Review Detail

I don’t normally use this word to describe books, but here it is: cute. This book is cute, and it’s the best word I can come up with for this book. It’s not going to go on a “this-is-my-favorite-book-ever-list”, but it will go on my “read in case of bad day list”. It’ that kind of book.

Mallory can be an incredibly dramatic character at times, but she’s the type of character who knows how dramatic she’s being. This makes her behavior, like the obsession with the list, endearing and outlandish in a fun way instead of whiny and ridiculous. It’s hidden behind a lot of fun, but Mallory really does learn a lot through the course of the story. Even as she realizes the golden moral we all know the story will get to eventually, that the list won’t solve all her problems and being a teenager is hard whether in 1962 or 2012, she grows in many more subtle ways as well.

One of the things I liked most about this book is how none of the characters come across as being one dimensional. Even Jeremy, Mallory’s ex-boyfriend, doesn’t come across as a villain. He’s definitely a jerk at times(cheating with a girl online tends to get you stuck with that label), but he realizes his mistakes and all in all, acts like a believable human being. I absolutely loved Gina, Mallory’s younger sister. Mallory has such a great relationship with her sister, even through their arguments, and it’s nice to see a sibling relationship presented so positively. They’re great friends and are there for each other(for the most part). \

I love the idea of lists that runs throughout this book. I”m a list-maker too, so I always appreciate it when they play a feature in a story. Of course, the grand The List of 1962 in the focus of the story, but Mallory makes lists constantly, and it seems like there’s one almost every chapter. I think, more than anything, is what really gave me insight into Mallory’s character. At first, she doesn’t have a lot of self-identity outside of Jeremy, so the lists were a way for me to connect with her as she grew as a character and, as the cliche goes, found herself.


Final Impression: Going Vintage was cute, fun, and a little quirky. Even though Mallory could be dramatic at times, she was charming as were most of the supporting characters. There’s a lot of fun in this book, but there’s a pretty good theme running underneath it all. It’s the perfect book to read as a pick-me-up type of read. 4/5 stars.