The Queen of Everything: by Deb Calleti

Title: The Queen of Everything
Author: Deb Caletti

Format: Paperback - 384 pages 
Publication Date: May 25, 2004 by Simon Pulse
Buy the Book: Barnes & Noble, Amazon

Goodreads Description: "People ask me all the time what having Vince MacKenzie for a father was like. What they mean is, was he always crazy?" High school junior Jordan MacKenzie's life was pretty typical: fractured family, new boyfriend, dead-end job. She'd been living with her father (the predictable optometrist) since her mother (the hippie holdover) had been too embarrassing to be around. Jordan felt that she finally had as normal a life as she could. Then came Gayle D'Angelo.

Jordan knew her father was dating Gayle and that Gayle was married. Jordan knew it was wrong and that her father was becoming someone she didn't recognize anymore, but what could she do about it? And how could she -- how could anyone -- have possibly guessed that this illicit love affair would implode in such a violent and disturbing way?

Review: I have always enjoyed Deb Caletti's style of writing since I read Honey, Baby, Sweetheart a few years ago. She has a way of creating characters who, even though their stories are out of the ordinary, are easy to relate to and understand emotionally.

I immediately liked Jordan, and I enjoyed the story being told from her perspective. I felt that her telling was how a normal high school girl would tell the story of her father's illicit affair with a married woman. While she knew that the affair was toxic, there was nothing she could do except to sit back and watch her father's life fall apart before her eyes. 

The ending of the story was extremely predictable, but it was still a fantastic read all the same. The story had enough suspense and back story that it was easy to get lost in. It was a quick and fun read, and I look forward to reading Caletti's other novels.

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