Barbie World

by Heidi Acosta

• ASIN: B00EK52IME
• Publish Date: 2013
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Format: eBook (Kindle)
• Pages: 274
• Language: English

Reviews

[limabean74]

This book starts off about were the last book left off. Barbie is still trying to deal with her feelings for Dylan & come to terms with what happened that night with her mom and Ronnie. She can't risk anything because she needs to keep Everett safe. Now her mom is in jail and Ronnie has disappeared.
She is still living with the Knights and having Dylan so close is like torture. The more they try to ignore it the more they realize how strong there feeling are for each other. There is just so much in the way keeping them apart.

This book find Barbie searching for something she never though she would have....family. Roxie, Third, Dylan & Barbie plus a handsome new friend Kai find themselves on a road trip to find the family she never thought she had and get the answers she so desperately needs.

Dylan drove me completely insane and Barbie had her moments when I wanted to tell her to just get over it. But once again this book is heartwarming & emotional. You can feel the sexual tension between the characters while cheered them on and felt their pain.

This is really a great read. Hanging with some old friends and meeting some new ones. I liked how the end kinds of wrapped it all up in a little bow.

This is really worth the read. Both books were amazing and I strongly recommend. Mrs. Acosta is a fantastic story teller and I can't wait to read more from her in the future.

[inlibrisveritas]

Barbie World picks up soon after Barbie Girl leaves off, with Barbie living with Dylan’s family and her trust shattered. As someone who has been forced to fend for herself Barbie is having a difficult time adjusting to her new living arrangements, and being so close to Dylan is making things far worse.

Barbie Girl was one of my most recommended books last year. I thought it was a rather unique contemporary that dealt with some hard hitting issues, showed that appearances are deceiving, and showed off some really great friendships. Barbie World is a great continuation of all of that and more. One of my favorite things about these books is that it tackles the whole “judging a book by its cover” issue. In the first book we are shown that Barbie isn’t truly anything like all of the rumors say and we get to see just how different her life is compared to what everyone assumes. In Barbie World we see just how much those rumors affect her and we see a side of characters that we didn’t know they had. The characters grow even more and friendships are bent, broken, reforged, and made stronger. Barbie also finds out that she has family and it becomes a priority to seek them out and get to know them. I wanted so much for Barbie and Everett and while somethings fall through I am glad to see how their story turns out.

Dylan and Barbie put me through the wringer with this one. The tension between these two is thick, there is so much hurt and attraction that neither of them really know how to handle the situation. It doesn’t help that Dylan’s mom has already flat out stated that Barbie and Dylan are off limits as a possible couple, and they are both bound to that. Dylan remains a complete sweetheart even though he’s lost his way a bit trying to please his mom and Katie. He truly cares for Barbie even when she’s being extremely distant, and he develops a protective streak when it comes to her. Which would normally bother me, but given the amount of stress the whole situation I let it pass. It hurt my heart to see their friendship so torn, but at the same time the back and forth frustrated me. Third and Roxie are back as well and they are going through their own trials, though Third takes it in his typical Third-like fashion, with jokes and an attempt to win people over with his lighthearted attitude. We also meet Kai, a bad boy with a small local rock-band, whom Barbie finds herself keeping company. I can’t say I liked Kai all that much, he’s okay and I did like that he showed his true colors after some time…but initially he just didn’t work for me.

I think one of the best things about this book is how everything ends. It’s not a happily ever after, things are realistic and the ups and downs should be present. I think as a duology these two books are really amazing and I’m completely happy with how everything turned out.

[Angie]

Wait. Is this it? No more feisty, pink-haired Barbie Starr? I’m a little bummed that Barbie World seems to mark the end of Barbie’s story. I loved her in the first book, and in the second I was still rooting for her to come out of all of this okay. It’s Summer vacation and Barbie is doing her required hour of therapy. She’s very reluctant, but then she gets a new doctor who actually makes some breakthroughs. Things are very awkward and strained with Dylan, since they’re living together and he’s dating Katie. Then one heart-stopping day, Barbie makes an unexpected discovery that sends her on a road trip to find her long lost grandmother and hopefully some closure.

I did enjoy Barbie World, but I was a little disappointed. I wish more time had been spent earlier in the book on Barbie dealing with her feelings. She does have one extremely powerful scene, but then the focus shifts primarily to her relationship with Dylan. After that horrific night in the previous book, Barbie is irreversibly changed. She’s angry and confused, and she doesn’t know what to do about it. Her solution is to avoid Dylan, which obviously doesn’t work. She starts dating some wannabe rocker named Kai, which doesn’t go over too well with Dylan even though he’s still stringing Katie along. They try to be friends, but that certainly doesn’t work. They’ll have a special moment together, then Barbie pushes him away, then another moment, and she pushes him away. It was extremely repetitive, and I would have rather read more about Barbie’s journey to find her family.

Once again, I adore Third! I was missing him in the beginning, since it was mainly focused on Barbie and Dylan, but once he came on the scene, it was non-stop Third hilarity! He is the comic relief providing sidekick, but he also continues to be a great friend to both Barbie and Dylan. He’s there to support her, and he tries to keep Dylan from going off the deep end. He also got a little side plot romance in Barbie World! Third has a crush on Barbie’s friend Roxie and he’s determined to get her to see him for the great guy that he is, and not just the goofball best friend.

The stiff language I mentioned in my review of the first book is back with a vengeance in Barbie World! I’m hoping that’s just because I read an ARC, but there is a serious lack of contractions. It was very awkward to read, and did distract me from the story this time. Hopefully this gets fixed in the final version.

I wish I had known that Barbie World was the conclusion, so I would have been prepared for that ending! I actually liked the way the final chapter went (except for one detail and I had a hard time believing), and I think it would have left room for at least one more book. Barbie was getting her life together and I would have liked to have witnessed her senior year of high school. Instead there’s an epilogue that takes place a few years into the future, which was cute, but also a little on the unsatisfying side. I just wanted more out of Barbie’s emotionally explosive story, and that ending was too tame.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.