Books of Amber: Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson

Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson
Flirting in Italian #1
Release Date: June 12, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: Bought
Goodreads Stars: 2
Rating: Bland

Four girls. One magical, and possibly dangerous Italian summer. Family mysteries, ancient castles, long hot nights of dancing under the stars . . . and, of course, plenty of gorgeous Italian boys! - Goodreads

The picture in front of me is like a magnet, drawing me closer and closer, till my shoulder is nearly brushing against its antique gold carved frame.

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I was initially driven to pick this up because of my current obsession with all things Rome. Of course, this book isn't actually set in Rome, but it's close enough. A lot closer than I was to Rome before this Wednesday. I was in the mood for a fun contemporary, so I went ahead and grabbed this one when I was in between books.

Since the synopsis gives away very little info, let me give you a brief summary of Flirting in Italian. Basically, Violet discovers that she looks exactly like a lady in an Italian painting. She decides to go to Italy to figure this mystery out, and there she meets a few new friends, some guys, and a bunch of Italians. See, this is why I don't ever write summaries in my reviews, because I suck.

My favourite thing about Flirting in Italian is, quite predictably, the setting. The whole thing made me very excited for my own trip to Rome - which is where I am right now as you're reading this, in fact - because it made Italy sound beautiful. Of course, my Rome experience is undoubtedly going to be different, because Violet stayed in a very different place. And she didn't have an obsession with gladiators.

Aside from the perfect setting, there wasn't much else about Flirting in Italian that I did enjoy. The main character, Violet, was tolerable, although she comes across as very judgemental. It became very annoying, especially since I was trying to get to know other characters and she was bitching about them inside her head.

The love interest, whatever his name is, was also a prat. He kept trying to put Violet in her place, because it was constantly implied that he was right all the time and she was wrong. I don't know, I didn't like it. He was also very judgemental.

The rest of the secondary characters aren't memorable to me at all, and got on my nerves.

I was shocked to discover that Flirting in Italian is part of a series. I am not a fan. I feel like this should have been a standalone, because I don't really want to spend another two books trying to figure out why Violet looks like the lady in the painting.

Overall, this was a pretty dull book. While I loved the setting, I don't think it was used to its full potential, and I would have liked to have seen more of Italy and the town that Violet was staying in. With no likeable characters, I just couldn't get into this book like I wanted to, and I ended up getting rather grumpy because it could have been an awesome contemporary. I doubt I'm going to read the rest of this trilogy.