Monday, March 30, 2015

The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Review by AmberBug)


The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line
(Veronica Mars #1)

Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham
4 / 5

Published 2014

First Sentence
"The buses began to roll into Neptune, California, late Friday afternoon and didn't slow up until Monday."
Publisher's Description:

The first book in an original mystery series featuring twenty-eight-year-old Veronica Mars, back in action after the events of Veronica Mars: The Movie. With the help of old friends—Logan Echolls, Mac Mackenzie, Wallace Fennel, and even Dick Casablancas—Veronica is ready to take on Neptune’s darkest cases with her trademark sass and smarts.

Dear Reader,

I'll admit, I'm late to the game with Veronica Mars. I watched the show a long time ago but never finished the series. After getting rid of cable, I convinced my man to watch the series with me (binge watch it). It took us a few weeks to finish all three seasons and I promptly purchased the movie that weekend so we could continue the fun. I was SO hooked, right after the movie I downloaded the ebook (yes, Rob Thomas is getting all my money this past month, haha) and started reading it right away. You think binge watching a show is bad, try adding a movie and a book to the mix... overdose. I'm still glad I did it this way because everything was so fresh in my mind and the character voices played out really well in my head. Arianna listened to this on audio, which you can read about here. I'm tempted to re-read/listen to the book because she really liked hearing Kristen Bell voice everything. I don't think I missed out that much though, only because all the voices were still stuck in my head from my binge watching. It was like having my own audio soundtrack playing in my mind.

Getting to the book, I was really impressed with some things and disappointed with a few minor details here and there. This wasn't the best written book but the tone of voice was pretty dead on. I found the Author(s) really did a great job with the dialogue especially, Veronica had all her little nuances (like the "Ahh..." before she speaks sometimes) and I found this was the strongest part of the novel as a whole. I'm not sure if someone coming in to read this without watching the show will get as much enjoyment out of it. I would highly suggest watching the show (free on amazon prime and maybe netflix?) before delving into the books. Although, I think they did a pretty good job of giving a nice background without boring the fans. One of the things that truly bothered me was mention of Logan wanting to fly, which is why he in the Navy?!? I'm pretty sure the Navy is for sailing and the Air Force is for flying... but I'm not much on military stuff so maybe I'm missing something? If this is an oversight, it's a pretty big one (and one that's mentioned twice in the book).

Despite the few hiccups that set me off course, the book overall was a very fun and quick read. I'm not much for series (especially mystery series) since they all seem to blend into one but Veronica Mars stands out because she is a tough female character with a squishy marshmallow inside. I think any girl would want to be Veronica, and she is a great character to grow with. The mystery itself was interesting but wasn't what motivated me to keep reading. The fact that they included characters from the show and her past, that was the icing on the cake. I won't give away who we run into, even though it is given to us pretty early on, but let's just say it's a blast from the past. We get to progress deeper into the life of Veronica and Neptune, delving into many side plot lines (but main ones) that reveal some pretty juicy stuff. The next book is coming out pretty soon, and I might be tempted to jump right in... but maybe I need a break, I did just binge on EVERYTHING related to Veronica Mars possible. What can I say? I'm hooked.

Happy Reading,
AmberBug

The Ten-Thousand Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars #1)

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6 comments:

  1. Yay! Another VMars lover! I was also late to the game, and first binge watched the show about 2 years ago (and, ahem several times since). I saw the movie in the theater when it came out! Um, that scene where Logan is leaning against his car... SWOON. I really liked the first book, which I enjoyed on audio, but was disappointed with the second installment a bit. I think I enjoyed the first book so much on audio because it was Kristin Bell narrating, and didn't realize she wasn't narrating the second one until I pressed play. So THAT was a let down.

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  2. I'm looking forward to the second one. I didn't audiobook the first one but Arianna did. I was hoping to experience it for the second one but SO sad to hear she doesn't narrate the next one.

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  3. I had a dedicated period of mourning (dramatic much), and definitely think my enjoyment of the story suffered. And the narrator had an annoying "dude voice," if you know what I mean - and I DID NOT enjoy being annoyed by Logan's dialogue. I'd probably just read the second one.... and unless Kristen Bell narrates in the future, I'll be checking them out in physical form.

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  4. Okay, I was wavering on continuing with this series unless I could hear more of them read by Kristen Bell, so you've just clinched it for me! Well...maybe someday I will check more out because I mean I HAVE to support Rob Thomas, but...I am meh for now! :)

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  5. I don't even remember the Logan/Navy thing, but just to put your mind at ease: https://www.navy.com/careers/aviation/naval-aviators.html#ft-key-responsibilities (I had to look this up; I am so ignorant when it comes to the armed forces!).

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