Oh what a cute funny book! I feel like you really can’t go wrong with Marissa Meyer. Her books are good for an easy read you won’t regret. Another win in the line up of Marissa Meyer books I have enjoyed reading. I will likely purchase this and let it join her other books on my bookshelf as a rainy day re-read. Thank you netgally

What a fun read! Environmental and magical realism with a dash of romance and mystery-- all tied together with lessons in karma, non-profits, and hasty judgments.

A judgmental overachiever has to convince the boy she hated working with all semester to redo their final project over the summer. (He's so much nicer than her.) Pru is difficult to like. She took great pleasure in enacting magical "instant karma" on people with no knowledge of why they were doing the things she observed. She treated her love interest poorly and then he treats her poorly in the big climactic fight (which could have been resolved easily if she'd ever talked to him honestly about what was going on). I liked the sea lions so much more than I liked the POV character.
This is a romance, yes, but it feels more like a coming-of-age story in which a rather selfish girl has to learn to think about other people every once in a while. She has a definite savior complex but she doesn't want to ask people why they are making their choices. On top of that, it felt really long.
I was so glad when they finally started getting together because the banter was good and I genuinely liked many of the characters. It was just hard to read about Pru doing the same things over and over and not learning until the end. Also the "magic" makes no sense.

Audio narration was good. Cadence and voices seemed to fit the characters.

A middling read for me.


Content Warnings: mentions of animal death and injury, animal blindness, Quint's dad is pretty much out of the picture

I received a digital copy of this audiobook for review.

Instant Karma is an adorable read! It's light, cute with a heave talk about animals and environmental danger. We start at the end of the school year for Prudence, Jude, Quint, and Ari. Prudence and Quint have been science partners all school year and can't stand each other. So, when their grades come back and Prudence isn't happy with it and the only way to fix her grade is to get Quint to redo their final project over the summer. But he doesn't want to. Prudence makes a deal to help at Quint's mother's Sea Animal Rescue Center in exchange for his redoing the project. While all this is going on there are a few other side plots, like Prudence's family craziness for the Beatles, (I mean, I love the Beatles, so I loved all the references thought the book). There's also a storyline about Prudence's family's own recorder shop. On top of the school project, there's the main plot where Prudence wakes up with the ability to cast instant karma. Now, this was something, I've never read about but loved how it showed how everything is linked and connects. Also, about how things aren't always as they seem. How one person shouldn't have the power to choose what's right and wrong without know the full whole truth. I do have to say that there were a few times where Prudence was a bit annoying, but she did grow and change as a character. Prudence's twin brother, Jude is one I would like to know more about, same with her Ari. (I need to know what will happen between Ari and Ezra. They are bubbly and feel that it would be a fun, witty read.)  
I loved all the sea animals. The theme of what human life is doing to the wildlife is a topic that I feel move books should cover.
I was lucky to get an audiobook ARC and as soon as I hit play I knew I would love the narrator. It's narrated by Rebecca Soler who has done many other books I've enjoyed. She narrated the Lunar Chronicles, the Caraval novels, Sadie, Renegades series; and so many more. Her tone and voices brought the story into a different light, it was fun to listen too.
Overall this was a cute but meaningful book. It did read younger than other books by Marissa Meyer. If you are looking for a fluffy, fast read where characters change the this may be a book for you to try.

Watch out for Karens! I mean Karma...I am a huge fan of Marissa Meyers series the Lunar Chronicles and I was so excited to see a she had written a contemporary romance. However, this book was a huge disappointment. The MC was so self righteous it was ridiculous because she was the worst character and she didn’t have a clue! Another character is the most obnoxious stereotypical vegan who lectures everyone else when they don’t do what she thinks they should. This book is basically about a Karen in training who watches everyone around her for any infraction big or small so she can deliver karmic “justice”. The enemies to lovers romance couldn’t save this book for me nor could the marine animal rescue. This book is trying to do too much and the ending was just cliche and predictable. The one good thing was the narrator Rebecca Soler. She was great and I would definitely listen to other books narrated by her.

I listened to the audio version of this (Thanks MacMillan Audio for the advance copy!), and at first I hated it--Pru is not a likable protagonist and the narrator leans in to that. But I stuck with it, and warmed up to Pru--she is a very realistic character, and I found her weaknesses to be completely believable. I grew to like a protagonist that isn't innately good, who has some pretty big character flaws, and I liked seeing her work to overcome them enough to find love and create something good in her community. At the end of the novel, she's still Pru, but a better version of herself.

The story follows her at the end of a frustrating sophomore year, having been lab partners with someone she deems a slacker, lazy, and infuriating (Quint), and they get a C on their final project. She begs her teacher to let them redo it, and he allows it on one condition--they have to work together. At first Quint refuses, but then relents when Pru agrees to volunteer at his mother's nonprofit sea animal rescue center. She learns who Quint really is, a lot about herself, and even more about karma. The story has a lot of layers, is really well written, and the setting of a small, tourist beach town came alive as I listened. I definitely recommend this, but if you're not a big audio fan, I'd recommend reading instead--I think I would have liked it a lot more that way.

<i>Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy<i>

Chronic overachiever Prudence Daniels is always quick to cast judgment on the lazy, rude, and arrogant residents of her coastal town. Her dreams of karmic justice are fulfilled when, after a night out with her friends, she wakes up with the sudden ability to cast instant karma on those around her.

Pru giddily makes use of the power, punishing everyone from public vandals to mean gossips, but there is one person on whom her powers consistently backfire: Quint Erickson, her slacker of a lab partner. Quint is annoyingly cute and impressively noble, especially when it comes to his work with the rescue center for local sea animals.

I didn't vibe with the appropritation so i dont mind not showing much thought

THis was a great book, she does it everytime I read a book by her. This was an adorable story and everyone should read it.

Thanks to #netgalley for the copy.

This is a really sweet and endearing book. While I could have almost taken the story just fine without the semi-supernatural instant karma power, I can appreciate the lesson that drove the story. The characters were well developed and even the side characters were quite interesting in their backgrounds. I wish Jude had been a little better developed, I feel like I knew more about Ari than Jude. Overall a great quick read for teens who enjoy personal growth stories with a hint of romance.

Charming performance by the narrator, who makes the 14 hour long audiobook sail by quicker than it is.

When I was a teen, YA was still fairly innocent. This feels like it was inspired by the YA of that era. It is a good book, but I am not sure I would call it great. The magical aspect was a nice concept, but it feels like it could have been better utilized in another story.

The story revolves around Pru, a fairly annoying teen girl who cannot seem to give others a chance to do or explain anything. She especially cannot find it in herself to give her lab partner Quint a chance. She hijacks their projects, assuming he’s unwilling to do his part.

Then Pru decides she’s been given gift from the universe, when she sees what she perceives as a wrong, the universe almost immediately dishes out karma to the “wrongdoers”.

Then Pru finds she needs Quint to get a grade she’d be okay with. She must face the fact that maybe she was wrong about many things and people. She begins questioning whether or not she’s as good as she thinks she is and whether or not she was right about others.

The romance didn’t wow me, but that’s okay, it’s an innocent first love kind of romance. Even the instant karma didn’t seem vital to the story (ironic given the title). The standout aspect of the story is really Pru discovering who she is.

The narrator really brought Pru to life. I’m not sure I’d have appreciated the character as much had I read the book myself.

I volunteered to listen to this book through netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Marissa Meyer has done it again everyone. Her writing style is spectacular. The narrator did a fantastic job reading this book. It keeps your attention from the first minute. The pacing of this story is good. The characters are enjoyable and described well. It is written good. I adored Prudence's and Quint's characters. You feel as though you are the characters.The friendships and relationships within this story is great. This audiobook is in stores now for CA $44.75 (CAD).

I’ve been excited about this book for so long and I would’ve loved to done a review on this, but I was approved and nearly instantly the title was archived and I cannot download it. Pity..

Marissa Meyers fans rejoice! A new book has been released. But if you’re expecting something similar to The Lunar Chronicles or Renegades, this is NOT that book. Instant Karma is a contemporary YA about Prudence Barnett, a rather tightly wound high achiever. As the book opens, Prudence has been paired with Quint Erickson for a science project. Quint is cute, likeable, and highly unreliable and, as Prudence expects, he fails to even meet her low expectations of him. The two can not see eye to eye on their project and as a result, Prudence is at risk of making her lowest grade ever. She’s given one chance to work with Quint to improve their grade, but he’s definitely not into it and Prudence can’t imagine spending any more time with him. But soon she finds herself finding out more about Quint and discovers how prevalent a role karma is playing all around her. From punishing hecklers at a karaoke event to rewarding people who do good, karma seems to be all around—maybe even influenced by Prudence?
Instant Karma is an enjoyable, modern, story and Prudence, though she can be way too high strung sometimes, even becomes kind of likeable. Quint is always likeable too, but some of the other “characters” really steal the show. While Instant Karma isn’t as complex of a story as some of Meyer’s other novels, it’s still engaging and enjoyable. I received an ARC of the audiobook for this novel and found the performance to be great. The performer did a great job with the voice of the characters and seemed remained true to the energy and mood of the story throughout.

*I received an ARC audiobook of Instant Karma from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I've read a lot of young adult novels, but have never seen a character like Prudence Barnett. She's a perfectionist, judgmental, awkward, smart, creative, challenging. Grades are everything to her, and when she and her biology partner, Quint, end up with a less than satisfactory grade, Prudence is out to rectify that.

Instant Karma is an illuminating journey on what is and isn't deserved from a karmic perspective. Does the universe dole out justice? Not only is there a lot to learn and digest by the characters, but there's also a lot of food for thought to absorb for readers—or in my case, listeners. I loved how Marissa centered this story around an animal rescue center. I love that Prudence's family owns a record shop, and I love that she has lots of siblings. Most of all, I love Prudence and Quint. Prudence grows a lot as a person, recognizing her strengths and also coming to recognize that her judgments, words, and actions aren't always as kind as she'd like them to be. There's a great message here.

This was a fun, heartfelt, wonderful book filled with some cosmic magic. Definitely recommend!

Prudence is an overachiever and she is highly judgmental towards others, believing that she is never wrong. When she randomly gets the power to cast karmic justice on those around her, she does so without considering the full story of why a person acted a specific way. After a team presentation goes horribly awry, she gets her own karmic punishment of having to work with the partner that she believes let her down. He manages to get her to actually consider the bigger picture and even the world around her.

I wanted to love this. I really like Marissa Meyer and really love listening to Rebecca Soler. Unfortunately, I found much of this book to be irritating. I'm not sure if this would have been better for me if it had been a book vs audiobook

Prudence is the teen version of a Karen, which makes it difficult to like her or want to listen to her story. I wasn't particularly thrilled with her romantic counterpart, though he was better than her. Meyer can write great characters, which pull me in, but this book didn't have the characters that I needed to read about.

The audio reader works better with the AI scifi book that Meyers writes, but her flat affect added to the unlikeablity of the main character.

The narrator for Instant Karma was spectacular. She did a good job of bringing each character to life. The story itself is good, but the main character Prudence is really annoying and I would not be friends with her in real life!

Be prepared to despise the main character Prudence. But also be prepared to open your heart to her and learn from her mistakes. I think Marissa Meyer did a great job creating a main character that is dynamic and relatable (in both good and bad ways). This was a fun read that had more depth to it than I was expecting.
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.

So ... Prudence kind of got on my nerves in the first 25% of the book. I liked the last 25% the best and then the middle 50%.

There was a lot of information in this book about marine wildlife and efforts that go into their rehabilitation; this was really interesting. I can't remember reading any books that have marine biology in their story line.

The creativity and teamwork between the main protagonists, Quint and Prudence was very satisfying.

Also the beach fundraiser was a really great idea. And I liked how the little mystery regarding the disappearing money unfolded and worked itself out.

So ... I was going to rate this as a 4 star; but on reflection I think I'm going to bump it up to a 5 because there is so much about the book that I really liked.