Breakfast Served NEVER

By Rebecca H.

            In my sixteen years, I had read and loved many books. Never once had I absolutely despised a novel so much. I had recently read a self-published novel titled Stones to Abbigale. Truthfully, it could have been better, but the plot line was followed with ease. Breakfast Served Anytime, however, was nearly impossible to read.

            I had only finished the book in order to read the second one that I had checked out of the school's library. From page one, I had no idea what was going on. I did, however, grasp onto the fact that the main protagonist was named Gloria and she was going to a summer camp.

            The summary on the back of the book had said how Gloria was on the verge of adulthood and she was grieving over the recent loss of her grandmother, whom she was named after. Neither of these things do you hear about in the book other than in this short summary. What really caught my attention about the book, however, was the cover and how vibrant the blue butterflies on it were. Where were the blue butterflies in the story, one may ask? The first three pages and the last three pages.

            For a first novel, I believe the author, Sarah Combs, must have remained in her comfort zone. She could have written a much better story and could have included more of her promised plot elements.

Breakfast Served Anytime, by Sarah Combs, Candlewick Publishing, April 2014, 272 pages