4 stars 
 Initial Impressions:There were a lot of things I really enjoyed about this book and then a lot of things I think it was missing. I really liked reading it but I didn't quite jive with the pacing and the way it was set up. 
 Review originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide: GOLDEN by Jessi Kirby was definitely one of my more anticipated reads of Spring 2013. Like many, I'm sure, I was drawn in by the possibility that our main character Parker Frost was possibly related to the great poet Robert Frost. I'm not normally one for poetry but I kind of adore Frost due to some connections that I made to his works in high school, so I was pretty excited for this fictional historical tie-in. The sad thing was... It never happened. Let me explain. 
 Parker Frost is your average over-acheiving teenager. Not in a bad way that gets tedious as you read about her road to perfection, but in a way that her mother has pushed her all her life NOT to be like her free-spirit writer/poet father who is apparently NOT related to Robert Frost because the book never went there. Nope. He's just a really big fan. 
 Now don't get me wrong - This sounds a lot like complaining (okay, it is just a smudge) but I actually really did enjoy the book! I haven't read Jessi Kirby's previous works (which I want to now) so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. What I found was a great story about Shane and Julianna, the high school's former golden couple who had died in a tragic accident and an interesting twist as Parker discovers a little more truth to what may have happened that night. I enjoyed the mystery but I was a little frustrated with how it was laid out. I felt like Shane & Julianna's story absolutely took precedence and I never got to really get to know Parker outside of the fact that she feels pressure from her mother to excel. I wasn't connecting with Parker because so much of her story was dependent on the secrets of Shane & Julianna. I also didn't connect with Shane & Julianna because they weren't actually present in Parker's life and interacting with her. I really liked the idea of what Jessi Kirby was doing with the book, but for me it just didn't pull me in and really make me FEEL for these characters. 
 That being said, Jessi Kirby does have a nice way with words. I was actually drawn in immediately after the first chapter and I had really high hopes as to where the book would go from there. I didn't feel like most of the chapters followed with the same passion, but there were definitely some really beautifully laid out moments. I guess I just have a lot of mixed feelings, really. Many great things but I was just left hoping for more the whole time.