This is a book of abandonment. It's a story that so many girls can identify with: Raised by a single mother with no father in the picture, seeking a father's love, the fear that everyone will abandon you as he did, and a selfish and emotionally-distant mother to boot.

Tessa's mother is totally self-absorbed. I know women like this. My best friend's mother was quite a bit like this. Her needs came first instead of that of her children. Tessa is always second-place in her mother's life (or third or fourth).

After she and her mother become residents of an isolated cult, Tessa feels more abandoned than ever as her mother thrives in the new community. Tessa turns to an older man for comfort and acceptance. Her new peer group of older men causes her to deal with situations that she is not prepared to deal with.

These situations were especially interesting to me, because they sort of start out thrilling and warm and cozy and enlightening, and Tessa thinks how wonderful these experiences are, but then reality sets in. She begins to lose herself and feels her life spiraling out of control. I think that most of us can identify with the feeling of hitting bottom...

Just go home, I tell myself. Just sneak into your bed and close your eyes and crawl between the sheets. Alone and quiet I can piece myself together; the world will slow to steady and I'll find solid ground again.

I really liked this story. Warm and gentle, stirring memories of my childhood, with moments of heartbreak, I would recommend this "coming of age" story to anyone. Please be warned that, although this is young adult, there is quite a bit of vulgarity in it. So be wary if this offends you or if you are concerned with exposing your child to foul language and other "adult situations". ( )

Jessica Blank's writing style is straight forward and bare to the bone. With the first sentence, I was hooked enough to want to read the book straight through. The story is told through the eyes of a fourteen year old girl, Tess, who was abandoned by her father and living with her mother who had not grown up herself. They were on and off the road for most of the girl’s life. Her mother was drawn to living in an ashram. I don’t know if this was a true picture of what life is like in ashram but I think it is possible.
The girl at times in the beginning was more forgiving of her mother than I expected. Tess gave her mother good marks for effort. She thought her mother was doing the best that she could do but when I was reading the book, I thought her mother could do so much more. The mother allows her daughter no choices of where they would live, what they would do and or anything. It is like the mother only desired to look within herself for spiritual happiness. In the meantime her mother missed all that was important with her daughter. She was searching herself but somehow could not see her daughter’s need for love and attention.
Tess, the daughter need to be loved and taken care of here, to have someone to was really there for her. She thought she found that in Colin, but he doesn’t protect from taking risks with himself or his buddies. I felt very satisfied with the ending. There was a point in the book that I thought took plenty of guts from Tess, I felt proud of her. This book is abundant with issues that need to be discussed between mother and daughter. I loved this book. ( )

** spoiler alert ** Please note that I have yet to proof-read this review.

There is an abundance of drugs (pot, LSD) and sex in this book so while it involves a 14 turned 15 girl, I would suggest being careful of who’s picking this up.

In the beginning I was quite reluctant and a bit turned off by the ways the characters explored sexuality (spoiler: your 20 some year old boyfriend’s creepy, really creepy, friends and an orange) but someone mentioned that it wasn’t set in the modern time so I let it slide to some extent. I never really delved into those times so I wasn’t exactly sure what is acceptable and what isn’t. Yeah it was odd but it would have been all the rage back then. Anyway moving on….

I thought Tessa was a fairly relatable character. Here she is in this crazy cult like home and the only thing remotely sane is Colin, not to mention he’s not too bad to look at. I understand her way of thinking, her decisions (well not all) and the feeling to just escape.

Colin was someone I found pleasing…at first. He was emphatic with Tessa—understanding her—and quick to give a hug when needed, and doesn’t try to force something. But he increasingly became this “I am man” attitude and developed this jealous presence that was neither sweet nor protective. He practically threw her away. But again we come back to the drugs. They were high, maybe disoriented. I’m not quite sure. I would have liked to see more of the aftermath. The beginning was great, good build-up, transactions from friends to something more but after the incident I just wonder what next.

The relationship between the mother and Tessa was a fragile give and take. It seemed that the mother was the one that needed more caring, more reassurance, more time and patience. We explore the affects of a young pregnancy when the mother has had barely any time to grow up herself. I think that was this relationship showed us.

One other thing that I liked to point out that Karma For Beginners had this sense similar to Candor. Where everyone just listens to this one main leader. Your expression to think, to explore, is an invalid now. Your opinion is condemned. Your self-judgment is considered acting out. This is where you walk along the lines of being a cult. But aside from Candor, this leader is really, really creepy

The ending however was very disappointing—very abrupt. It was a quick “what do you want” question from the mother with Tessa responding and acting on command. The climax of the ending lasted for a about a paragraph to which we turn to the next page—blank. It ended. I love the concept of the idea—the final letter, the speak and I will listen attitude—but it was too fast, too quick for me to truly appreciate it. Even so it was upsetting how quickly Tessa’s mother just accepted what she had to say. It really was way too short. This is when the ending just breaks the greatest of a novel.

Overall: Started out rocky, turn into something I enjoyed a lot, but ended so abrupt that I was left frustrated. ( )

http://books.moonsoar.com/archives/2009/09/12/karma-for-beginners/ ( )

See my blog for active links!http://bookreviewsbyjess.blogspot.com/2009/09/karma-for-beginners-by-jessica-blank.htmlPlot: 3Setting: 5Writing: 3Originality: 5Characters: 5Passion: 3Overall: 24/30 = 80% = BCover/Title Bonus: 5I received this for review from Disney-Hyperion.Please note that this will be a long review. This book had some details that I want to focus on a bit. It also hit home on a few topics, so it’s a bit of a personal review too.Summary (Amazon.com): Fourteen-year-old Tessa has never had a normal life. Her mother, a frustrated hippie with awful taste in men, has seen to that. But when her mom pulls her out of school to live at an ashram in the Catskills, Tessa goes from being a freak among normal people to being an outcast among freaks. Freaks who worship an orange robe-wearing guru. And while her mom is buzzing with spiritual energy, and finding a little too much favor with the guru, all Tessa feels are weird vibes. Unless she's with Colin, the gorgeous boy who fixes trucks for the ashram. The connection they share is the most spiritual thing Tessa has ever felt. But he's older-like illegally older-and Tessa's taking dangerous risks to spend time with him. Soon her life is blooming into a psychedelic web of secrets and lies and it's clear that something's about to give way. When it does, will she have anyone to hold on to? Will she even know herself?Plot:Tessa has a selfish mother who up and moves as often as possible, usually after a break up with a guy. They move to a “spiritual camp”, called an ashram. Her mom loves it there, nearly forgetting Tessa lives. Tessa meets a guy, Colin. He’s not from the ashram. He just fixes their vehicles. The ashram is a secret society of crazy people worshipping an orange robe-wearing guru, who is not what he seems (See: Overall section).I enjoyed the plot to an extent. I liked learning about Tessa. I liked watching her transform into a woman. The ending of this book was not what I expected: it ended rather abruptly and not so well. (See: Overall section).Setting:The setting was awesome. The ashram was in the middle of no where in the Catskills. The buildings each had a weird name because ot he weird ashram language. There were awesome paths in the forests. Lots of statues. It’s set in 1986. There’s lots of music references. Lots of drugs (See: Overall section).Writing:I enjoyed the writing. I was addicted to reading this book. I knew that Colin and Tessa were going to be a thing and I wanted that to happen so bad. Tessa deserved some happiness in her life and I wanted that for her like I wanted to take my next breath. A lot more happens with Tessa than I expected. The drug use for one was like, wow. The sex was expected, but again, wow.Originality:I haven’t read any book like this. I usually read paranormals so I don’t usually rub up against something as “normal” as this book. It’s a contemporary Young Adult novel that focuses on a young woman, she’s 14!, who’s struggling with finding her way in the world with a mom who isn’t really there. The guru wasn’t expected, he’s not what he seems, but I hated the ending. I wanted justice and we get none. Only fear and running.Characters:Tessa is the main character. She’s 14! 14! She’s kind of a wild child by the end of this book: sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. (Had to say it!)Colin is the vehicle repair guy at the ashram. He’s in his twenties. TWENTIES! He’s a really sweet guy who loves music, cars, and drugs.Tessa’s mom. She’s a basket case. I kinda hated her character. I felt so bad for Tessa. She barely had a mother. She was more of a mother than her mother was! Her mom is mentally ill. There’s just no other explanation to it.The guru dude. He needs to be burnt in hell. That is all.Other characters of the ashram: GO HOME! Seriously.Passion:Yes, the 14 year old and the twenty-something have sex. With that said, it’s a sweet romance. They do become great friends before the hanky panky happens. The age factor was an issue with me, but it happens, right?Overall:Okay, now for my rant. I liked the book until the very end. So, do read it if you get a chance, just be prepared to be let down by the ending.Loved the ashram setting, characters, and the overall development of the story, until the end of course.Drugs. Drugs are abundant in this book. Specifically marijuana and acid. I guess since I usually don’t read books like this I wasn’t prepared for how it affected me. She’s 14! Sometimes I forget that I was once 14 (it wasn’t that long ago but still!) but now that I have my own daughter I’m freaking out! She’s 14! Guess what? I was younger than 14 when I was introduced to drugs: pot. I used it under 10 times total in my life, and each time before I was 16. Drugs are available to young kids. It’s sad and it infuriates me but it’s the truth. The one thing I stress after reading this book. Don’t ignore the topic of drugs with your children.Sex. There’s sex in this book. It’s not as visual as the drugs but it’s there. She’s 14! He’s twenty-something! Again I’m back to the reminder that I was once 14 but I have a child now! I lost my virginity at 14, just shortly after my birthday. So, I really don’t have room to criticize Tessa’s decision making skills. This also goes back to how lame of a mother Tessa had. If her mom was anything but what she was in this book she would have had a better relationship with Tessa and could possibly have prevented any of this from happening, but then I would be naive to say this. Even kids with the best parents in the world fuck up, lie, have sex and do drugs or even worse.I’d like to think that I will be a better parent and be able to counsel my daughter better so that she doesn’t make the same mistakes that I made. Talking to our children about these two issues is essential. And I’m beginning to think the younger they are the better. I don’t want my 14 year old having sex and doing drugs with a twenty-something guy!And now about the ending. CONTAINS SPOILERS!They just leave! They leave everything behind. Colin, the ashram, the nasty guru who should have been arrested, convicted, and then burned, in my opinion, and the entire ashram should have been shut down. It was corrupted. And I blame it all on Tessa’s mother. I hated her.Cover/Title Bonus:Love the cover! It’s perfect. And the title is nice.Connect with Jessica Blank:FacebookMySpace (Almost Home)GoodreadsLibraryThingAuthor Guest Post:Jessica Blank will be visiting next week with an Author Guest Post. I sent her a few questions I had after reading Karma For Beginners. I hope she agrees to address them in her post.There might even be a giveaway! So check back!Your thoughts?Have you read this? Did you enjoy it? How do you feel about drug use and sex in YA books? She’s 14! ( )