Summary: Vanessa is ready to be an adult, although you might not be able to see that from her appearance—bright pink hair and vibrant clothing. She has friends her own age, but is captivated by the people she meets while working at Palette, her local art store. Vanessa takes steps to become more independent and adult-like, but is she growing up too fast?

My thoughts: The narrator and protagonist of My Not-So-Still Life, Vanessa, is a perfect portrait of a restless teen. She has things she’s good at, but she wants more—she wants to push herself and see more of the world. Vanessa has unique and thought provoking (and occasionally naïve) views—a characteristic that makes her a fascinating narrator. The latter parts of the novel use Vanessa as a tool to present a moral of the story, but she still continues to be an intriguing character.

My Not-So-Still Life is a fun and occasionally deep story about growing up too fast. The incorporation of art and solid familial relationships make the novel stand out, as does Vanessa’s obsession with hair dye and crazy clothing. It’s easy to get lost in the pages of My Not-So-Still Life. It’s page count is small, though, and the resolution of major conflicts is somewhat underdeveloped and unsatisfying.

I’d recommend My Not-So-Still Life to those who were restless in their teens, and even to those who weren’t. I was never really restless myself, but My Not-So-Still Life is a great look into the life of someone who was. I found myself learning a bit about people, and why they do what they do. And isn’t a big part of why we read in the first place? ( )

I enjoyed My Not-So-Still Life quite a bit. It was a really quick read filled with humor and interesting insights of life.

This novel follows Vanessa, a teenage girl who, instead of trying to fit in, has tried to stand out. She is constantly changing her hair color, she wears a colored string on her wrist to depict her mood (purple is the best, black, which comes after red, is the worst) and she is on a never-ending search to define herself in the artistic world. She can’t wait until she graduates high school and is on her own, free to explore and create without the boundaries that restrict her now. But when her eagerness to grow up gets her in difficult situations and jeopardizes her relationships with her family and friends, Vanessa gets a rude awakening and vision into what her future might hold if she continues down on this path.

I really liked Vanessa. She is incredibly dramatic, but then again, most teenagers are. She is funny, abrupt, opinionated, creative and curious, but secretly confused and angry. If you can’t tell by the description I just gave, Vanessa is very complex. On one hand, she can’t wait to grow up and face the world head on, demanding her presence be know. But on the other, she sees her grandfather is getting older and she feels guilty that her mother has no time for herself. This dilemma is something way too many teens face – choosing between your family and the future you want.

Also, through Vanessa’s artistic eye, the reader has the pleasure of seeing the world in a whole new light. There are some descriptions of places, events and objects that are so simple, yet so interesting. Vanessa will take note of something, not making a big deal about it, but what she notices sometimes really made me think. I don’t really know how to describe it, but I bet if you read this novel for yourself, you would understand.

The plot was interesting, but it was not really the focal point of the novel. This story was more character driven; focusing on Vanessa has she goes through the dramatic, internal realization that there is no rush to grow up.

So overall, I’d say pick this one up. It is an insanely quick read, and it touches on problems many people face – finding your place in the world, as well as stopping yourself from growing up too quickly before you miss out on all the glory of childhood. ( )

Artistically talented and expressive Vanessa can’t wait to grow up, can’t wait until she’s old enough to leave her town and really live. Her current canvas is her body and her town, but she wants to get out there and have a purpose with her art. Vanessa’s desire to be older than her years causes a rift between her and her two best friends, Nick and Holly, and leads her to a job at her favorite art store along Oscar, Maye, and James, who seem to have the grown-up coolness Vanessa wants to be. What does it really mean to be grown up, though?

I read Liz Gallagher’s first book, The Opposite of Invisible, and fell in love with her sparse but powerful and relatable prose. Therefore, I went into Liz’s second book, MY NOT-SO-STILL LIFE, with great anticipation. Perhaps a little too much—for while MY NOT-SO-STILL LIFE is a solid addition to the YA contemporary genre, it didn’t have the lasting emotional impact I had found in The Opposite of Invisible.

Given a few allowances, I think that Vanessa is a very relatable protagonist. She’s an artist, but her story doesn’t really revolve around art (which in fact was a little quibble I had with the book, the lack of depth the art aspect had). Instead, Vanessa struggles with the common adolescent desire to have more, to be more than the typical high school life. Vanessa is a warm-hearted girl: she has a great relationship with her family, which I appreciated, and she means well for her friends. While her problems with her friends arise from her trying to push what she feels is right onto their situations, I have no doubt that she is well-intentioned and loving. She wants the future to be now, and what teenager can really fault her for that?

My biggest disappointment in MY NOT-SO-STILL LIFE was that I guess I had wanted or expected…well, more. And by that I don’t mean page-wise: at less than 200 pages, MY NOT-SO-STILL LIFE still does a good job with character development. But for a girl who dreams of going out there and actually living, Vanessa’s troubles feel disappointingly small, easily resolved, even a little contrived. I had expected her to undergo a greater sort of revelation, but that was not what ended up happening.

MY NOT-SO-STILL LIFE is good for a quick read when you’re in between two heavier books. It didn’t resonate as well as The Opposite of Invisible did for me, but I’m still interested in what Liz Gallagher has for us next. ( )