Genre: Contemporary Romance / New Adult
Overall: 4-stars
About: Hello, Agnieszka! is the story of a young second generation Polish Immigrant in the 1970s. She struggles with her very strict and religious parents, her love of the piano, and love. The story is told as a flash back– a mother (Agnes) telling her children her story.
Review: I’m not really a fan of contemporary stories. I’m just not really drawn to them. Usually I find the premise of them unenticing (not because they are bad but just because they don’t excite me).
However, I found myself drawn into the story of Hello, Agnieszka! I wanted to know what happened next. The way the book is setup it is obvious that Agnes doesn’t marry and live happily ever after with her first love and I desperately wanted to know why.
I also desperately wanted to know how she ended up with Charles. I wanted to know what happened to her parents. I wanted to know what happened to Aunt Jola. All of the characters were so very interesting to me. The story is not necessarily a happy one, but it is incredibly appealing and interesting.
Ms. Journey does a really wonderful job of writing compelling characters– not just the main ones, but the side characters as well.
My only real qualm with the story, and why it is brought down to 4-stars instead of 5-stars is that I would really have liked more description of the world. The story was very first-person thought and dialogue heavy. While I enjoyed it, and it felt like someone was telling me a story, I didn’t really have a mental-movie going on while I was reading.
Overall, however, it was really interesting and I am so happy that Ms. Journey sent it to me to read and review.
Why you should read/get it: If you like contemporary romance this is a good book for you. If you like stories where different generations butt-heads with each other this is also good. If you’re looking for a slightly-sad but sweet romance with no explicit sexual content (there is sex in the story, but it is not described) this is definitely for you.
C. Mcgrue Writes 