Instant Karma was fun and very different from her previous books — a good summer YA story with a big heart. I enjoyed following the (somewhat predictable) course of their relationship.

This was charming! I truly appreciated the reminder that as good as we are on our own, we are so much better with collaboration.

Caution- There are spoilers in my review!

I am entirely grateful to Fierce Reads and Netgalley for this e-book, in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love Marissa Meyer, so I was very excited to see that she was coming out with a new book. And I was very curious, since this book wouldn't be like her other ones.

It started out slow at first, and I wasn't sure if I would like it. And then I absolutely fell in love with it! I couldn't put the book down. I wanted to know what would happen between Pru and Quint. What would happen with the rescue center? How was this book going to end? The universe surely wouldn't let Pru take the fall and Shauna off the hook! The ending didn't disappoint.

I really hope that this is going to be a series! I would love to read more about these characters!

There’s certainly plenty of swoony romance in Marissa Meyer’s excellent and beloved sci-books, so it’s no surprise when she pulls off such an adept foray into rom-com with a small helping of magic. High schooler Prudence is a girl with plans for her future and she can be quick to judge. Her meet-cute with biology project partner Quint is anything but; Pru hates Quint’s lateness and lack of attention to detail so she decides to do her part of the project alone. Unfortunately the team grade considers how well the partners work together and worse, Quint’s half of the uncoordinated project earns the higher marks.

Pru convinces the teacher to give her a chance to raise her grade and she persuades Quint to give her another chance to collaborate by agreeing to volunteer at the marine mammal rescue center run by Quint’s mom. Pru’s gradual understanding of the important work done at the center unfolds along with her struggle with her own judginess - a head injury suffered during a fall at karaoke night leaves her with the ability to administer “instant karma.” At first it’s fun for Pru to observe bad behavior and call down a karmic response that she can’t control when the consequences are satisfyingly simple, but when she causes a serious injury to a classmate, Pru has to question her own fitness for handing out just outcomes. At the same time, Pru learns to respect Quint’s choices and plans, setting the scene for satisfying romance.

Interesting families and a touch of mystery give the reader lots to like. EARC from NetGalley.

I'm a little bummed out, I must say. I'm usually SUPER into Marissa Meyer's books (like literally all of the other ones) but this just wasn't doing it for me. I think it was because I wasn't really the right demographic here. Perhaps if I was an actual teenager, I would've been more intrigued. I wanted more from the romance!

I just, didn't like Prudence. She started off very narrow-minded, harsh and judgmental. That's cool, I'm all about waiting for that character development! But I found myself waiting. And waiting. And waiting. She got a liiiiiiittle bit better at the very end, but. Sigh.

Like I said, I'm a huge fan of Meyer's fantasy series so maybe that's why contemporary fiction didn't do it for me. I just felt like not much was happening. If you're a fan of Meyer, I'd still say give this book a shot simply for all of the interesting information about sea animals and wildlife preservation.

Wow. I have always loved Meyer's writing, but this story wowed me. I knew very little about ecotourism prior to reading this book. The main character, braniac overachiever Prudence, is a whiz in business, marketing, and all around academics. She just happens to have a horrible science partner, or so she thinks. Due to a deal with Quint to improve her grade on their project, she spends time learning about the Sea Rescue center Quint and his mother run. I absolutely loved this book! Pru's feelings on sea animals mimicked mine when I was her age, and didn't know any better, so that portion of the book really resonated with me. Parents: there was no sexual content in this book! It's perfect for high schoolers.

Cosmic Justice! Enemies to lovers, and little bit paitence.

Take a ride with Prudence where all fun and games involve lists and being on time. Productive is her middle name and no-nonsense is her game. Or maybe take a seat next to Quint, relax, and learn how to float through life without a care in the world. His excuses are golden and everyone loves him.

Working together is a nightmare. And Prudence needs Quints help just one more time over the summer. And in order to get it, Prudence has to get her hands dirty and suck up to him like the rest of the world. But there's more to slacker Quint when she spends a day in his shoes.

Full review on goodreads. I enjoy this author and couldn’t pass this one up. It was very different from her other works but still a cute read.

Pru is a hard-working diligent student who has suffered all year with an irresponsibile, slacker lab partner, Quint. Of course, things aren't always what they seem. and when Pru volunteers at Quint's mother's marine animal resuce, she learns a lot more about him. The story line was pretty good but I don't enjoy actively disliking the main character. Recommended for fans of summer rom-coms and meet cutes.

Though I like Marissa Meyer's other work, this book was really hard to get into. Prudence was a character that was just unlikeable to me. I read the first quarter of the book and DNF. I wished she had a little bit more sympathy and redeeming qualities in her. Also, she was very quick to judge and doesn't take criticism well. There was mention of her perfectionism, but I wished it was balanced with her talking about her attempts to understand and mitigate it.

Although at times I felt this book couldn't make up it's mind as to what it wanted to be, it was a fun read. The characters are likeable, the overall storyline enjoyable, and overall, I would recommend the book.

I had such high hopes for this book. I love Marissa Meyer but Prudence has not redeeming qualities at beginning of the book and is very hard to like. She’s so short-sighted and judgmental that I just couldn’t get past it. This was a DNF for me.

I absolutely love Marissa Mayer’s writing! I will continue to support her because she has the most amazing work! I enjoyed Instant Karma. It was the a great summer read and of course who wouldn’t want the power to hold the ability to perform instant karma on others! Quint was adorable I enjoyed his character a lot. Sadly, I can’t say that for Pruedence. I thought she was annoying, childish and arrogant. But besides that minor dislike I still enjoyed this amazing story and the overall message.

OMG, this was truly the perfect summer read. I have to admit, it started out a little slow--and initially, I found the protagonist, Prudence, super annoying...which is kind of the point. She's a perfectionistic control freak, and the kind of person who takes over a group project not because no one else is doing anything, but because she doesn't trust them to do *anything*. Which is exactly what happens with her biology lab partner, Quint. Prudence sees him as a brainless slacker, and basically does their final collaborative project on her own--which results in a grade of C.

Prudence is horrified: she's never gotten a C before! She insists that Quint work with her over the summer to revise their project. In exchange, he insists that she volunteer at the marine wildlife rescue center his mom runs.

This is where the plot picks up. It probably goes without saying that these two polar opposites will attract, but their relationship is a slow burn and they really come to understand one another in a satisfyingly complex way. It's believable and utterly charming. I read about the last third of it in one shot on my porch on a summer evening, and channeled some of the best memories of summer childhoods, devouring a book in one gulp.

The slowly developing friendship was a joy to read. A mix of the predictable and unpredictable twists with hidden depths. Sometimes I thought the book was trying to do too much and failing with the various family subplots.

I already know that people will not like Prudence. This is understandable given how judgmental and control-freakish she is. And if you don’t like her, at least stick around for her redemption story. But if you do not like her, this is probably because you are not a perfectionist. You have no idea what it feels like to have such high standards, you’d rather run yourself ragged than trust anyone else to do a task. You are not baffled by people’s inappropriate behavior and might be good at giving people the benefit of the doubt. You probably think Prudence is an exaggeration, but Prudences live among you! I beg you, if you decide you can’t stand Prudence, to just give her a chance. For the sake of all of us who are trying to protect ourselves by judging others, knowing deep down it doesn’t actually work.

And then there’s will be those of us who relate so deeply to prudence, you will physically cringe at how relatable she is. You will think Marissa Meyer took a magnifying glass to your soul and wrote it out in this character.

whoever you are, however you find Prudence, I hope you’ll go on her journey of discovering the freedom of letting go of control, judging people less, and falling in love.

As for the rest of the novel, it wasn’t air tight and there were a few spots I think people more picky than I am will find they didn’t like. Some subplots were a little weak and I did feel like there were a few loose ends but who knows? Maybe we’ll get a follow up about Ari or Jude!

Overall, I devoured and loved this book. I am so grateful to Fierce Reads for the advanced copy (yay Instagram giveaways!!). As a HUGE Marissa Meyer fan, this book did not disappoint and only grew my love for this author.

With a clench of her fist, Prudence doles out punishment and occasionally rewards. I'm a huge fan of Marissa Meyer and she didn't disappoint; I was immediately drawn into the story of Prudence and Quint. Instant Karma is definitely a YA read, full of teenage angst, awkwardness, ups, downs, first loves, and finding yourself. I thought Prudence's quirks were perhaps a bit heavy-handed but also very authentic. I appreciated the full circle feel of events and that evolution of lesson learning.

Perfectly fine YA romcom with the "karma" twist (which doesn't quite feel like karma - does someone you dislike/are jealous of deserve a broken leg?). I didn't see why that needed to be added to Pru and Quint getting to know each other. Her obsession with grades could have led to them bonding any way.

And maybe it's me being a cranky person, but can we get over the Beatles? Don't get me wrong, they were a wonderful band and I love their music, and I know "kids today" still listen to them, but having an entire family named after their songs? Sigh.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

Disclaimer: I DNF'ed this book 57% the way through.
Since everyone seems to love Marissa Meyer's books, I saw an opportunity to review this one and hopped right on board.
Pru is extremly flippent about hurting people and the 'karma' seems to be thrown into the book as an afterthought. Pru is going along and doing her thing when the plot suddenly jumps to karma. For example, someone gets stung by a bee due to Pru's karma and this is the reaction, "Gosh, I hope she's not allergic." Seriously?
At times, the book also seemed really pushy about right and wrong. I'm begging, please give people a chance before getting all judgy. There is only so much I can take from MCs before I want to DNF the book, and Instant Karma surpassed my limit.
I was kinda disappointed when it started using language. Marissa Meyer has been known for mostly clean young adult fiction and it seems that she is using more and more language.
Rating: 1/5
Language: a**, b****
Romance: did not read this far
Spiritual: referances cosmic thanking people, karma
Violence: n/a
*I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.

Review will be published to the blog on October 3, 2020.

I was hesitant starting this book. I'm used to fantasy by Marissa Meyer. But still I have loved everything else by her so I drove in.

Maybe minor spoilers.

The characters were wonderfully developed. Though Pru did get on my nerves a few times, her actions made perfect sense for a 16 control freak. The rest of the cast was very well thought out.
The plot was freaking amazing. Though I would have loved more romance, that's just me. And the whole supernatural krama powers didnt play a huge role. Just enough to drive the plot forward a bit. However,this book was not lacking at all. Everything was interesting and relevant to the main plot.
Meyer is a wonderful storyteller. I was amazed at how well she captured anxiety, especially for a teenage girl.

This book was cute and fun. And it feels like its one that will stay will me.