
I was so excited for this book when I read the summary. I love the idea of a bunch of misfit siblings banding together to find their sperm donor father on a cross-country roadtrip. I'm a huge sucker for roadtrip stories, one of my favourite subgenres (if I can call it that) of YA, so from the description, this book had everything I was looking for.
Unfortunately, it had none of the execution. Full disclosure: I made it halfway through the book before I had to put it down, when I realised I had lost track of what was happening and I didn't care for any of the characters.
The story got off to a sudden and bumpy start, with a painfully obnoxious and downright awful main character. Katie, or KT as she snaps at her mother, as though there's any real difference in pronunciation (certainly not enough to warrant her attitude) learns that the man she thought was her father is impotent. Her real father is a sperm donor, number 806 from the local sperm bank.
From very early on, I was wary of Katie (sorry, KT) as a protagonist, as she had a vile attitude and seemed too erratic to be believable, and it's a wonder she had any friends left to be mean to. I stuck it out, though, in anticipation of a plot that could potentially redeem - and change! - her character.
It isn't long before KT manages to track down two siblings she didn't know before - who happen to be two boys in her year at high school. I have a problem with this as it seems irresponsible of the parents not to let their children know that they're the product of a sperm donor who, apparently, was a serial donor in the area. The potential for accidental incest is too high for comfort.
KT's reaction to finding out who her siblings are is one of the most irritating scenes, I found. She snaps from being excited about having siblings, and hoping for a sister despite being a selfish creature, to being disgusted when she finds out her brothers are "the jock" and "the nerd." If I didn't know better, I could easily have been convinced that I was reading a first attempt at a novel by a thirteen-year-old on Wattpad. There was no justification behind KT's attitude, other than that, basically, the jock is too stupid to be her brother, and the nerd is too ... nerdy.
Right.
The pacing was all off, which really jarred me. When the three of them receive a reply from 806 on the website, they immediately go on a drive to meet him (very early on in the story) and end up having dinner with an African-American man. I had to track back several pages when it felt like I was reading some kind of weird dream sequence, especially when none of them seemed to realise that this guy clearly didn't father these white teenagers.
Although I only read half of the book, and I can't comment on overall growth, there was no character development in the pages that I read, as the three leapt from unlikely adventure to unlikely adventure packed with the most unrealistic teen angst and drama I've come across recently - and I've been reading an awful lot of YA. The story read like it was written by someone who has never been or known a teenage girl, so far out of touch with how teens act and speak.
I'd love to see this concept rewritten someday, or perhaps it's out there already, as I love the idea. There's a lot of potential for emotional exploration and development with this plot, but there was no sign of that here.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 1 Star (though I'd rate it negative stars if possible)
CW: offensive comment relating to homophobia, stalker behavior
I think I have found my least favorite book since The To-Do List by J.C. Miller, which I reviewed last year. Not since then have I found a book that so made me want to heave my phone through a window, and that includes the books I've already DNF'd this year.
I could almost respect this book if it were a satire of other books of similar genres, but I don't think it is. It takes itself far too seriously for how badly I found it to be written. The characters start out badly and get worse the more of them are introduced. The pacing is all over the place. The plot was flimsy at best. There were so many head shaking moments I felt like I was getting a headache.
The best I could say about this book is that the author clearly loved putting in as many musical references as possible. KT was always picking up a guitar, even if she didn't play it at the moment, or talking about the title of a song. I didn't know at the time I picked this book up, but the author is apparently a famous songwriter, so that'd account for those details.
Now I'll go into detail on the problems I had with 806:
The Characters
Kim, KT's mom: is a throwaway parent that is disrespected at every turn. She makes some questionable romantic choices, but never any that seem to put her and her daughter in danger, simply ones that don't lead to commitment or seem good enough according to her or KT's standards. That alone doesn't make her a bad person, though it certainly seems so to KT. What does make Kim less than a desirable character/mother is that she is so flimsy. There's no depth to her as a person other than this love obsessed person who chooses one wrong guy after another.
Kim's biggest mistake, and the one that infuriated me the most, is her handling of the KT-and-her-"dad" situation. All KT's life her mom has told her that Max, KT's "dad", walked out before she was born and when at 17 KT demands to see him, Kim gives her a Yellow Pages advert for his place of work. Off KT goes to confront him only to find out that a( he never left and b) he's not her dad in any sense of the word, she's actually the product of a sperm donor/potential inheritance scam. Why the F*** would you send your daughter off to someone she's never met, who she thinks is her FATHER, knowing full well he's going to blow the biggest secret of her life? That was a terrible character decision and terrible development.
KT: herself had a really grating personality. She was a caricature of a brat, someone who assumed they knew better than everyone around them, especially their mother. While granted she did not have the best example both due to the writer's fault and the character's personality, I'm not willing to place all the blame on KT's mother. KT had no respect for either her mother or anyone else. She even turns on her friend and band mate, Sasha, when she thinks Sasha got a tattoo, then plays off her vile reaction like it's a joke that she had a say in what Sasha does with her body. The only person who might have deserved the level of bratty behavior that oozed out of KT was Dylan, the third part of the band who was little more than a harasser and a whole other problem in the book.
She has no filter regarding other people, whether it be their sexualities or their dietary practices. KT is vegetarian and makes comments about being ready to be rid of Jesse and Gabe, her biological siblings, after they order meat products at their first meeting at a Fuddruckers. She barely knows them beyond passing high school stereotypes because they apparently attend the same school, but sees that as a fit idea to have towards others.
Then there's a moment when Jesse tells the group that his moms are splitting and he has to choose which he'll stay with. Instead of being compassionate and offering sympathies, KT's first response? "Did one of them go straight?" What the hell, KT? What the hell, Author?
Her prejudice against her bio sibs based on their apparent carnivore tendencies and her careless homophobic comment made me dislike her all the more.
Dylan: one of the most irritating characters of the book. He was a harasser for the sake of being a harasser and served no purpose to the narrative. Every moment he spoke was a painful one from a reader's perspective, particularly when he became a stalker. He shows up outside her bedroom to sing her a song her wrote, he tries to follow her to Arizona, all of this after repeated rebuffs. And does the author get anyone to recognize this, much less KT? NO! KT thinks it's sweet and ends up dating this creep at the end, after he stalks her across the country with Jesse's help, no less! No, honey, that's some danger right there.
Gabe/Jesse: Honestly, there wasn't much to get from either of these characters. They had some basic characteristics. Gabe like magic tricks and had allergies. Jesse was a jock that was good at swimming. That was about it. They had nothing built upon this foundation and I couldn't really get any sense of personality from them.
The Plot
It rushes and takes no time to develop anything, which is an enormous pet peeve of mine. There were so many coincidences and easy outs that I was surprised that the donor dad didn't end up calling them and telling them his address.
The plot was flimsy at best and utterly unbelievable at worst. There were "developments", such as donor numbers being mixed up (806 is actually 908), that sounded absurd. The cross country trip, which could have been pretty interesting, was based on even flimsier evidence than the donor numbers. From St. Lois to Sedona to L.A, the hijinks were ridiculous and felt like plot points pulled out of a hat of tricks rather than a well thought out journey.
I get that KT, Jesse, and Gabe are teenagers, but when you call the contact info your bio dad left to follow up a lead who you thought went to Harvard and find out that a) the office sounds like a pet hoarder's home and there's Jerry Springer playing in the background and b) it wasn't Harvard but "Horvard University", home of the mail order degrees in the "Artistry of Auras" and "Working With Your Animal Allies", are you really going to steal a car and go to Arizona? That seemed really, really stupid.
Conclusion: I really can't understand why this book went to print. It felt very poorly done. While the concept had promise, I believe it would have benefited from a lot of heavy editing, both for time and for characterization. There's no enjoyment in this book, nothing to keep a reader engaged. It would be a waste to print physical copies in its current state, I'm sorry to say.
I was immedaitely draw to this story because I love sibling-centric stories.. They're some of my all time favorites and I find the relationships to be so compelling and real. I also love the roadtrip element in the story - it adds a pace and youthful element that's just fun. Unfortunately, I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing, I found it to be simplistic and very "tell, not show." I also didn't connect to the characters as much as I expected, for this being so heavily focused on family. As a character-driven reader, this made the overall experience a little lackluster.
KT is a musician who longs to find her biological father, donor 806. When she searches for her father online, she finds out that she has two half brothers who couldn't be any more different. Jesse is a swimmer with a large female fanbase, and Gabe is an amateur magician who is allergic to everything. But, the three of them have a mission, to find donor 806. They decide to go on a road trip that leads them across the United States into the most unlikely of places from Vegas casinos to being chased by the police. Will they ever find their father?
806 is a light hearted fast-paced read with very little conflict or character depth. The entire novel reminded me of a made for t.v. tween movie where the all the characters crack lame jokes and puns no one would actually use in real life. KT, the narrator is a teenager full of teenage angst and rebelliousness with a fondness for black hair, and throwing blenders. But, deep down she is just a regular teenage girl who wants a father, and has commitment issues preventing her from realizing that the boy stalking her across the country might actually be "the one." Though, honestly, I just found him creepy how he popped up everywhere. Gabe is a typical nerd with a lack of dating history, and with a long list of allergies. But, Gabe's resourceful magic tricks come in handy. Jesse is the jock of the trio who is slightly vain but perceptive with an inferiority complex. The other adult characters are stereotypes of adults: the unlucky-in-love mom, the jealous girlfriend, and so on.
I liked the road trip setting, though I wish there could have been more pages devoted to the actual journey rather than the destination. It would have been nice to have more conversation between the newly found siblings. I probably would have found them less like cardboard cut outs if I had a chance to see them bond as a family rather than just call themselves members of "the Lucky Sperm Club." The entire story is fast-paced and hardly settles on one scene before taking off into a completely new direction, basically a novel where "this happens, then this happens, then this happens," and so on.
Overall, 806 was a mostly enjoyable novel made for a younger teenage audience. I would recommend this novel to preteens who are switching over into young adult novels.
I loved the characters in this book and how they all came together to find their biological father. On their journey, they learned a lot about life and themselves. I was really glad that 806 had a happy ending. This is really a great, quick read.
What would you do if you found out that your father wasn't the person you thought he was? For KT, this is just the beginning of a whirlwind adventure that leads her not only to her father and the family she never thought she had, but also to discovering more about herself.
KT knows that love is a big joke—she's seen it laugh in the face of her own mom plenty of times. So when her friend Dylan's overtures don't seem to phase her, she goes on a mission to find out more about herself by finding her father. What she gets in the process is a revelation that she's the daughter of an anonymous sperm donor—Donor 806—and a couple of brand new siblings that don't seem to be anything like her. They set out on a journey to find out who they are together and as individuals.
This book is a fun adventure, even though it deals with the pretty serious topic of finding yourself—whether that's because of or in spite of your family's influence and genetics. As a serious reader I probably shouldn't say this, but this story has a very cinematic quality—it could make an awesome movie. I didn't really pick up KT's serious hostility that's mentioned quite a lot in the book, but on the screen it would probably be much more apparent.
Overall, this is a great book for anyone that loves to go along on the quintessential YA journey with characters that are fun and seem pretty real.
Kt, Gabe, and Jesse come from different cliques in high school. Kt is a sarcastic music buff, Gabe is nerdy and allergic to everything, Jesse is a jock and popular with the girls. One day they find out they are siblings and they go on a road trip to find the man that is called donor 806.
I thought this book was interesting and the characters were fun and the story was fun.
I got this book in exchange for my honest feedback.
806 is a novel about a girl on the search for her dad. Katie, or KT, is our main character who is determined to find her dad. Along with her journey, she discovers she has siblings who she would’ve never thought would be related to her.
This was definitely a quick read and while the story had great potential, I sadly didn’t enjoy it overall.
I had a few issues with the content of the book. The first being the pace of the novel was very quick, too quick to be honest. Events unraveled at an unrealistic and accelerated pace. While I know it was considered a "fast-paced" read, I think it was too fast making it hard to enjoy the story.
The second thing would be the characters. The main character, KT, was very frustrating to read for me. I had a hard time relating to her or connecting with her at all. The teenage angst was too much and felt forced. With that being said, I did love Jesse and Gabe, they had really good personalities and developed well as the story progressed.
The luck of some of the events was very unrealistic and hard to believe. For example, stealing discreet files cannot be that easy. Also, Tricking an officer and evading legalities would never be so simple. I felt as if these were supposed to be a “plot twist” in the story, but the simplicity of each event and the frequency of such took away the realistic feel of the storyline.
The story definitely had a lot of potential with an interesting plot. I feel a few more revisions could help perfect the story. It was a light read and not at all heavy.
Overall, the story didn’t quite live up to my expectations and I was a little disappointed. Despite this, the story may be much more applicable to another reader as it wasn’t terrible!
I've been given an ARC by the editor and it had no influence whatsoever on my always honest opinion.
First I'd like to thank the editor for granting my wish on Netgalley.
A road trip between teenagers to discover their roots as in their biological father? Oh yes please!
I was really excited to read this story but sadly it did not meet my expectations.
I think it's also important that I got this book in a PDF format, not a MOBI one and ot made the reading experience on the Kindle somewhat difficult sometimes. Sentences were cut in the middle and went to the other line etc.
Anyway this read had an uneven quality.
Sometimes the characters sounded childish, immature and plain annoying with KT really despising her two other sibblings "Swimmy" alias "The Jock" and Gabe alias "The Nerd".
Other times we had depth in the story when Jimmy spoke with Gabe about being worthy.
What annoyed me the most really was KT's contempt about her sibblings. The teen angst was also too high for my liking (yet I have my own teenage drama queen at home). It also had many coincidences and some parts were hard to believe (surely it could not be so easy to enter a clinic and look into some files...).
I think this novel had its own humor that I missed somehow. Many will probably find it hilarious but sadly I could not relate.
What I loved though was how some of the characters entered a personal journey and developped into something more. The bond that grew among the siblings was also something really good to witness.
All in all a fast read that you may enjoy better than I did.
This book, by Cynthia Weil, is super fast paced, light and it brought ease into an otherwise heavy topic, i.e. finding their biological father. The main characters are really enjoyable and fun, not a problem with them. On a lower note though, this novel is a bit too predictable, which I don’t really like especially for my students. But anyway, this book is amazing!
This was cute. And sweet. Like, cotton candy sweet. Fluffy and sugary and airy. And Sweet. But surprisingly enjoyable for me, mainly because of the relationship that formed between KT, Gabe and Jesse. I was pretty hooked on all three characters from the start, and I wanted the book to end in a way that made all of them happy, and allow them to form a sibling bond. Finding their father, for me, was a bit of an after thought. If it worked out, great. If not, I felt like their friendship would be the more useful and impactful relationship for them. The last quarter/third of the book was pretty cheesy and hokey, but by then, I kind of didn't care. This was a quick, light, feel-good read. Nothing earth shattering or life-changing, although I did appreciate that the author was able to weave in some pretty good life lessons among all the sweet. So cute book, recommended for anyone looking for some fluff to help recover from something on the deeper, darker side. Somewhere between 3 and 3.5 stars.
This book was super cute. The story was about three teens who find out that they are related by their sperm donor father and they set out to meet him. Lots of twists and turns in their story which made it a good book, but very predicable down to the last page. I liked it though--quick fun read that had humor and heart. Lighthearted and but definitely not reality and like I said before extremely predictable. Thank you, NET GALLEY!!!!
It has been a long time since I have been a "youth", but I still very much enjoyed this YA book. No dragons or magic, except that which the author wove with her words. And as it turns out, she is the lyricists of some of my favorite songs.
Three teens are struggling with their identities. They each find out that their father was a sperm donor and through a website, Donor Sibling Registry, they connect with each other. After several misdirections and misadventures they manage to track down their father, who is delighted to meet them. While at first not liking each other very much, by the end of their road trips they feel like siblings. The story was quite appealing, characters endearing and seems to have ended with a HEA. I would recommend to young, old and those in between.
I was lucky to get the chance to read 806 by Cynthia Weil thanks to Netgalley. Look for the book to come out March 13, 2018. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
806 begins with a girl named KT, no this isn't her actual name but it's the name she goes by through the book, who is sick of seeing her mother going after all these lame guys. Her mother believes KT needs a father in her life and tries her best to get one, but none of the guys are the right one and always leave her mother broken. Finally one night her mother tells her the name of her father and she goes to find him at his place of work. She goes to him and finds out he's not her real father. She finally is told by her mom that she used a donor. KT looks for her birth father online and instead finds her very annoying siblings who are also looking for their father. Together they go across the country looking for their father in a beat up jeep.
I really enjoyed this book but for the version they gave me I didn't like how they separated the chapters. I'm sure this won't be a problem for the physical copies. The characters are cute and different from each other. I loved the ending it felt right. I'm not for sure on how realistic this book is but for the sake of fiction it's interesting and keeps you reading.
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. This book is very easy to read and doesn't take long at all. Plus the cover is so adorable and I know any reader would love to have that work of art sitting on their shelf. This book is for lovers of Paper Towns and The Fault in Our Stars.
Both funny and heartfelt, 806 warmed my heart. A story of discovery, both self-discovery and discovering who their real, biological father with a road trip in between. The characters in this book are relatable. That, being paired with the writing of the author, Cynthia Weil, made for a great experience of storytelling, along with allowing it to be a fast-paced read in most instances.
Whether you've been through a situation sort of similar, and are needing to go on a self-discovery journey, or not, this book will warm your heart and make your darker days more light-hearted. Get those fingers ready to download, and those feet ready to run to the bookstore, because this is certainly a must-read for 2018.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
When I read the synopsis for this book, I expected something sort of fun and at times, heartwarming, and I would say that 806 delivered.
This book reminds me of, and delivered the feelings I feel, when watching a sitcom. It was fun and sometimes a little silly, with these "aww-shucks" moments scattered throughout the plot. I found myself in an amused state throughout the story, and liked watching the three protagonists grow on their road trip, which was filled with ups and downs and plenty of twists and happy coincidences.
As in sitcom fashion, the tone of the book was kept light, though the topic was sort of serious, and the ending was the sweetest part with everything was tied up in a neat little bow.
806 had a great premise that didn’t really pan out for me. KT, the main character was not very sympathetic. She was very angry and the reasons for her anger didn’t seem to justify how angry she was and the initial reaction she had towards her brothers. I don’t want to spoil the plot by addressing specific aspects of the story but things seemed to happen a bit too conveniently. I read a lot and I’m all for suspended belief, but this story really stretched the boundaries., especially the last 1/4 or so of the book.
Thank you BookishFirst for this win!
This was such a great book! KT is a sarcastic, grumpy, mad at the world type of girl. She is also lonely, feels like she is missing a part of herself, only has her music. KT's finds out she is a sperm donor child and find a website that help sperm donor children find their donors. She gets 2 mails from siblings, and she is excited. They meet and then she disappointed. She gets another e-mail from donor 806 saying he wants to meet his donor children and he gives his name and contact info. That's when the adventure begins for thee 3 unlikely, totally different half siblings.
This book gives a light hearted approach to an issue that can be very emotional. The journey these kids took may have started out as finding a bio dad, but they found so much much and the author conveyed that beautifully. The story is interesting and different. It has a great storyline with heat characters. Its funny and witty. Kudos to the author on this one!
A fun, cheesy YA story about three kids going off in search of their sperm donor dad. Unrealistic but enjoyable story.