I loved the heroine, Jo Wilder. She's a professional photographer who pays the bills with celebrity photos. Her dad is a famous artistic photographer, and Jo desperately wants his approval, which is held out of reach. He doesn't respect her work and belittles it. That resonated with me. Even when we know our parents are holding us to impossible standards, there's a part of us that still yearns to be acknowledged. To hear "I'm proud of you" from the people who know all of our deepest flaws.
Marlowe does a fantastic job of conveying how Jo feels trapped between two worlds, both professionally and personally. She's not ruthless enough for her paparazzi boss, she's too commercial for her father. She enjoys taking candid photos that reveal previously unseen aspects of the subject but doesn't approve of the paparazzi's invasion of privacy. Her father's family rejects her for being too white and her mother's family rejects her for being too Indian. It's a subtle thread that runs through the book, a sense of not belonging no matter how hard one tries, which is something we can all identify with at some point in our lives.
The meet-cute with Jo and Micah is adorable. He blocks her shot of Maggie Gyllenhaal and then boosts her up on his impressively broad shoulders so that she can get it. She doesn't recognize him (he's a famous musician) and the two of them have some fun, banter-as-flirting exchanges. Her boss demands that she exploit the connection to get information about Micah and his sister (also famous).
Marlowe threads a careful path with Jo. She takes celebrity photos to pay her bills and make a living, but doesn't enjoy the exploitative aspect of her work. She can take a photo which becomes a window into her subject's emotional and personal life, but is very aware of the damaging effects of not having privacy and constantly being on display. She respects both of her parents, but acknowledges her own abandonment issues.
As the story progresses, Jo begins to realize how much of herself has been defined by others (and unfairly found lacking). She begins to recognize how often she's compromised her own standards to try and please someone else. It's a beautifully evocative story of self-discovery, with an engaging romance.
I'm not surprised this book has won a number of awards. If you're looking for a fun story with light-hearted dialogue that touches on some deep subjects, this is a great choice.
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