Book Talk: Pixelated by L.S. Murphy

Release Date: June 30 2015
Book: Pixelated
Author: L.S Murphy
Series: no
Number of Pages: 226
Source: I received an epub from the author (This has no bearing on my review)

 The Basics:
Senior Year.

Middle of nowhere.

What's the new girl to do?


For Piper Marks, the answer is simple. She’s determined to have her photography rock the cover of National Geographic someday, and moving to Clarkton, Iowa for her last year of high school is not going to stop her. Even if her usual subjects have changed from bright lights and skyscrapers to fields, cows…and more fields.


But when photographer at the local paper quits in a huff, she steps into his spot. Her new job keeps Piper busy capturing tackles, and zooming in on first downs and end zone dances, not to mention putting her directly in the path of varsity football star Les Williams IV. Her new friends warn her off, but she can’t resist the pull she feels toward this mysterious country boy. But this small town is keeping a secret, and it’s one that could destroy any chance they have to be together.


It’s up to Piper to decide what to do with the distorted truth. Can she risk exposing her heart? It might be worth it, 'cause Les is about to change her world from black and white to fully saturated color.

My Musings:

So I first received this book over summer break and finally was able to read it over winter break and am now finally reviewing it. The reason I said I would review this book was because I was starting my senior year I could relate with the book a lot better. There are a lot of great qualities about the book that I really enjoyed but I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped nor was it as good as I wanted it to be,

First things first: the problems I had with the book. For me it moved slowly at first and didn't really pick up until close to the end of the novel. In fact once it was over I couldn't really believe it was over. The pacing was sporadic and not in a good way. That being said there were parts where I just had to keep reading and find out what happened, but for a large part of the novel I just felt a little bored.  My only real issue with the romance is that it's kinda a  insta-lovey situation. It wasn't a classic case of insta love, but it did start off that way. There were parts of the romance I enjoyed but it was also really cheesy, sometimes the good kind sometimes the bad kind. This novel is really cheesy and it made it really hard to relate to Piper because a lot of things felt fake. It was hard for me to see genuineness in her friends (past and present) and in her school troubles. In fact the only really developed character is Piper. The writing style was good for the most part, the only issue I had and I think is the cause of the cheesiness, is that it feels like it's trying too hard. Like it can't quite capture the teenager of it all so it goes overboard a little.

Now for the things I did like about the novel. It was surprisingly funny. Piper is kind of hilarious and her internal monologues and rants are pretty similar to mine, now that I come to think of it. The humor is spot on and one of my favorite parts of the novel. I also really liked how the author portrayed Piper's family life. Her parents were somewhat realistic, but I think the little plot twist at the end made the characters more likable and respectable. Looking back on it, the parents and family situation were portrayed really well and I think that it was woven into the story line rather well. That being said, while i'm not a big fan of the romance, there were many moments I thought were cute. While the initial start of it was too insta love for me, the relationship did develop in a cute and good way. Lastly, the plot was good, It was developed pretty well despite the slow start. The plot, while centers around the romance, does a good job of incorporating other things.

Overall, the book was decent. It's not my favorite but I did have fun reading it. There were a few issues but if cheesy novels are your thing then this is a good option for you.

My Rating:

Coffee for this book: A dirty chai latte, trust me it's got enough caffeine and enough sweetness to compliment the book.