–review by Kara, teen reviewer
Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
Jo is the daughter of a prostitute who works in a successful brothel in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Jo does not want to follow in her mother’s footsteps and is struggling to get out of New Orleans, the “Big Easy.”
I am becoming a fast fan of Ruta Sepetys. Her characters, plot, and setting always have a way of entrancing a reader and making them extremely sympathetic to the plight of her protagonists.
The plot was wonderful. It kept you on your toes and turning the pages. There was never a dull moment and was believable. The order of events made sense and the author was able to quietly foreshadow events, making readers surprised, but not shocked.
It was also not solely focused on one story. While one plot was unfolding, another was twisting and turning. The story had multiple layers that gave it depth without being confusing and hard to follow, keeping the reader from getting bored with just one storyline.
The characters were pretty good. I wouldn’t say that they were absolutely amazing because the author didn’t really focus a lot on Jo’s relationships with people (I mean maybe one or two), or at least she didn’t focus a lot on the development of those relationships. Most of the character development was in Jo herself, the other stuff was mostly pre-existing. I would’ve liked to see more change in the other characters, but can understand that the author was focused on Jo’s growth. And, although it was a nice development of independence for Jo, I didn’t like how she didn’t really come to terms with her upbringing.
Although the book was overall really great, I didn’t particularly like the ending. It left a lot of loose ends and didn’t give you a lot of closure for characters. It may be an open-ended finale intended to give the reader the freedom to imagine Jo’s future, but a lot of the other characters are just shoved aside and left to fend for themselves.
Overall, I really recommend this book to anyone who’s looking for a book that’s rich in plot and setting, but not to anyone who doesn’t like inconclusive endings or books that focus solely on the protagonist. 5 stars. –Kara, teen reviewer
Find the book in our library: Out of the Easy