2013 book 327

Natalie Standiford's The Boy on the Bridge
I have really enjoyed some of Standiford's other books, but have been putting off reading this one because the cover made it look like a cheesy YA romance. But then I thought, hey, it's STANDIFORD! Surely a book she's writing about a college student studying abroad in Russia in the early 80s who meets a Russian guy and falls for him will be more complicated and interesting than the usual YA romance stuff. But . . . man, it is hard to read a book about someone so dumb. Laura has been warned that Russians will try and convince her to marry them to get US citizenship, but no, her love is obviously different! The whole time I was just like, come ON. And I really didn't like what Standiford did with the ending. I think she actually WAS just writing a typical YA romance--so disappointing. And I feel like even if that was a genre I was into, I'd be disappointed with this--there's so little character development, and ALL the main character does is think about her Russian dude. It's just not compelling at all--at least, not to someone who is ostensibly a grownup. B-.