Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Publication date: August 2011
ISBN: 9780399254116
Source: ARC sent by publicist
Aggie Winchester's life was going along just fine, until everything changes. Her goth-wearing best friend gets pregnant, and nominated for prom court. Her principal mother gets cancer. And her ex-boyfriend keeps trying to get her back. With all this going on, a prom ballot scandal brings further chaos to Aggie's life. Can she figure out what went on with the prom voting and still save her relationships?
Things I Liked:
This book kind of sucked me in like a soap opera. The story was so twisted and drama-laden that I was unable to put it down. But I guess what I really liked were Aggie's relationships and her self-discovery. At the beginning, Aggie is dressing and acting like her best friend, even as she's unconsciously aware that isn't who she really is. She grows in realistic ways and figures out who she wants to be. I love how the story didn't end up exactly where you expect (in relation to her friends, anyway). The book had some interesting and unique things going for it that kept me reading.
Things I Didn't Like:
Mostly, I just didn't like it for no reason I can articulate. I never really cared about Aggie or anyone else in the story. I recognized its accurate portrayal of teen prom drama, but also thought the ending was rather unbelievably perfect. Things just resolved themselves and Aggie and her mom's problems were fixed with one long and cheesy chat. I guess this is another reminder that fantasy is my genre of preference. Obviously this rating and review are quite subjective. I just didn't care much for the book, though I might have liked it more if I'd read it as a teen.
Read-alikes:
Populazzi by Elise Allen (kinda)
Maybe before i fall by Lauren Oliver (a little)
BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !@#$%
That would be an f-word or three on every page
mrg-factor: XXX
a few rather explicit situations (sort of everything-but)
v-factor: ->
one fight scene
Overall rating: **
Do you find yourself not liking certain books for no explicable reasons?
If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage
