This was such a fun cute read. It was perfect to escape from our current reality. I loved the characters and thought the all had great depth and development. I loved all of the quirks they each had. I liked the Pru wasn't immediately the most likeable character. She really grew on me though. Her growth throughout the book was really great. The one thing I didn't like was the predictability of the big conflict. I knew what was coming and then even when it was confirmed, Pru didn't know and I really dislike knowing stuff the main character doesn't. Other than that it was really cute read! I also really thought the narrator did a fantastic job!

I'm going to keep this short because I hate negative reviews, but alas, I have a lot of negative thoughts.

This book makes me sad because Marissa Meyer is one of my favorite authors, but man did I not connect with the main character in this book. I like the idea of two people who don't get along forced to work together and finding depth in one another, but I didn't see any personal growth at all with the main character. She didn't really change her ways at all. I felt like instead of growth, the reader was to understand why she was the way she was and be okay with it. And I'm not okay with it. She was judge-first, never ask for forgiveness.

The thing that saved this book for me were the sea animals! I loved learning more about places that help return sick animals to the sea and the process that goes with it. And the counter-part to Prudence was really sweet and I actually ended up liking him a lot. Quint was a good guy from the start and I adored him.

I just... I need character growth instead of acceptance from the reader. When a character's arc is flat, I don't enjoy it as much. This is just my personal opinion though and I will still forever read anything by Marissa Meyers. Everything else by her I have super enjoyed!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ALC of Instant Karma in exchange for an honest review.

I knew I needed this audiobook the moment I saw Rebecca Soler was narrating. Listening to Instant Karma was like being reunited with an old friend, and I absolutely loved the experience. Rebecca Soler is always an A+ in my book.

Moving onto the story though & I have some mixed feelings. It's cute, it's fun & I love the Animal Rescue setting. However, I had some major issues with Instant Karma & a lot of it has to do with there being too much in this book.

First of all, there is barely any point in giving Prudence siblings (outside of Jude) because they barely play a role in this story, besides showing that their parents named them all after songs from The Beatles. That's it, that's the only reason they're there & 99% of the time, I forgot they existed.

& then we have so many side stories that serve zero purposes to the story. Pick! One! Thing! & throw in one or two subplots, but gosh, this had so much going on and the story felt like it was dragging so much because of it. I really thought it was never going to end.

Moving on, we have the karma aspect of Instant Karma -- which I kept forgetting about, until Prudence is randomly like, "you know what! Let's throw some karma at people!" So, that will happen for a little bit & then we fall back into forgetting about her power, because of the other things that are happening in this book.

& to finish off my Instant Karma rant, which I really didn't have planned until I started writing this out, it's so hard to vibe with Prudence. I understand ~character flaws~ & I understand that she's a teenager & whatever, so I'm not going to shoot her down too badly but I just want to give readers a heads up that she's a struggle to deal with & she'll most likely annoy the heck out of you.

I'll start out saying that I have 5-starred all of Marissa's books. I devour everything this woman writes with veracity and no shame. This book was no different. From the first second we meet No Nonsense Prudence, I was IN LOVE! Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and with this cute little taste of magical realism, I'm smitten. The complex quirky characters are fantastic, the setting itself can stand alone as a character, and all of the cute-funny situations she ends up in keep the plot moving. Fantastic, cute, fuzzy read!

This is another book I both read and listened to on audiobook. I did notice more differences between the two versions than I did in other books for which I have done this. I have to say that I read a lot of young adult books, but I don't read a lot of young adult romance books. And this one was partially a romance book. That was the only part of the book that made me feel a little too old. The rest was a mix of other genres like young adult and a little bit of sci-fi. I say a little bit because it was almost as if the "power" Prudence gains early on is an afterthought.

What is to like in this? The town. I love the little California coastal town. There was a nice little balance to it that is often missed when I read depictions of my home state. Having grown up in small towns in California, both coastal and mountain, I often cringe when reading about my state. The people are friendly but not overly "dude"-ish. Small towns are hard to really depict because it seems like everyone knows everyone. It is just not true. There are cliques but there are still strangers. I thought this was written well.

What else? The friends. Jude, brother or friend, was under-seen. I know it is a cliche, but the twins spent very little time together. Ari was sweet and supportive. High school kids are often written as fitting in or not fitting in and my experience with them is that it is not that simple. I loved that Quint was not just some popular kid that everyone loved while Prudence was some awkward brainy girl. She got up and sang! Not every smart high school girl in every book would have done that. Most would not have.

And? The ocean. I'm confessing here. I am not a huge fan of the beach. I grew up near the beach and far prefer the mountains. Between tourists and sand I just don't see the appeal. But the ocean is really important in this story. I love the actual ocean. I love ocean life. Watching Prudence learn about the ocean life around her was touching and informative.

Anything else? The crime. It's in there and the culprit was a little obvious to me, and I cringed knowing who was going to be blamed well before anyone knew there was a crime committed, but it was a nice little thing in the middle of everything else.

Overall, this story was pretty simple and there were no surprises. Surprises weren't the point. If I did have to pick a con it would be that Prudence was a little too judgmental and more than a little annoying. From the beginning you could tell that she was wrong. The only other thing was the karma thing. It wasn't even necessary. I forgot about it most of the time and then she would suddenly decide to "punish" someone. If I had to say, I would put it all in her active imagination.

This book was absolutely adorable! I felt myself smiling the whole way through. I couldn’t stop reading and devoured it so quickly! I absolutely loved Prudence and Quint’s banter and I loved their relationship growth. It felt so natural and just so cute! This book had me feeling all the feels and I cannot praise it any more!

Overall: While instant karma maybe cool, this is a bit overwritten for my taste.

Pros:
Karma. Powers. Okay, let’s be fair, Marissa Meyer has always been able to craft magic for her worlds. The ability to cast instant karma on people is no exception.
The audiobook narrator, Rebecca Soler. Those who have listened to Marissa Meyer’s works on audio before will recognize this narrator whose voice seems to go well with her work.

Cons:
Prudence is an awful main character. I understand judgment is part of her qualities; however, it’s overkill without the right amount of payoff.
The overwriting. I think it has become clear after reading all of Marissa Meyer’s published works that she has a tendency to overwrite some of her scenes.
This is just too long. I was hesitant when I saw this young adult contemporary romance listed as 400 pages. Unfortunately, it is too long for the story to breath properly.

This was fantastic. 4.5 stars. I think it maybe could've been a tad shorter and still got the message across, but otherwise, I loved this. Rebecca Soler is one of my favorite narrators, so I was stoked to see that she was narrating this one, and she didn't let me down. I love this kind of contemporary with a twist of magic or sci-fi, in this case Pru's titular instant karma power. It's not delved into too deeply, it just *is* and then the rest of the story feels very classic YA contemporary. The enemies-to-lovers vibes were fantastic, and Pru is complex and learns her own lessons as she doles out cosmic justice. It was exactly what I wanted out of this one.

Prudence has an overinflated sense of self worth. Quint, her lab partner, seems to not be bothered to do any work. When a group project blows up in her face (she got a C!), she needs to convince Quint to work over the summer to get a better grade. After she fell and hit her head at Karoke night, Pru realizes that something is weird about her.
Opinion
I listened to the audiobook version and loved the flow of the story. The narrator did a flawless reading of it.
The story overall was super cute. Two enemies turned friends and then more? How can you go wrong with this. I also love that Quint accuses Pru of something serious only to later find out that it wasn't her. Pru is the one who had to figure out who did it but it made the story so much more interesting.
The two characters learned so much about themselves and each other along the way. Character growth was clearly evident and it was heart warming to see these two, Pru and Quint, become more accepting. The characters (main and sub) became a part of me as I read the book and I certainly wanted to learn more about them.
I am really interested in what happened with Jude, Pru's brother, and her parents store afterwards. Please tell me there is another book coming out! I have to know.
If you are looking for a great young adult romance, this one needs to top your list of books to read.

I didn't mind the narration of this book but I am not a fan of the book itself. The main character is beyond annoying and she had few redeeming qualities

I have missed Marissa's worlds that I am able to jump into full force and be immersed in all the action and emotions of the characters. You get to know Prudence and Quint quite quickly as lab partners along with their quirks that make them clash. But how Marissa builds this story, their difference layers unravel and my heart warmed up and smiled for how their story played out. There are many great messages within Instant Karma for us as people in a world of needs and connection to hear. The plot flowed smoothly and the climax was well timed. As all of Marissa's novels, I wasn't ready to leave Pru and Quint but the book was well-rounded and important life lessons were learned. What an interesting and great read!

This book is ADORABLE! I love everything by this author and this one is no exception! Marissa Meyer's first contemporary young adult novel tells the story of Prudence (named for the Beatles song, "Dear Prudence") who faces disappointment when a science project doesn't get the grade she thinks she deserves. Over the summer, Prudence volunteers at a local sea life animal rescue, along with her science partner, Quint, and creates a program to help the rescue center get more help and donations. She hopes this work will help her science grade improve. Prudence is also given the power of "Instant Karma" where she can enact karma on others by simply willing it. Confusions and chaos follow this new power as sparks fly between Prudence and Quint. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves ya, romantic stories, or contemporary novels. Very fun!

I had to DNF this book at 20%. The audiobook narrator was great, but the story was bad. Pru, the main character, has to be one of the most negative characters I've read in a book in a long time. She was whiny and unlikeable and absolutely acted like she was entitled to whatever she wanted. To give her the power to pass out instant karma just felt like giving the bad guy a really powerful weapon. Maybe the book gets better, but honestly I couldn't handle 11+ more hours of the audiobook. I'm so sad because I love Marissa Meyer and this book was just such a disappointment. I do hope she tries YA contemporary romance again, but maybe just don't make the hero of your story the villain.

Contemporary romance and I just haven’t been getting along recently, at least with arcs. I did have high expectations with this one because I really loved Meyer's book Cinder (and need to continue the series) but this book feels like it was written by another author. Points for the cute cover though!

Prudence suddenly gets the power of being able to grant instant karma on those who deserve it. I wasn’t a fan of Prudence, if anything I thought she should get some instant karma against her for her behavior. She is selfish, annoying, judgmental, and thinks she is better than everyone else. Eventually she changes but by then it was too late for me, I thought she was just too unbearable.

The enemies to lovers could have been cute but Prudence is beyond rude to Quint when he would just mind his business and if he would make a mistake she wouldn’t really allow him to speak. She only cared about herself and her own feelings. I actually liked Quint and Prudence’s brother Jude. All the characters except for Prudence herself were likable.

My other problem was that the concept of instant karma is basically forgotten around the 40% mark of the book and focuses on Quint and Prudence working together at the wild life center. This is where it focuses on the love interest instead but because of that, a whole plot line is basically forgotten about. Eventually it does tie in together but because the book is 400 pages, it gets a bit muddled. I did like learning about the sea life and the southern California setting but it just wasn't enough for me.


Thank you to Netgalley and to Macmillan Audio for granting me access to an advanced audiobook of this book! The narrator did a good job at bringing the characters to life.

So this is definitely my least favourite Marissa Meyer book but it is by no means bad. Meyer's fantasy books offer very well written character in a setting that we're familiar with but has been messed with and made her own. I think the characters in this were just as strong as I expected but it's missing a twist. It's too by the book/by the known structure. It's by no means a bad book but it doesn't feel like a Marissa Meyer book which was a bit disappointing. The ending was nauseatingly happy and clean (which may not be for me but I know is a big appeal in YA contemporaries). The setting was fun and it did have some discussions about things we struggle with today (eco-tourism, animal rescue, finances, etc).

This book was extremely high on my want list. Marissa Meyer is one of my all time favorites. So anything from her is a must have.

That being said this book suffered from way to long syndrome. Pru was insufferable through the first 60-70% of the story. It made it hard to get through. I considered DNFing a few times. I do love a sort of coming around story. Watching the character grow and change by the end. The premise was great. I loved the ending and the romance. If she had cut out about 30% of the first half this would have been an easy five stars. I would still recommend reading it!

Rebecca is one of my favorite narrators. She did a great job bringing the characters to life. The voice she gave Pru is the exact voice I pictured for her. Her narration made it way easier to get through the slow parts of the story. With the lulls and the struggles to get through the first half, had I been reading and not listening I most likely would have quit. She gets five stars for performance.

Overall the story is three stars for me.
Narration is five stars.

FEEDBACK
Instantly I am immediately invested into this book because I am a sucker for enemies to lovers – and oh my, are Prudence and Quint enemies in the beginning. Prudence is an overachiever so much that she never allowed Quint to participate in their huge Biology project, if he would have even showed up to work on it. Right away, it was obvious that there was something more to Quint being late than Pru was leading on. It was amazing to see what it was about Quint though that made him “unreliable” during the school year. The beginning of this book, I will admit, was a little hard to get through. Prudence is determined to do their project over again to get a better grade but in her own way. This was hard to get through because it was very obvious how wrong Prudence is about a lot of things. Sure, she is good and planning, outlining, and presenting but the issue was that if it wasn’t her idea or her way – it wouldn’t even be talked about. This was meant to be frustrating because of how the story goes but it just made it a little hard to push through. Along with this, Pru suddenly is able to unleash “instant karma” on those who are deserving it. Again, during the beginning this was a little hard to get through also because it was Pru’s sense of karma. Some of the people did deserve it but there was some that could have let slide. What I did like though, was when she tried to use it on someone who really didn’t deserve it – nothing happened to them. I really liked this concept and thought it was unique. The instant karma definitely brought a fun aspect (if not annoying at times) to the story and certain events definitely would not have taken place without it.

Prudence was definitely a character that had to grow on you. In the beginning, she is a huge brat. If it wasn’t done her way then it wasn’t getting done at all. While I can appreciate her wanting to do everything to succeed, it came off the wrong way in times. At the beginning, like I said earlier, it was very clear that there was something more to Quint’s story than what Pru was perceiving. During their exchanges it was sometimes tough not to yell at the book for Prudence to shut up and just listen. However, once you reach about halfway, she really starts to change. Pru is still very much the control freak, but she starts to reign the control in and open herself up to other ideas. I really liked this because it was realistic. There are people out there who are very controlling and no matter what it is done their way. But once these people realize that their way might not always be the best, then do they truly succeed. And if Prudence didn’t open herself up to Quint and his ideas, then she would have never been as successful. I also loved the relationship buildup between Prudence and Quint. It felt like it was never rushed and the buildup was perfect. It was great to see Quint’s personality rub off on Prudence and watch how they honestly brought the better parts of each other out. When I was getting close to the end, I didn’t want Prudence and Quint’s story to end – I felt like it was only beginning.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer was a fun contemporary romance story with a little bit of cosmic justice thrown in. While the beginning was a little hard to get through, it is well worth the push. The story overall was just so much fun and I really had a difficult time putting the book down because I wanted to know what had happened next. Prudence was absolutely a tough character to follow in the beginning but I loved watching her progress into a better person without losing her personality. Quint, Ari, and Jude were fantastic characters to really help mold Prudence into one of the best version of herself. I highly recommend this story if you are looking for a contemporary romance novel that has a lot of growth, sprinkled with some amazing animals and enemies to lovers – I mean how can you not turn that down?

AUDIO REVIEW
NOTE: The narration does not affect my rating of the book
I really like Rebecca Soler’s narration. The first book I listened to her narrate was City of Bones and I thought she did a fantastic job. While she doesn’t have a huge range of voice alterations, she still does a great job. I would absolutely recommend this on audio if you are thinking about it. She really brings the characters alive and helps the beginning of the novel a lot!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy of this audiobook.

Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer is a very well written young adult romance. The book combines a little touch of magical karma, teen romance, and a really interesting back drop of the marine wildlife rescue. I loved how the book had teens volunteering and helping out in the community.

The character development in the book was excellent. The heroine in the book, Prudence, is a little difficult to like, but she does really grow throughout the book. I like how she comes to a self realization and tries to make adjustments to her behavior throughout.

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves movies like Dolphin Tale or other stories involving marine mammals. For me, that is what really made this book shine. So much so that I'm going to make my daughter listen to it next!

NARRATION: The narrator 0n this one does a fantastic job. She really brings Prudence to life while also capturing a multitude of different personalities in supporting characters, from teenagers, to parents, to senior citizens.

This is a new young adult contemporary romance novel and Marissa Meyer's first foray into this genre. It is an enemies to lovers story, which also has a superpower and a mystery in the mix.

Our main character Prudence gets a C on her biology project and all because she and her lab partner Quint were unable to work together. Prudence is determined to re-do the project over summer, but to do that she needs to learn to get along with Quint. In addition, she suddenly gets an ability to deal karmic justice to anyone who she witnesses being cruel, rude or unfair.

I ended up really enjoying this story. It is light, heart-warming and funny. I got an advanced audiobook copy, and my only complaint is that when I sped up the audio above 1.0x, the quality of sound goes down: it sounds as though two people are speaking at the same time.

Overall, 5 out of 5 stars. The book will hit the shelves on Tuesday, November 3.

This is my first by this author. I read the blurb and thought it sounded riotous, downloaded the audiobook and only then did I scroll down and see it is a YA book. I haven’t been a YA person in…forever! So I listened anyway thinking what do I have to lose while walking the dog and maybe this could be added to the gift list for my nieces and friends age appropriate daughters. So glad I listened. This was a terrific book as was the narration. Who amongst us hasn’t once wish we could harness the power of karma or at the very least been there to watch as karma “took someone down”? This was well written, witty, filled with some teenage angst and lots of drama, bullying, friendships, learning how to be brave and step out of your comfort zone, the feelings of not fitting in, being judgmental and judged, being blamed for things you’ve not done, not getting credit for things you have and learning to navigate the world with all kinds of feelings that are new to your experience. Family dynamics explored, friendships tested and the beauty of learning to say I’m sorry and being able to forgive are what make up this terrific tale. A major lesson, if there is one to be gleaned is that with great power comes great responsibility and learning to handle that is never an easy road regardless of your age. And lots and lots of cute animals being rescued. Doesn't get any better.