According to sixteen-year-old Zander Osborne, nowhere is an actual place—and she’s just fine there. But her parents insist that she get out of her head—and her home state—and attend Camp Padua, a summer camp for at-risk teens.Zander does not fit in—or so she thinks. She has only one word for her fellow campers: crazy. In fact, the whole camp population exists somewhere between disaster and … between disaster and diagnosis. There’s her cabinmate Cassie, a self-described manic-depressive-bipolar-anorexic. Grover Cleveland (yes, like the president), a cute but confrontational boy who expects to be schizophrenic someday, odds being what they are. And Bek, a charmingly confounding pathological liar.
But amid group “share-apy” sessions and forbidden late-night outings, unlikely friendships form, and as the Michigan summer heats up, the four teens begin to reveal their tragic secrets. Zander finds herself inextricably drawn to Grover’s earnest charms, and she begins to wonder if she could be happy. But first she must come completely unraveled to have any hope of putting herself back together again.
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Loved this!
I won this book as part of a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
This was an interesting book. Obviously a YA, I don’t think I totally understood the premise of it until I actually sat down to read it. The story was well written and the characters were complex and well developed. Or at least as developed as they can be given each of their circumstances. It was interesting to see how they initially appeared so different, but as the story continued, you realized they weren’t and were all just looking for the same thing in the end. The gradual process of them discovering that there was more to them that they initially thought gave you hope that they’d be able to deal with their problems and move forward in life. It also gave you some happy moments which seemed pretty rare for a lot of them. There were a few laugh out loud moments as well as tear jerkers. And naturally, there was a camp romance. I honestly don’t quite know how I feel about that. It….
You can read the rest of my review at https://charleeraeblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/19/the-odds-of-loving-grover-cleveland-by-rebekah-crane/
Such a powerful story of character growth and what it truly means to care for another person. I really loved it. The romance took a backseat to the friendship between Zander and Cassie, but that was totally fine for me. Usually I prefer more romance in a book, but the characters were so engaging and the journey of Zander and Cassie hooked me completely. An excellent read.
Great teen read.
Zander has been sent to a camp for teens with varying emotional problems, some have eating disorders, others are cutters or depressed. She’s not happy with her parents for sending here, but she’s glad to be away from her overbearing mother right now. There’s a misfit cast of characters that each have their own quirks and issues that bring so much to Zander’s experience at camp.
Cassie doesn’t eat and she takes diet pills to stay thin, she’s struggling with her identity. She grew up with a mother who didn’t care and she pushes people away as a defense mechanism. Grover, whose father is schizophrenic, is worried he will get the disease as well. As he says it, he’s got a “heightened emotional state”. Lastly, we have Bec, who is a compulsive liar, and we’re not sure what bits of information from him is real, other than he’s clearly obsessed with Cassie.
The story unfolds for us slowly learning what has brought Zander to camp and watching her make friends with this group, and learning how to navigate the world in a healthy manner. The dynamic between Zander and Cassie is at the forefront of the story, and Cassie is a lot to handle, but Zander is learning the best way to approach this friendship. When she’s at her limit with Cassie, she realizes she can’t abandon her, as she says “Maybe that’s what everyone has done to her. They’ve left her standing alone in the water because they couldn’t take it anymore…” I haven’t touched on the blossoming relationship between Zander and Grover because I think that would be better off for the reader to experience.
I know other reviewers had issues with Cassie’s strong personality and the very mixed bunch of characters, but I loved both. I’ve met people like Cassie and they really are the ones that need love the most.
This was such a fun story for me to read, as I stated I loved the characters and the storyline. As I read ebooks, I highlight things that stand out, and this book is filled with highlights because there are so many poignant lines, things that resonated with me. “Everyone wants to find a way out when they’re locked in What most people don’t realize is that there’s always another locked door.” I think that quote speaks of the message of the book. So incredibly well done!
Ah, summer camping, teen love, mental illness!
This book is brutally honest and full of humor. It describes a bunch of teens surviving a summer camp for “teens in a mentally and emotionally heightened state,” and I personally found it genuine and funny. The cheesy counselors and their advice, the kids struggling and finding friendship in their not fitting together, the ridiculous trust-building activities, the acceptance of being broken in your own way: it all came together in the end.
Make no mistake: this book talks about kids that suffer because of circumstances (death, absent parents, abusive parents or the like) and their issues are somewhat eased through acceptance, friendship, and solidarity. This book does not talk about mental illness, like chronic depression or schizophrenia, due to an imbalance of neurotransmitters that are far from being eased by a summer camp.
I found the characters a delightful, relatable mess. Grover is adorable. I liked the diversity of the characters. A great summer read.
The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland, catchy title and basically the only reason I picked up this book. I am so glad the title caught my interest because this is truly a pretty amazing book.
A group of young people participate in Camp Padua for troubled at-risk teens! This book centers around Grover Cleveland, Bek, Zander Osborne and Cassie! These four characters are unforgettable from Bek’s constant lying to Cassie’s immense number of issues to Zander’s living in her own head and using French phrases to escape real life and Grover’s family history of mental illness which he is sure he will inherit!
This story is both laugh-out-loud-funny and grab-a-Kleenex sad. We see a bond of friendship develop between these four teens and we see their courage and hope as they realize they are stronger than they thought they were and that life is worth living fully.
I would recommend this book to a wide group of readers. It is considered a YA book, but I believe it is a book suited to adults also. It will take you back to your teen years.
Really great book! Just unexpected and such a fun read! It’s okay for teenagers, so if you’re expecting a steaming romance, this isn’t it. But, it was a great read! Loved the characters.