Book Review - "Sabado a Noite" by Babi Dewet

This week I had the pleasure of reading "Sabado a Noite" (Saturday Nights) by Brazilian author Babi Dewet.

SYNOPSIS:
Written in Portuguese and set within an International and High Class Brazilian College in what I am guessing is Rio, as this is where Babi lives, this book follows the story of Amanda & Daniel, as well as their friends, through one of their last years of high school. Amanda has it all: rich, beautiful and surrounded by equally posh and beautiful friends, she's at the top of the food chain. But she falls in love with trouble-maker Daniel and to make matters worse one of her best friends likes him too. Not to mention the mysterious band of masked boys that plays at the school's Saturday Club Nights and seems to know too much about her.

REVIEW:
I have to admit I'm skeptical of any book that is set within a high school. But I read the first chapter over at Babi Dewet's website and thought it was interesting. She then sent me the book - autographed and dedicated (thanks!). For those of you who know I'm a guest writer at Babi's blog... Don't you worry. If I didn't like her book I would say it anyway. I'm famous for being brutally honest so I wouldn't want to ruin my reputation now, would I?

Let me put it this way... On the first two days I read 60 pages, but on the third day... I couldn't put the book down and ended up finishing it at 5am. I laughed, cried, got mad at the characters and then reminisced about my own high school years and all the little dramas and misunderstandings that seemed so life threatening. (I know. I was a real drama queen!)

The point of view changes in between the characters and the narrator. The plot is well developed and the only little inconsistency is the character's parents who just float on the background, but are not really there. Per example, Daniel's father suffers a serious accident, which I guess influences his final decision, but it's only mentioned twice and you're not sure if his parents live abroad or are just abroad on business or have to stay longer because of the accident. But these are very small details and by this time you are so engrossed on the story you don't really care to question. Apart from that, every time something happened and I questioned it, the answer came on next sentence.

The emotions are raw and you can't help but bite your nails. To top it off the characters are just charming. Well... apart from Amanda, which I wanted to slap and tell to "smell the blinking coffee", but she always seems to find a way to redeem herself. This book takes you on a trip and there are moments that are so funny... I had a lot of people stare at me like I was going crazy. Yes... Laughing your head off  and then almost crying, for no apparent reason, did not go well in public. I think they though I was psychotic! In the comfort of my own home and save from every one's eyes, however, I cried like a baby as the story reached its climax and fell towards an end.

I'm seriously hoping Babi is thinking about writing a sequel to this as I simply need to know what happens next. The end was too much of a cliff hanger and so I'm still biting my nails. Babi, you are just gonna have to take me out of my misery girl friend!

Highly recommend it to anyone that can read Portuguese or to any English publishing company wanting something funny and full of emotion to add to its portfolio.

Book Rating: *****

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