Tangled

by Carolyn Mackler

Book Overview

Paradise wasn't supposed to suck. Not the state of being, but a resort in the Caribbean. Jena, Dakota, Skye, and Owen are all there for different reasons, but at Paradise their lives become tangled... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061731048
• Release Date: December 2009
• Publisher: HarperTeen
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 1.1" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

A fantastic book

Tangled tells the story of four teens who vacation at the same resort at the same time and how their lives are changed by their encounters. Jena and her mom go to the Paradise resort at the invitation of her mom's wealthy best friend. Jena does not want to spend her spring break at Paradise because it will mean hanging out with the beautiful, perfect, sophisticated Skye, daughter of her mom's best friend. Next to Skye, Jenna feels positively frumpy. Skye's life is far from perfect however even though on the surface she seems to have everything she could possibly want. Handsome and charming Dakota has secrets of his own and Owen is too busy blogging to notice what is going on around him. The novel starts with Jena's perspective in April while at the resort and then switches to Dakota in May, Skye in June, and finally ends with Owen in July. It is not until we read each character's perspective that we reach the full picture. Each character has their own voice and it works very well. I only wish we could spend more time with each of the characters. There are moments of humor and sadness as we see what the characters are going through. The teens are written very realistically and they face realistic situations. All four of the teens have grown by the end of the book. Skye and Dakota who both come across as jerks at one point or another during the novel are given depth. There is more to their stories and it is revealed slowly. The novel has layers and it builds to a very satisfying conclusion. Tangled is the first novel by Carolyn Mackler that I've read but I definitely plan to read her other books. I would recommend this novel to fans of Sarah Dessen and Elizabeth Scott and to those who like realistic teen fiction.

Tangled

Four very different teenagers with only one trip to the Caribbean in common. All any of them expected was a lame vacation followed by a return to their less than perfect lives. But, as they grow and change independently, the four find their lives touch and intersect in completely unexpected ways. Jena is 16 and still waiting for her life to begin. She's insecure about her body and inexperienced with boys. Obsessed with quotes, Jena collects other people's musings on `love, life, heartbreak and inspiration.' Skye is 17 and lives a charmed life. She's wealthy, incredibly beautiful and confidently sophisticated. An actress, Sky is used to being noticed and admired. Lately though, Skye has felt as if she has to put all of her acting talents to use just to be herself. Dakota is the very picture of a big man on campus. He's an athlete and a player, a brash young man with greek god good looks. A recent tragedy has effected him much more deeply than anyone suspects. The repercussions, when they come, are prfound. Owen is nothing like his older brother. Tall and gangly, Owen is painfully shy - so much so that he's more comfortable living his life on the internet than he is interacting with actual human beings. Jena, Skye, Dakota, Owen. Once their lives got tangled, something much bigger than a vacation began.

This book was amazing!

I really can't express how much I loved this book. It really dealt with each character, there individual lifestyle, and the problems they were facing. I loved how each character had a link with each other in the story and how they all had experiences with one another. I definitely recommend this book to anyone!! Its a really fabulous read and I hope Carolyn Mackler makes a sequel to this novel.

Some Time in Paradise!

I absolutely LOVED this book. There were a couple of things that I would have changed, like I would have had more time in paradise. And a little more time between Dakota and Jena. But other than that this book was perfect. It was a perfect romance and I loved the meaning of this book. It shows that even though someone else might seem like they have it all, in their own mind YOU have what they want. It showed the story from these 4 kids and you seen how each of them really felt. When one was wishing to be the other, the other was wishing to be them. It is just like real life. You may want something that someone else has but they might be wishing the same thing about you! This is a must read for everyone!!! I wish the book was longer.

Four Teenagers Each Dealing With Unique Problems, Separately and Together

Mackler's done it again, with these four stories of teenagers whose lives overlap and get very tangled indeed. Jena is being dragged on vacation to the aptly (or not) named Paradise, along with her mom and her rich friend and her actress daughter Skye, who ignores Jena. Soon she has a hot crush to moon over, even if he is a little too handsy. Before the reader knows it, Jena's tale is over and we've moved on to Dakota, said handsy crush, who actually has a lot more going on than it had seemed to Jena. Then we get a glimpse into Skye's life, which is nowhere near as glamorous as it had seemed, and the last section, about Dakota's brother Owen, who spends so much time on his computer his mom signs him up for a RealLife (a site very much like Facebook) to a Real Life class, brings us back to Jena. It's hard to say more without giving things away, but Mackler works in all four characters. Some of the scenarios were perhaps a little unrealistic, but others, like the blogging friendship that develops between Owen and Jena, definitely are. I definitely could have kept reading about each of these characters, and the only problem with this format is we didn't get to hear from, say, Skye, about the things that were revealed about her, though everything was tied up nicely. Each of these characters is dealing with their own set of unique issues but has to step outside themselves and see that even though others may seem to have perfect lives, in reality, nobody does.