Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe by Shelley Coriell {Review}

Publisher: Amulet Books

Publish Date: May 1, 2012

Source: Publisher for honest review
Goodreads

Big-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school's struggling radio station, where the other students don't find her too queenly. Ostracized by her former BFs and struggling with her beloved Gram's mental deterioration, lonely Chloe ends up hosting a call-in show that gets the station much-needed publicity and, in the end, trouble. She also befriends radio techie and loner Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe faces her loneliness and and helps others to find the fun and joy in every day life. 

Looking at Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe, one would probably think it’s all fluff, but that’s definitely not the case. Throughout the course of the story Chloe has to deal with some pretty hard stuff from cruel ex-best friends to feuding relatives.

I love the way Coriell wrote a story that defied expectations. Chloe defied my expectations as well. I didn’t really think she’d change in the end, but she did and it was awesome. In the beginning I could kind of see where her friends were coming from. Chloe did seem a little self-centered, but at the same time she has a huge heart that wants to take care of everyone she loves. Despite the fact that Chloe’s personality is basically the polar opposite of mine, I ended up really loving her and being able to connect with her.

I loved the radio station and all its inhabitants. Even though there were quite a few different characters at the radio Coriell managed to make them all completely unique. I loved reading about them and seeing Chloe find a family with them. Chloe’s talk-shows were super duper fun too :]

Though she doesn’t delve into the complete complexities of it, I really appreciated that Coriell touched on the idea that just because your problems are different than someone else’s doesn’t make them any less painful or difficult. This is something I often think about and I love that Chloe dealt with it a little too. Sure, a broken family and divorce really sucks, but that doesn’t mean that a whole, “picture-perfect” family doesn’t have problems that are just as bad for the person dealing with them.

Duncan was kind of infuriating at times, but I did like him overall, though I didn’t fall head over heels for him. But not every (fictional) guy is for every girl ;]

The Nutshell: If you’re expecting a cute read from Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe, you’ll certainly get that, but you’ll come away with something else as well. This read isn’t all fluff, there’s family problems, friend issues, and even some fiery troubles. If you want a cute read that’s also rounded out with some problems (in the story not because of it) then you should definitely give Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe a chance.

Pages: 299
Series: No

Rating: Hit