Christa Comes Out of Her Shell by Abbi Waxman
Published by Berkley Books
Publication date: April 16, 2024
Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Vacation Reading
Bookshop
Christa is a scientist who studies snails on a small isolated island. She’s perfectly happy with a life free from people thanks to a childhood spent in the spotlight. Her father was a world-famous naturalist with his own wildly popular TV show, but his plane crashed in the Alaskan wilderness when she was 2-years-old. Her mother carried on his work by creating a wildlife conservancy foundation and Christa was made to appear on TV as a little girl to promote the cause. It all worked well until her teen years when she publicly and repeatedly imploded with outrageous behavior. College calmed her, but a love of marine biology and distrust of humans is where her heart is now. Until, in Abbi Waxman’s novel Christa Comes Out of Her Shell, she’s informed that her father has been found alive and she needs to come home asap.
Christa arrives back in L.A. to join her two older sisters and mother in coping with the media frenzy around Jasper’s return. A frenzy that’s carefully fueled by his publicist. The spotlight’s glare is back as is a childhood crush of Christa’s and with that the novel takes off with twists, side plots, as well as Waxman’s expected and appreciated snarky humor. The latter is enough to excuse a lot of weaknesses, but not enough to make up for a plot device that makes me particularly peevish.
Namely, that, despite being perfectly pretty and content with herself it’s made clear from the moment she gets back to the U.S. that Christa is a problem. She’s not outgoing enough, her clothes are hideous, she cuts her own hair, and doesn’t wear make-up. Basically, she needs to be fixed—a premise I have no patience with. I’ve read and loved numerous Waxman novels because the female leads always have a strong sense of self. That’s not the case with Christa. She may be those things, but the novel leans hard not just in the “self-improvement” department, but in the romance as well. The entire novel circles around a man and while the ending wraps up well, Christa Comes Out of Her Shell tilted more into traditional rom-com than I’m looking for.
Looking for great vacation reading? I’d highly recommend Waxman’s novels: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill and Other People’s Houses.
This post contains affiliate links to Bookshop.org and Amazon.com which means if you click on a link and make a purchase of any kind, I get a small commission (at no cost to you).
I’ve not heard of this one but when you mentioned the snail it reminded me of The Sound of A Wild Snail Eating, which I loved.
This one would make you stabby (more stabby). Pretty woman who doesn’t realize it, blah blah blah. I was so disappointed.