Adorable enemy to lovers, a cocky yet weird girl, and a cinnamon roll boy who's family owns a sea animal rescue make for the perfect combo in Instant Karma!

I have never been one to really fall for contemporary, but Instant Karma had me instantly under it's spell!

Prudence is an overachiever, something that so many of us can relate to. She is ambitious if a bit self-absorbed - but oh so cute! The beetle's theme that runs throughout the family, as well as the story also adds a layer of wholesomeness to this charming story.

The star of this story though is Quint. He is sweet, reserved, and loves his sea animals so much! It was exciting to read about his life in the sanctuary, and how he and his mom kept it afloat.

While I really love MM in general, I'm basically here for the animals

Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer, 400 pages. Feiwel (Macmillan), 2020. $19

Language: PG (12 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Prudence can’t stand her slacker marine biology partner, Quint, but she needs his help if she has any chance to change her final group project grade from its lowly C to her normal A. She exchanges working a few days a week at the Fortuna Beach Sea Animal Rescue Center alongside Quint, for his help in redoing the project. All seems to be going well, until money goes missing from a fundraiser and Prudence is accused. She’ll have to clear her name – not because she wants the grade, any more, but now because she cares for the Animal Rescue Center – and for Quint.

There is a bit of magical realism, with Prudence getting a hit on the head and gaining the power to dole out instant karma – with some conditions. Beyond the karma twist, watching Prudence expand her personality and her focus to become more human, is the real treat.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS

I’m so bummed I wasn’t a fan of this. I adore Marissa’s book but this one just didn’t connect to me. I tried a couple times but sadly you don’t always click with the books you read.

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

I've had this book for some time and have just now gotten to read it. I've never had a book where I dislike the main character (Prudence) so much, but actually really enjoyed the novel and even completed the book. Usually if I hate the main character, I stop reading but for some reason I kept going with this one.

Prudence is a terrible person, in my opinion. She is SO judgemental and thinks it's her way out the highway. She cannot fathom someone doing a job better than herself. She jumps to conclusions and will not be swayed to change her mind. Her getting the karma ability was a poor choice because she didn't look at the whole picture and instantly judges people - and it's usually wrong.

Quint is so mature for his age, but has this personna he shows at school where he's a goof ball. I think that would be exhausting for him.

I love the rescue center and everything it stands for. And I'm glad Pru volunteered there because it 1. Helped her figure out her passion and possible future career but 2. It made her not to judgemental and she started to be a nice person.

So, yeah, overall I enjoyed this story, but I could have done without Prudence because I really really dislike. Still, even after finishing the book and she kinda redeemed herself. But not enough in my book.

Who hasn’t yearned to have magic powers. Meyer’s Instant Karma is a cure and fun story that will have you longing for the beach.

This book had a very interesting premise and at times it was thought provoking. However, the main character was unbearable. It was difficult to get through at times because she didn’t seem to have many redeeming qualities. The karma aspect was also sprinkled throughout and I would have liked to see more of that.

Marissa Meyer can't go wrong with me. Just like all her other books, this one felt like a warm blanket, and I loved wrapping myself in it. I think I would have loved it even more had I read it in summer, but it still made for an amazingly entertaining read even in winter. It is vastly different from her fantasy writing, yet it still feels comfortable somehow.

The story opens as the main character, Prudence, awaits her class partner for their group project presentation. Quint shows up late and acts nonchalant. She believes that she’s done all of the work but the teacher gives her the lower grade because she struggles with teamwork. She’s allowed an extra credit assignment and grade if she’ll do more research on the topic and demonstrate her ability for teamwork. She volunteers at Quint’s family owned sea animal rescue center for her research. During summer break, Prudence expands her horizons and broadens her perspective. She also helps catch an embezzler. A clean read with some unexpected happenings, 4 stars!

*I also listened to the audiobook which was fun to listen to!

I wanted to love this book; the premise of being able to have the power of instant karma on people sounded so fun! Unfortunately I found the story kind of boring. I enjoyed that it took place at an animal rescue center and had sea animals but that's about it.

​I feel like the instant karma magic wasn't utilized like it could have been. It was as if the author just forgot about that plotline and would randomly mention it when she thought of it. The romance felt kind of flat and I didn’t care about any of the characters which was disappointing.

Prudence is annoying and super judgy of everyone. She seems to think she's better than everyone and I know this was her character but she didn't really learn to be a better person, which I hoped she would. I hated how she thought she had to butt into certain things because she felt the universe was telling her to, when it clearly wasn't.

The audiobook was quick to get through so that's why I continued on, otherwise this book wasn't for me.

Thank you​ Fierce Reads​ for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had an interesting premise but little follow-through, and while it is considered a contemporary romance, there was SO LITTLE ROMANCE. I read it because I was considering it for my middle school library, but compared to the hundreds of books I've read in the past year and a half, it is easily at the bottom of my list.
I read and read, waiting for the premise of the book (Prudence's ability to exact instant karma on people she thinks have done wrong) to actually happen. It took forever. There was a lot of back story, and it was dull as heck. Then I read and read, waiting for the romance to begin. THAT took forever. There is a whole lotta book without any payoff whatsoever.
In addition to such a thin storyline, I also didn't like the teen's ability to just jump in and take over the marketing and fundraising for the wildlife rescue center. I mean, two teenagers with zero experience beyond a science report managed to put together a fundraising gala that I know from my own experience takes WAY more work, effort, and people power than how it was presented in the book. I am willing to suspend my disbelief for a lot of YA book plots, but this one was just too much.

Really great story with amazing writing. This is the type of book that I could keep reading over and over again. Totally read this if you are looking for a cute story with great characters.

Coming in as a huge fan of Marissa after reading her Lunar chronicles I was scaried that the same magic wouldn't be there but wow did she prove me wrong. She gave me two characters that I was always rooting for and that made me happy to see them get togther.

I would read Marissa Meyer’s grocery list at this point. She never disappoints! Such a cute story with fun characters!

Super cute! Meyers is one of my favorite authors and it was fun to see her writing such a fun and light style. Really enjoyed the growth of the main character (she was quite awful and selfish at first!) and I loved the enemies-to-lovers progression. Just a fun summer read all-around!

Marissa Meyer offers us another excellent young adult romance with her signature injection of magic. Instant Karma features Prudence Barnett, one of those cranky, type A teens on the fast track to college and careers. Prudence has very little patience for those less gifted then she. Once morning she wakes up with the ability to cast instant karma on the people around her. She goes crazy with her power at first, but as time goes on she learns more about herself and what the "little" people have to offer. The twist is that her powers fail to work on her nemesis Quint Erickson. The boy she thinks of as a lazy slacker soon reveals hidden depths. Teens will love this story, especially fans of Marissa Meyer. I appreciate the chance to read the ARC and thank Net Galley for the opportunity.

Marissa Meyer books are usually hit or miss for me. Instant Karma, the story of a teenage girl hitting her head and suddenly getting the powers to punish those who wrong people and award people who do nice things, was very much a miss for me.

To start off, the characters were not that likeable. Our main girl, Prudence, was not a person that I really rooted for until closer to the end of the book. Sure I guess you could say that meant she went through some character growth but a lot of the issues I had with her just did not make sense. She was supposed to be one of the smart kids and yet she did things that were so incredibly stupid more than once.

This book also suffered from one of the book tropes that I really, really don't like. The trope where two characters end up fighting because of a misunderstanding that could have easily been avoided if they'd just spoken with one another. This happened on more than one occasion in Instant Karma.

The ending was also very underwhelming for me. The last little fight between Pru and Quint should have never happened in the first place but it also shouldn't have ended quite as fast as it did.

Overall, I just did not enjoy this book.

I wanted to love this story. It had the ability to be absolutely adorable and just that type of read that one needs.

Unfortunately, it just didn't hit for me. It could've been one of those stories I needed to be in a mood read and I just picked it up at the wrong time or it's because I'm so used to Meyer's other writing style and that's what I like.

That being said, it was engaging, I just didn't like the MC. She was...obnoxious at points and I couldn't resonate with her.

I was very disappointed by this. I felt the characters were a little bland and their relationship didnt feel real.

Cute, but as with any power, Pru must go through a learning curve with what to do with it. Karma, indeed.

Marissa Meyer jumps into contemporary fiction with an enemies to lovers romance mixed in with a touch of magical realism.