Treasure Island!!! Sara Levine

Title: Treasure Island!!!

Author:  Sara Levine
Publication Year: 2011 
Publisher: Europa / Tonga Books
Edition: review copy
Source: publisher
Setting: Unnamed US city
Date Completed: 11/29/2011 
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommend: depends on the reader

Treasure Island!!! is the story of an unnamed 25 year-old protagonist who is stuck in a rut. She's a young woman looking for some adventure in her life.  Thus far, this college graduate, philosophy major, has held several mindless and low paying jobs from "gift-wrap associate" in a department store to part-time clerk at the "pet library" (she calls herself, "Circulation Clerk"), a job which is short-lived and after her unauthorized purchase of a parrot named Richard for the Pet Library.  A bird when after being let go, she is stuck with, and a bird she quickly loses interest in.  Her boyfriend, Lars isn't particularly exciting either, but without a job she gives up her apartment to move in with him -- this too is short-lived. She is determined to change her life for the better, and maybe his as well.

One day her sister, Adrianna, a 3rd grade teacher, leaves the library book, Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson at her apartment.  The last time our protagonist read that book was when she was 9 years-old. She reads the book again, after all she doesn't have anything more interesting to do, and suddenly, it hits her -- she too needs to become adventuresome, like the book's hero, Jim Hawkins. She's determined to begin living her life by the core values of the original book Treasure Island: Boldness, Resolution, Independence and Horn-Blowing.

Unfortunately, her attempts to change her life by being more bold and adventurous, go from bad to worst, because one thing the protagonist lacks is introspection and self-awareness.  What follows is a series of interactions and incidents, some are quite amusing, others terribly embarrassing for those involved, but yet she never sees the effects that her actions and boldness are having on others.

While I generally enjoy stories with quirky characters, especially ones who just can't seem to get out of their own way, this lady quickly began to get on my nerves. Yes, some of the things that happened when the heroine (if you could call her that) tried to change her life,  were quite funny, although a little of her nonsense went a long way.  Although this debut novel was under 200 pages, I grew somewhat tired of her antics and the chaos she caused when she tried to get involved in everyone's business.  I'm glad I read this book, but am guessing that the reviews might be mixed on this one.