Review: The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June

By Robin Benway
Available now from Razorbill
Review copy



I don't know why, but I don't think Robin Benway is that funny.  Every review of her books mentions how hilarious she is, but her books don't make me laugh.  At least, not so much that I notice it.

It took me awhile to get into THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY & JUNE.  The book switches between the sisters' points of view and I only enjoyed April at first.  She's the oldest, super uptight, and has been trying to act as a third parent since their parents divorced.  May, conversely, has been acting out and letting her schoolwork suffer since she was closest to their dad.  June just wants to be popular.  I warmed up to June a little by the end, but remained fairly cold to May.

June doesn't have a relationship arc, but April and May do.  April falls for Julian, the boy with the locker next to hers who she didn't speak to until she saved him from a falling light and saw a vision of them making out.  I would've liked them, but as Julian frequently tells her, April acts psycho around him.  It's like the reverse TWILIGHT.  Shallowly drawn boy goes out with a possibly deranged girl.  As for May and Henry, I did like them.  Henry tutors May in European history while they snark at each other.  Their conversations are fairly funny, actually.

Personally, I did like THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY & JUNE.  I just have an odd resistance to liking it because most people love it and I just didn't feel like it was a love book.  It was amusing enough but forgettable.

Just a quick question:

I read the ARC and was going to check the final before I wrote this review, but never could get ahold of a copy. So I must ask if this gaffe in Chapter 10 was fixed:

He rubbed his hand over his hat. "This is my brother's hat, by the way."

. . . "But I did steal it from my brother when I went to visit him last year."

. . .

"Well, you must be an only child," I said to him. "Seeing as how you have the emotional capability of a gopher."

Julian smirked. "Guilty as charged, except for the gopher part."

I can't decide whether it was a mistake or if Julian lied to April and I'm supposed to read something into that.  And it could be different in the final so I definitely can't analyze it.