Thank you to Hachette for this book in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis:
After a year of college, Pablo is working at his local twenty-four-hour deli, selling overpriced snacks to brownstone yuppies. He’s dodging calls from the student loan office and he has no idea what his next move is.
Leanna Smart’s life so far has been nothing but success. Age eight: Disney Mouseketeer; Age fifteen: first #1 single on the US pop chart; Age seventeen, *tenth* #1 single; and now, at Age nineteen…life is a queasy blur of private planes, weird hotel rooms, and strangers asking for selfies on the street.
When Leanna and Pab randomly meet at 4:00 a.m. in the middle of a snowstorm in Brooklyn, they both know they can’t be together forever. So, they keep things on the down-low and off Instagram for as long as they can. But it takes about three seconds before the world finds out…
Review:
I think I must be one of the few left on the planet that hasn’t read any Mary H.K Choi’s work. After picking up Emergency Contact, I have seen and heard so many amazing things about Choi’s work. And I can see why, her writing style is fun and quirky and easy to follow along with.
Permanent Record is about a twenty year old guy called Pablo (which is an amazing name as a side note) and basically Pablo is trying to figure out what he is doing with his life. After dropping out of school and left with an outstanding debt, Pablo is trying to battle what he should do with his life while working at a health food store.
Leanne Smart, on the other hand, is famous. Leanne’s life seems to be in order and everything is under control and she has no want or need for anything that she couldn’t buy, basically it seems she had what she wanted in life. However once Leanne and Pablo meet, their lives are changed forever.
These characters are completely and utterly relatable, or well mostly Pablo. I mean, how many students do you know that doesn’t have a debt to them? I have older friends that finished Uni/college over 20 years ago and still have a debt that hangs around them.
It also highlights the vulnerability at the age too. You are expect to know how life functions and what you want out of life because you are an adult but in the harsh reality of it, we don’t know what we want at the at age or what our course of life will be.
Permanent Record was a light contemporary to read that was actually relatable that contained a few laughs and some
Permanent Record is a hard-hitting contemporary that made me think about things, made me feel, made me laugh, and gave me so much of that family dynamic I love in books. Pablo’s family was fantastic, as well as his roommates and Leanna’s abuela. This is one of those books I didn’t want to put down and I’m such a huge fan of Choi’s writing, I can’t recommend it enough!
Rating: 4.5/5
Publisher: Atom
ISBN: 9780349003450