Review : First World Problems by Leigh Ann Kopans

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : First World Problems
Author : Leigh Ann Kopans
Publication Date : September 2nd 2014
Publisher : Self-Published
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Sofia's had a really rough year - busted for cheating at prep school, dumped - dumped! - for the first time ever, and her new non-profit working stepmother is turning out to be an uppity bitch.

She deserves to treat herself. But when she throws herself a birthday party with 20 of her closest friends in Paris and (accidentally!) maxes out her dad's credit card in the process, he’s had enough of her attitude. As punishment, he switches her planned gap year touring Europe to one doing community service work with the evil stepmother’s relief organization in Guyana.

The rural village of Dabu needs help in every area from education to getting safe drinking water. But Sofia’s more concerned about her roommate Callum, the gardening expert, who calls Sofia "Princess" and scoffs at her distaste for sweaty, muddy, iguana-eating, outhouse-using life in Guyana.

Eventually, life on the equator, her work in the village, and especially Callum - with his brooding eyes and bewitching New Zealand accent - start to grow on Sofia. Life is rough in Guyana, but it’s roughest on the girls, whose families are too poor to send only the most promising boys in school. They’re trapped in a cycle that will keep them from ever making a better life for themselves, or for the village. Worse, Callum doesn’t seem to think any of the changes Sofia envisions are actually necessary.

Determined to change the girls’ futures, she comes up with a strategy to help them and, ultimately, the village. But what starts out as a plan to convince Callum and her father that she’s fallen in love with Guyana, turns into the realization that maybe she’s falling for Callum, too. And that by changing these girls’ lives, she might also be changing her own.

Personal Thoughts

First World Problems was a positively delightful novel that is sure to induce some goofy grins and some swoony sighs from readers. It's cute and fluffy, but it also sends a brilliant message to teenagers and adults alike.

There is something incredibly satisfying about reading a book that shows the growth and journey of a spoiled brat into a mature young woman. I'm always on the look-out for books that tackle that, so it was obvious that I was going to pick up First World Problems. Additionally, I pretty much despised Sophia in the companion novel, Solving for Ex, so I was curious to see how the author would redeem her character. And she did it wonderfully. Sophia underwent so much development and growth in this book. It was fun watching her go from this whiny teenager into someone who cared about an issue and wanted to do everything she possibly could to help solve that issue. She started off a bit frustrating with how she much fought to return to the US from Guyana, but over the course of the book, she found people who inspired her and a cause that she was very passionate about. It was a subtle growth, but it was believable. I loved the secondary characters in First World Problems. They were all wonderfully and realistically developed. They weren't secondary characters that were left to the sidelines. They all played a pivotal role in helping Sophia grow. My favorite character has to be the little local girl Sophia befriended in Guyana, Riya. I was kind of in awe of Riya because she made her own beauty products using local flora. It was quite impressive and when she and Sophia became a team, they were unstoppable.

Sophia also had her chance at romance with Callum, who was both infuriating and swoon-worthy. He was so mean to Sophia at first, because he had these preconceived ideas about girls like her who come from wealthy families, but he too underwent some growth whereby he learned not to judge people from their appearance. Their romance was so lovely. It started off antagonistically, and then they slowly started to work things out, which ultimately developed into something more. I loved their little arguments in the beginning, but I loved it when they worked together. I also have to say kudos to the author for implementing sex in First World Problems and doing it in a tasteful way. While the romance was definitely a great factor in the book, my favorite part was the setting. I'm not going to lie. I knew nothing about Guyana although I had heard of it before. Life their seemed really rough, especially through the eyes of Sophia. I probably would have had the same reaction as she did if I had to sleep in a hammock and be fed iguana meat, but I grew to love Guyana along with Sophia. I felt like I was there along with her learning the beauty that lay beyond the rough exterior. There is this saying about how reading books can be equivalent to traveling the world and LeighAnn Kopans definitely helped me do that through this book.

As you can tell, First World Problems was a winner for me. If you like sweet contemporary novels that also spread very strong messages about growing up, this is the perfect book for you. I've read two books by LeighAnn Kopans, and I've been thoroughly pleased both times. She's definitely an author who shines at the genre.

Rating

Cover : 3/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5

Thank you to Leigh Ann for the e-ARC of First World Problems.