Julie's Review: Katwalk

Author: Maria Murnane
Series: None
Publication Date: August 12, 2014
Publisher: Lake Union
Pages: 284
Obtained: Amazon Vine
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction, Chick-Lit
Rating: 4.25/5
Bottom Line: An enchanting story about coming into your own
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary:Katrina Lynden has always walked a straight line in life, an approach that has resulted in a stable career and pleased her hard-nosed parents but that has also left her feeling unfulfilled—and miserable. When her best friend suggests they quit their Silicon Valley jobs and embark on two months of adventure in New York City, Katrina balks at the idea but ultimately agrees, terrified yet proud of herself for finally doing something interesting with her life. But when her friend has to back out at the last minute, Katrina finds herself with a tough decision to make. Much to her surprise, she summons the courage to go alone, and the resulting journey changes everything. Along the way she makes new friends, loses others, learns what is really important to her, and finds a way to grow up without leaving herself behind. ~amazon.com

Review: If you read this blog with any regularity (hopefully you do) then you probably already know that I'm a big fan of Maria Murnane. I've reviewed all her books here on the blog and just love her style. So when I read that she had a new book coming out in August, I knew I had to get my hands on it. I'm so happy I did.

Since we are starting beach/pool read season, Katwalk would be the perfect one to read while sipping on a nice cold drink by a body of water. Katrina is a bit of a stick in the mud. She's a bit vanilla. She's stuck in a rut. Her best friend, Deb convinces her to quit her job and move to NYC for a couple months as an adventure. There's just one problem, instead of quitting her job, Deb gets a promotion. Katrina decides to back away from her normal reaction and go to NYC by herself.

Once she gets to NYC, Katrina meets all kinds of people and bonds with two girls who live in her building, Grace and Shana. Katrina, now adapting Kat as her name, bonds with each of them uniquely and quickly. I loved how Kat started to come out of her shell. She started seeing herself as other people did and that opened her eyes to who she really could be. It wasn't a major overhaul into changing herself it was little things that made her gradually change and become a better her. It was the belief in herself that she could change, that caused her to change the most.

Now, are there parts of the novel that are predictable? Yes, but I didn't mind them because they were the direction I wanted the characters to go in. Plus, Ms. Murnane puts so much heart into Kat, that you want things to work out well for her.

If you haven't read Maria before then Katwalk is a great place to start but I am still partial to her Waverly Bryson series.



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