Rating: 1 1/2 stars

Oh Penelope… I tried to like you, I did. Really, I swear. It’s just, Penelope is boring. Both the book and the character. Nothing happens. Nothing changes. Nothing improves or gets worse. Never have I read a book so full of nothing in such stilted language.

I kept on trying to get to know Penelope though, hoping beyond hope that she might miraculously show me that college age literature stood a fighting chance. I’ve been hoping for the past 10 years (since I started visiting to colleges) that there were more authors out there like Diana Peterfreund who could write about coeds with convincing sass and likeability. But the only other books I’ve been able to find that have even piqued my interest have left me feeling like my generation was getting smacked in the face. Nope, sorry, you don’t deserve good literature, you’ll have to continue to be stuck with the awkwardness of reading YA or trying to understand the challenges of the thirty something housewife in most adult fiction or, and possibly even worse, be stuck with the new “new adult” label that simply just seems to give the author free reign to insert gratuitous graphic sex scenes into what were formerly YA domains as far as content and plot goes. I don’t read romance, don’t try to trick me and get me excited by calling it “new adult”. I feel like my generation is being neglected by literature, and unfortunately my attitude towards Penelope really echoed that sentiment.

Penelope plods along through her freshman year at Harvard trying to fit in and tamper her socially awkward tendencies. I grew up with a kid like Penelope and even he learned faster than she did when to just shut up and move on. When to just walk away when you get a bunch of confused and withering stares from the WASPs of your Ivy League halls. While not Ivy educated myself (though not for lack of trying), the sociologist in me was always enthralled by the social stratification of elite private schools. The students of such schools seemed to fall into three categories: those who attended because mommy or daddy had lots of money (or were famous), those who had the brains and would invariably do something great after graduating (most likely to have super scholarships and therefore no crippling loans so they could go right into being awesome after graduating), and those who had the brains but really cared about the name on their diploma when they graduated and didn’t care if there was a better program at a public institution.

Penelope encounters primarily the first group of students and she doesn’t understand them, and truth be told, it’s hard to if you didn’t grow up in that culture. But she just kind of exists without interacting fully with any of the other characters. Does she care? What does she like? What does she really want out of life? Why did she bother going to Harvard? Alas, none of these questions are answered and Penelope remains an uninteresting conundrum throughout the entire book. ( )

2.5 stars

Socially-awkward/inept Penelope is off to Harvard, her mom providing tips for her to make friends, etc. Her roommates don’t seem interested in becoming friends, so Penelope tends to hang out with some of the boys a couple of floors below in their dorm. Eventually, she is roped into helping with a non-speaking part in an experimental/absurdist play.

Everybody in this book was weird. Penelope seems a bit clueless as to academic life (not quite sure how she got into Harvard…). There was a lot of crushes that everyone was having on everyone else; it rarely seemed to be reciprocated. None of the characters were likeable, in my opinion, so I didn’t really care all that much what happened and if they ever got together. ( )

I would have liked more information about how Penelope ended up at Harvard. Apparently, her parents didn't attend and she doesn't seem aware that she is attending a prestigious, competitive and extremely expensive university. Speaking of parents, where was her father? Siblings?

The book had moments of humor but on the whole, it wasn't enjoyable because of the simplistic main character. I got sick of hearing "OK" and "I don't know" repeatedly. Where was this girl's personality? ( )

How can a book make you sad and feel so wonderful at the same time?

First of all, disregard the synopsis. It gives you a wrong impression of what to expect. Penelope is funny, sure, but it's also perversely non-conformist. I've looked at other people's ratings on Goodreads, and you're either love it or hate it, because people don't get it in the same way they don't get Penelope herself in the book.

Penelope is a freshman at Harvard and she is considered nerdy and weird, this one quiet, agreeable and entirely forgettable girl. You know why? She is an odd duck in love with Hercule Poirot and has a very subtle sense of humour that nobody seems to get. Nobody seems to hear what she's saying to them either, not even her mother.

Everyone around her is entirely self-absorbed and full of crap. They talk about their careers, being edgy and modern, they are empty over-achievers and unfortunately Penelope can't make sense of the life happening around her. She tries to go with the flow and gravitates towards this group and the other, but nothing helps her to feel as someone who belongs. The sense of loneliness in the sea of people and pointlessness of it all is incredible.

Then she meets this fascinating European rich boy, Gustav, mad as a hatter and with a peculiar sense of humour. She has it in her head that if only they had some sort of relationship she can go on this great adventure, because she honestly doesn't have any certainty or goals in her life unlike her fellow freshmen.

Gustav... I can't even get angry with him, because he is rich, spoiled and utterly scatterbrained. He is very charming when he is with Penelope and forgets her when she is out of his line of sight. Crazy, flitting and delightfully bizarre. However, the relationship or shall I say non-relationship/make out sessions with him force Penelope little by little out of her shell, and by the end of the book the whole situation and how she deals with it gives her personality better definition.

I wish Rebecca Harrington wrote more books because I'm dying to know what will become of Penelope, and I just dearly loved the author's style of writing, subtle, ironic, out of the box and melancholy.

Very much recommended. ( )

Not sure why I invested the time to read this - the main character is more painful to follow than sticking needles in your eyeballs. ( )