At first I thought it was me: too many Britishisms in a book with American main characters. No problem, as that's more a thing I get mad at editors about, not authors. Then I was confused because Christa says she wakes early when she's spent the whole book getting up around noon. But maybe that's jet lag.

But then guys keep telling her how pretty she is. Everyone insists she'd be great for TV but there's literally nothing going on with her that says she is. In fact, she has been good press but bad TV for years.

They also tell her how she's badass but she spends the middle of the book being a doormat, which I guess is supposed to be some sort of reaction to her dad but it's really mostly her mother speaking for her and pushing her in a way that is so not okay.

Then I find out (for sure) that she was [spoiler, I guess?]...after multiple instances where her family makes fun of her startle reflex. A thing she refers to before and after the reveal as "embarrassing."
¯\_🤨_/¯

People accuse her of "running" but she...got a great education (Princeton!) and loves her research and living somewhere relaxed and cool. She even tells herself going to college was running? What?

The Gen Z characters in this book are appallingly clichéd, too.

This isn't even going into the Jasper thing, at all. Wait, one thing semi-Jasper related; how Christa alternates between saying he was famous and he wasn't really that famous. Or again, maybe this is pre-disappearance and post; I could not figure it out.

Finally, there's Nate, who starts speechifying like the worst rom com you've ever seen. I had to skip a lot of his dialog at the end because my eyes glazed over and I thought I'd have sugar issues. He should win an award for Man Most Written By a Woman.

All in all, just really disappointing, honestly frustrating, and difficult to finish.

PS HAIR DYE NEEDS MAINTENANCE

Abi Waxman is a fantastic writer. Her descriptions are the best. This book was a slight challenge for me to get immersed in. It was a great concept but sort of fell flat for me in some areas. Great writing. Great family dynamic story.

DNF.

The blurb and cover grabbed me immediately, but found the writing to be just okay and the actual premise to be all over the place.
Just didn't work for me.

3.75 stars

Abbi Waxman’s books are always great fun, with wonderful dialogue and lots of humor but real life seriousness flowing underneath.
Christa Comes Out of Her Shell is a wild ride that also touches on childhood pain and family dysfunction.

Christa is a scientist and as the story opens she is happily conducting research on a small island out in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Her idyll, really a self-imposed exile, is interrupted by phone calls from her family in California. Christa’s father was a popular TV nature show host who presumably died in a plane crash 25 years earlier when Christa was 2. Only – he didn’t die. He has just reappeared with a fairly outrageous story and her mom and two sisters are in an uproar.

Christa jets home and the pandemonium begins. Her father is doing interviews and TV appearances but hasn’t contacted the family yet. Her mother and sisters are great characters – smart, funny, strong women who are both furious and ecstatic at their father’s appearance.

The family dynamic has changed quite a lot. Christa had a rough time after her father’s “death” and behaved badly for a few years before being shipped off to boarding school where she found her nerdy science niche. Her sisters, the queens of snark, have been in therapy and are considerably less judgmental and more nurturing than they were before.

And to add to the intrigue – Christa reconnects with a childhood friend and they are both smitten. Since she is planning on returning to her isolation, that is a problem. Christa has always dealt with trouble by running away so what is she to do?

An excellent read with wonderful characters. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I am a big fan of Abbi Waxman’s style of writing. It’s sharp, it’s funny. Some of her descriptions are just spot on. But I wasn’t a superfan of this book. It veered into silliness too often. And unlike the other two books of hers I’ve read, this one had a much bigger dose of romance than I wanted.
Christa Liddle is the youngest daughter of naturalist Jasper Liddle, who went missing after a plane crash in Alaska 25 years ago. Now, all of a sudden, her father turns up alive. Christa is a bit of a recluse - she’s been hiding out in the Indian Ocean during research on snails. But, now, she’s come home to LA to the whole craziness of reporters and fans. And also, to Nate, neighbor and her teen crush.
“They think they know who you are, so you never get a clean slate- you carry the baggage someone else packed for you.”
This book is pure chick lit/romcom, so not what I would have preferred. I’m not one for moony eyed glances and looking to “canoodle” every chance available. I was happier when Waxman focused on the family relationships, Christa’s love of science (and what she was willing to do to fund her work) and the media.
My thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for an advance copy of this book.

Loved this new novel by Abbi Waxman.

Christa, content with her isolated life researching marine life, must return home when her father reappears after 25 years.

She and her mother and two sisters get the reckoning they deserve after decades of secrets.

Full of quirky people and signature biting Waxman humour.

Just like Abbi Waxman previously wrote, we as readers are in for a journey. She usually loves writing about something relatable yet heartbreaking to read. Or sometimes she just likes to write something just for the vibes. It’s always fun to read either way.
Do you know that I just loved how messy yet chaotic Chatty Isra Comes Out of Her Shell was? It was a journey from the beginning. And I enjoyed every minute of it. It may be chaotic and electric for some, but if you are looking to read something for the vibes, then this book is it.
I don’t know how to say it, but you are going to love the little yet sassy dog in this book. He has attitudes for days and literally has the best personality throughout the book. The dog doesn’t hold out to whoever is interacting with him. It’s pretty funny to read.

Geez this was not good. I don't know what to say. I have either loved or felt okayish about most of Waxman's books and this is just very bizarre. I didn't like any of the characters, the book went on forever, and the whole plot (or whatever we want to call it) was a hot mess after a while. I think I was supposed to be like, love or something will lead the way. Instead I wondered why Christa didn't just peace out of the madness of her family or someone actually get mad about things and act like a human being with real emotions.

"Christa Comes Out of Her Shell" follows Christa Liddle. She's part of the famous Liddle family and has been dealing with the celebrity of her family and her missing father. Until one day her father, Jasper, is no longer missing. Christa returns home and finds her sisters have changed, and the guy she always had a crush on, seems to have a crush on her too.

Eh. Christa. She was interesting at first. But I got bored by her and the family drama. I was hoping for some Nina with Christa, and we got none of that. There's a reveal that didn't really work for me. I thought it wasn't well done. Just kind of thrown at readers to be like yes, this was the issue all along with Christa. I really wanted to see Christa get mad, something. Heck the whole book was her being passive by threatening to leave every five seconds. And also being under the sway of her father. It was just....I don't know. I think if Christa had been a teenager, this would have worked better. But at the age she was, her sisters were, and her mother. It just felt very off.

The flow was pretty bad. The book jumps back and forth between Christa and social media posts. And I think at one point we see emails going back and forth.

The setting of Los Angeles seems like a hot mess. I can't see the world we live in being super totes okay with the reveal we get in this book. I think Hollywood sucks, but even I think this was a bridge too far.

The ending. Eh. It didn't read as believable.

Adorkable is the word that pops to mind here. Christa is a great main character, flawed, not healed from her traumatic past, but smart, funny, and a huge science nerd. It was easy to root for her and watch as she, often antagonistically, grows and attempts to stop being her own enemy. Lots of family drama but with a ton of humor thrown in there, a cute romance, animals, and did I mention the science? A very fun, sweet book.

Science nerd Christa has been hiding out on a distant island cataloguing sea snails (although she would never call it "hiding") and has to reckon with rekindling relationships with her mother and sisters after her long-dead famous father.... comes back from the dead. Off the wall yet grounded, Christa's subtle growth and facing up to grief and heartache is satisfying, as is the roaring crush she has on long-time family friend Nate.

What a delightful character is Christa! And the story gave me ... well ...

Let's say an adventurer and TV personality Bear Grylls-type had a kid, or better yet, a whole happy family. And then disappears.

And imagine those kids want completely different things out of life.

Christa has all she wants. A very private corner of the world, and very quiet snails to research. Far far away from her mom and siblings. And her dad-s shadow.

But maybe her dad's shadow is what she's always been. And maybe she deserves a whole lot more. Like love.

Christa Comes Out of Her Shell is another fantastic book by Abbi Wasman! Christa grew up both in the spotlight and in the shadow of her famous family. Now all she wants to do is hide, alone, on an island surrounded by snails. When unexpected circumstances force her back into the real world she has to dig deep and come out of her shell!!

After a rocky childhood Christa Liddle has hidden away, both figuratively and literally. She studies sea snails on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Christa’s life is thrown into chaos when her once thought dead dad, was in fact alive and had been hanging out in Alaska all this time. Now she and her family are in the spotlight. When her fathers story starts to develop cracks, Christa fears she will lose herself, her potential relationships, and most importantly, any chance of going back to her quiet life with her snails.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect going into this book, but it ended up being a beautiful women’s fiction book. I absolutely loved Christa and the growth that she went through over the course of this book, it was amazing. I wish I could run away to an island and study literally anything for years so I could escape people, and that is exactly what Christa was able to do. When she’s called back and learns that her father, who was supposedly dead, is in fact quite alive and just ran away from his family instead of facing his problems. This whole revelation throws a wrench in Christa’s life as you can imagine, and she has to pivot into something she isn’t entirely comfortable with. I really enjoyed the writing style of this book. The author’s style was quick and witty; it held my interest and made me chuckle. I loved it. I also enjoyed that while romance was present in this book, it wasn’t the focus of this book, rather Christa’s growth was, so that was nice.

I enjoyed reading this and the twists were fun, the writing was enjoyable, and the characters were fun.

Thank you so much to the publisher Berkley Publishing, @BerkleyPub and Berkley Romance @BerkleyRomance , the author @AbbiWaxman and Netgalley @Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Abbi Waxman's newest novel is a charming story about an introverted scientist who is thrust back into the spotlight after a family revelation rocks her world. Christa has spent the past four years on an island studying violet snails while trying to maintain her distance from her past life and family. Her father, a famous nature tv presenter, disappeared in the Alaskan wilderness when Christa was two years old, but has returned from seemingly the dead. As Christa and her family deal with revelation after revelation, they also are trying to mend their relationships and bury the trauma from the past. For readers who love a whip-smart introverted protagonist, they will be cheering for Christa all the way through. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC.

Abbi Waxman has done it again! The first few pages were a bit to get through (though that was likely the sickness plaguing my body more than her writing) but once the groove was set I was hooked! She has family drama (much resolved), friends turned lovers, and a lot of information about various animals. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Abbi Waxman is great at writing quirky, likeable and relatable characters. Christa Comes Out of Her Shell is certainly full of them. What I appreciated most was reading about a family who is in the process of knowing themselves better and coming to terms with past hurts/wrongs. The Liddle family certainly has a lot of baggage to unpack, and when their famous father, presumed dead after missing for 25 years appears back in their life and the spot light, Christa and her family are faced with the decision on how to move forward.

I was looking forward to this one thanks to the cover and the premise, but the writing and humor didn't work for me.

I love Abbi Waxman and the Bookish Life of Nina Hill is one of my favorites so I was surprised when this fell a little short for me. I liked the characters and appreciated the creative premise, I just didn’t find myself that invested. I do think a lot of readers will enjoy this though.

I just love an Abbi Waxman story, I find her characters delightfully quirky, her writing engaging, and her style/stories relatable. What stands out to me with Christa Comes Out of Her Shell is an author also shifting (coming out of her shell?) into a slightly different style (I won't say more mature as that feels less than generous to her earlier books which I love). What I mean is that her style and story here reflect characters at different turning points/encountering different challenges and self-growth in ways that are distinct from Nina Hill for example. That's a great thing because I love an author who can offer different themes and characters to relate to, to find ways to connect with fans as they too change and grow into new roles and challenges.

Christa Comes Out of Her Shell is my kind of character study yet also a story with some twists that add depth and kept me engaged in seeing how the story unfolded. I love the themes of family, of family relationships, and also a charming science-y introvert who can rediscover and uncover new ways to be herself.

Such a fan of this author and I really enjoyed this book!

A cozy, slow character study from Abbi Waxman. It has a bit of a different feel from her earliest novels, but it still brings depth and self-examination to all its characters. The twists were well-placed in the plot, and the secondary characters bolstered the main character without feeling flat.