WELCOME TO ENVY PARK: A Review :)

"Can you ever really go home again?"

(spoiler free! Read on!)

TITLE: Welcome To Envy Park
AUTHOR/s: Mina V. Esguerra
PUBLICATION DATE: 19th of October, 2013
AVAILABLE AT: Amazon | Smashwords | Buqo

This past few weeks, I've been reading more and more of local authors (support filipino writers!) It's refreshing to take a break from my usual dystopias and get to know more of NA.

Being a fan of Miss Mina Esguerra (I've read a couple of her books before), it's natural that I wanted more so I decided to check out Welcome to Envy Park. Here are some of my thoughts :)

(Via Goodreads)

Moira Vasquez is a doer. A planner. A get-up-and-goer. At twenty-two, she left her hometown to work in Singapore, to satisfy a need to travel as well as give her savings account a boost. Five years later and she's back in Manila, with a shiny new apartment to her name, but no job, no career, no boyfriend. She meets Ethan Lorenzo, the quiet hunk of an IT consultant on the ninth floor of her condo building, and he's a welcome distraction during this period of having absolutely nothing going on in her life.

But she has a plan - of course she does - and this is just a short layover on the way to the next country, the next job, the next big thing. Or will she be missing out on something great that's already there?

I honestly liked Welcome To Envy Park the most compared to the previous books I've read that are by the author. It dealt with stuff in the future that I was afraid of like getting a job and exploring the great world out there.

Moira is very real. Her character can be seen in lots of women her age and that's a good thing because she's more easy to get a grip on. It also helped that I can see myself a few years from now being like her haha :)

Another thing that I liked about Welcome to Envy Park is the fact that it didn't just focus on Moira but on the other people living at NV Park as well and how Moira slowly become part of their daily lives. I loved Lucille's character though I would've wanted to know more about Matilda, just to see if my guesses were right.

Now that I'm talking 'bout the characters, I'd like to stress out how adorable Ethan Lorenzo is. His first encounter with Moira was as cute! And their cuteness didn't just stop there. It continued throughout the story. I'm out of words for Ethan's awesomeness but he just IS.

I might have guessed a few things (including the ending) but it doesn't really matter for me 'cause this book's really good except that it was a bit difficult to read since I got a bit confused with the dialogues.The matrixes were awesome too (I love matrixes and lists!) But the best thing I loved about this is the WORD PLAY on the title. Epic! :D

"I would make it happen (...) I wasn't a leaf in the wind. I was the wind." -Moira

"I don't like begging for something that other people get for free." -Moira

"(...) don't give the impression that temporary is all you're good for (...) Show them that maybe, given the right circumstances, you can commit to something." -Moira

"You got stuck on the steps, and lost sight of the purpose." -Lucille

"But you know, things happen. People change. You shouldn't force yourself to stick to something if your circumstances change." -Lucille

"It felt for the first time that I knew where I was going to be, and what I should be doing, for once." -Moira (or is it Ethan?)

"Maybe I needed to place a tiny portion of my happiness in someone else's hands, and not completely control it." -Moira

Overall, I liked it a lot especially the characters. It's refreshing to see a fictional work that leans in closer to reality than fiction. I'm still scared of the future (who isn't, right?) but if there's one thing I learned from Moira, it is that I shouldn't be afraid to take risks and do what I want. Get a dream job, travel, visit other countries, etc.

It might be scary but the hardest things to do are the things worth doing :) 4/5 rating for Mina V. Esguerra's Welcome to Envy Park :)

4/5 rating :)