Autofocus by Lauren Gibaldi // Great story, missed characters

Autofocus by Lauren Gibaldi
Genres: Coming of Age (YA), Contemporary (YA)
Pages: 352
Goodreads

From the author of The Night We Said Yes comes a fun and heartfelt YA contemporary tale. When Maude decides to search for information about her birth mother, she finds out more than she expected. Perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Susane Colasanti.
Family. It’s always been a loaded word for Maude, whose birth mother died after giving her up for adoption. With her best friend, Treena, in college in the same town where her birth mother grew up, Maude decides to visit and explore her past. But when Maude arrives, she quickly discovers that Treena doesn’t seem to have time for her—or for helping with her search. Enter Bennett, a cute guy who lives in Treena’s dorm. He understands Maude’s need to find her mother. And as Bennett helps Maude, she starts to realize that her mother’s past doesn’t have to define her own future.

This is a book full of valuable lessons. It’s 300 or so pages of teaching the reader several what may seem like simple lessons but are so monumental to one’s growth.

1. It deals with adoption in a unique way. This is the first book I’ve read that deals with adoption in this way, at this level. Instead of just being something that makes the main character, Maude, unique it actually serves as the main plot. The whole book is about Maude, her hunt for her birth mother, and consequently finding herself along the way.

*A side note about me: My cousin was adopted from Russia and how he feels about that has always been something I’ve been curious about. So, reading this book, following Maude’s investigation and hearing how she felt about herself and her life because of her adoption really meant something to me. 

So, needless to say, I adored the premise of the story.

2. It tells you its okay to not have all the answers. Not only does this book deal with adoption in a different way than other YA novels I’ve read, it also just a fantastic story about one girl finding herself — or rather, maybe she doesn’t. Gibaldi creates a story that tells the reader that it is okay to not know who you are, what you want, or who you’ll be. Sometimes you won’t always have all the answers, you won’t have some big epiphany suddenly realizing exactly who you are, and that is alright.

3. It reminds you of the importance of family. This book makes it clear that sometimes family isn’t always a blood relative – or that blood isn’t always thicker than water. Maude discovers throughout the novel that sometimes the people who aren’t even related to her can be the biggest support system and the closest to her. I think that’s something that so many people should be reminded.

Now, with that said, I actually was not a fan of all the characters. I do acknowledge that this book is about finding one’s self and growing up, but sometimes the characters weren’t tolerable.

First, Maude, the MC. For the most part, I did enjoy reading from her POV. Some of her feelings and actions make sense considering what she is going through. However, sometimes it would become frustrating how almost possessive she would be with her best friend Treena. There was a bit of naïvety in the fact that she was so jealous over Treena’s friendships, and there were so many times that it just became annoying. Harpy no harping is all I’m saying.

Treena, at first, seemed really promising. She comes from a strict Indian family and is finally at college ready to rebel a bit. I feel like that can be extremely relatable – but then I got sick of her. She’s also incredibly obsessive over a certain guy and has almost no self-respect. Then, she makes fun of other girls for no reason saying she doesn’t like them because “they’re really blonde” – um ok?

Lastly, the boy that helps Maude is just too cookie cutter. He’s the guy who never says the wrong thing, never does the wrong thing, in fact, he not only does everything right, he goes above and beyond. It’s so utterly unrealistic that it became a bit silly. Even the one “wrong” thing he does isn’t even wrong! Yeah, I know, I’m complaining about the love interest being too perfect – but come on.

The pacing and writing were mostly great. It’s a quick read and I enjoy Gibaldi’s writing overall. My only complaint is the inner monologues from Maude. She repeatedly reflects back on the day’s discoveries about her mom, talking about what type of person her mother was and who she is, but she does it so often with really nothing new to add that I would just skim those parts.

Despite the negatives, I did enjoy this book. Yes, the love interest was a little too perfect, but it was cute. Maude and Treena became annoying at times, but it is a book about finding yourself. Overall, the story was what really made me enjoy this book, not so much the characters. There are some relatable topics throughout such as going to college, growing up, meeting new friends, losing old friends, etc. I would recommend this if you’re looking for a book with a good story and can handle slightly irritating characters.

Rating Report
Plot
Characters
Writing
World Building
Overall:	3.5 / 5