mehsi's review against another edition
1.0
I was hoping I would enjoy this book, and at times I did, but at most times I didn't. I think it mostly because the topics didn't match and it was just too much. We got kisses, slut shaming, rivalry, popularity, family drama, death, abuse, depressions, dating a teacher and some other stuff. Normally this all might make a good book, but it felt mostly patched together in this book.
I was just shaking my head at all the slut shaming. So someone kissed 4 guys in one night as part of a revenge thing (stupid thing to do though, I could have told her it might not work as planned) and she is a slut? While the guy who cheated on her is totally awesome and popular? Uh, what? No. Just No.
Claire, while apparently being smart (she follows AP classes), came over as really naive, really stupid and seems to have problems with making decisions and staying away from things. I also didn't get why the hell she was with Megan. Sure at times Megan was a really nice friend, but come on girl, she stole boyfriends from you, is a total b*tch when you talk to one of the guys she is interested in and various other things. If that was my friend, I am sorry, but no matter the good things, there is enough wrong there to make me just want to walk away.
That rivalry between Megan and Claire was just absolutely silly.
I didn't like Luke at all. He was highly unlikeable. Why did he never just say he didn't like Megan and just turned away from her. Why did he flirt with both of them? What kind of prick is he?
He and Megan just broke up (Finally!!!!) and what does Luke do? Go over to Claire and date/kiss with her. What kind of freaking mean guy are you? You don't just dump a girl and then date the next one. Oh and let's keep it secret. Yes, that is just the most brilliant idea ever! Not.
And of course it comes out, you could easily guess that, and I am sorry, I don't like slut shaming, but you just had almost sex with your best friend's just ex-boyfriend..... that is just wrong. What did you expect would happen? That everyone would throw fricking flowers over you and congratulate you? That everyone would be happy? And you still go on with Luke? Even after everything??? *shakes head* Sorry, but Claire must be one of the most idiotic characters ever.
*sighs*Those last few pages were urgh. So typical and so cliché. That revenge plan. *rolls eyes* Oh God, that cliché? Seriously? No, just no. I had some suspicions about it at the beginning, but I was just hoping they wouldn't use it, but they did....
Also 17 kisses? There are only 16 (if you don't count all the kissing she did with Luke or the other boys). Number 17 was just a thought, a maybe, not even a real kiss, nothing.
All in all, no I didn't particularly like this book especially after about 20/25%. The first part was ok, and I was thinking about 4 stars, then second part with all the drama it became 3, then 2, and well with that ending, sorry just a 1 is all I will give. It was a bit of a chore to get through it and I was very happy when I was done.
Would I recommend this one? No.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I was just shaking my head at all the slut shaming. So someone kissed 4 guys in one night as part of a revenge thing (stupid thing to do though, I could have told her it might not work as planned) and she is a slut? While the guy who cheated on her is totally awesome and popular? Uh, what? No. Just No.
Claire, while apparently being smart (she follows AP classes), came over as really naive, really stupid and seems to have problems with making decisions and staying away from things. I also didn't get why the hell she was with Megan. Sure at times Megan was a really nice friend, but come on girl, she stole boyfriends from you, is a total b*tch when you talk to one of the guys she is interested in and various other things. If that was my friend, I am sorry, but no matter the good things, there is enough wrong there to make me just want to walk away.
That rivalry between Megan and Claire was just absolutely silly.
I didn't like Luke at all. He was highly unlikeable. Why did he never just say he didn't like Megan and just turned away from her. Why did he flirt with both of them? What kind of prick is he?
He and Megan just broke up (Finally!!!!) and what does Luke do? Go over to Claire and date/kiss with her. What kind of freaking mean guy are you? You don't just dump a girl and then date the next one. Oh and let's keep it secret. Yes, that is just the most brilliant idea ever! Not.
And of course it comes out, you could easily guess that, and I am sorry, I don't like slut shaming, but you just had almost sex with your best friend's just ex-boyfriend..... that is just wrong. What did you expect would happen? That everyone would throw fricking flowers over you and congratulate you? That everyone would be happy? And you still go on with Luke? Even after everything??? *shakes head* Sorry, but Claire must be one of the most idiotic characters ever.
*sighs*Those last few pages were urgh. So typical and so cliché. That revenge plan. *rolls eyes* Oh God, that cliché? Seriously? No, just no. I had some suspicions about it at the beginning, but I was just hoping they wouldn't use it, but they did....
Also 17 kisses? There are only 16 (if you don't count all the kissing she did with Luke or the other boys). Number 17 was just a thought, a maybe, not even a real kiss, nothing.
All in all, no I didn't particularly like this book especially after about 20/25%. The first part was ok, and I was thinking about 4 stars, then second part with all the drama it became 3, then 2, and well with that ending, sorry just a 1 is all I will give. It was a bit of a chore to get through it and I was very happy when I was done.
Would I recommend this one? No.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
girlgotnoidentity's review against another edition
2.0
This sweet tale shows different kinds of love to a sixteen-year-old high school girl living in a small town. 17 First Kisses is a fun-filled journey of the young that I will not soon forget.
This novel is a very light read, indeed. My reading process, I can attest, is very fun since my smile never wavers the whole time I am reading this. It is like relieving in high school moments in my head, only this time the story involves more drama.
I like how it is very simple but very true and close to me all at the same time. I can really feel the connection between the characters especially of the friendship of Claire, Megan, Amberly, and even Britney. Although my favorite character will always be Amberly. In Amberly, I witness both the versatility of a certain character and a strong kind of person. I love how her character is made only for the story because she suits perfectly for it. I totally love this Amberly girl. (If given the chance I will befriend a girl like her a million times.) Even if she is given a limited chance to show more of her characteristics, I kind of understand because that only gives me the ability to dig deeper into her personality with my own imagination. Also, I commend Rachael Allen for creating all of her characters differently and creatively. If I will be able to write something fictitious, I will never get to the level of her creativity in creating characters. She offers only perfect and solid characters, I promise.
Although as I mentioned above, this story is very simple in all sense of the word, I cannot help but admire how strong the plot is. During my reading, I was very amazed by how Mrs. Allen can bring me to the past events and then the next to the present time and in a somehow magical way, makes me think of the future events as well. Wow to her.
My favorite scene is (this is very hard decision to make because I love her narration of the ‘Kisses #’ so there you go) when Amberly and Claire got to have the time only for them, just to talk things up aside from girly things and focuses on the things that really matter the most in life. This made me realize a lot of things going on in my life right now: that sometimes, the last person in our mind that we can talk to can be the greatest one to talk to. That friendship will never be measured by how long, by the things friends share with each other, by the stories, by the laughter, and the tears, but by the mere presence and loyalty, they have especially in times of need. Also, that scene makes me want to call all of my friends, especially my high school friends, and ask them all out for a coffee-make up session. That will always be a strong scene for me that has the ability to capture the heart of its readers.
I already fall in love with this novel because why not. The scenes and the story are all close to me, the love, friendship, family, and life narration it offers closely hit home as well. I could not think of a single thing that this novel and I are not with any connection, because to be fair and to be honest, everyone will feel at home reading thiswhenever and wherever they may be.
I assure future readers that this young adult novel is so sweet, light, and sincere. It offers life: friendships, family, high school life, and of course love. People who knew me by heart know that I have a love-hate relationship with YA novels, and I kind of rant when I ended up not liking the story, but with this one, I can attest that this is just so sweet to rant. I laughed so hard, I cried at some point. I relieve memories and cherish them as well. This novel is worth the drama (if you know what I mean) and I will never be afraid to fall in love again and again with this.
This novel is a very light read, indeed. My reading process, I can attest, is very fun since my smile never wavers the whole time I am reading this. It is like relieving in high school moments in my head, only this time the story involves more drama.
I like how it is very simple but very true and close to me all at the same time. I can really feel the connection between the characters especially of the friendship of Claire, Megan, Amberly, and even Britney. Although my favorite character will always be Amberly. In Amberly, I witness both the versatility of a certain character and a strong kind of person. I love how her character is made only for the story because she suits perfectly for it. I totally love this Amberly girl. (If given the chance I will befriend a girl like her a million times.) Even if she is given a limited chance to show more of her characteristics, I kind of understand because that only gives me the ability to dig deeper into her personality with my own imagination. Also, I commend Rachael Allen for creating all of her characters differently and creatively. If I will be able to write something fictitious, I will never get to the level of her creativity in creating characters. She offers only perfect and solid characters, I promise.
Although as I mentioned above, this story is very simple in all sense of the word, I cannot help but admire how strong the plot is. During my reading, I was very amazed by how Mrs. Allen can bring me to the past events and then the next to the present time and in a somehow magical way, makes me think of the future events as well. Wow to her.
My favorite scene is (this is very hard decision to make because I love her narration of the ‘Kisses #’ so there you go) when Amberly and Claire got to have the time only for them, just to talk things up aside from girly things and focuses on the things that really matter the most in life. This made me realize a lot of things going on in my life right now: that sometimes, the last person in our mind that we can talk to can be the greatest one to talk to. That friendship will never be measured by how long, by the things friends share with each other, by the stories, by the laughter, and the tears, but by the mere presence and loyalty, they have especially in times of need. Also, that scene makes me want to call all of my friends, especially my high school friends, and ask them all out for a coffee-make up session. That will always be a strong scene for me that has the ability to capture the heart of its readers.
I already fall in love with this novel because why not. The scenes and the story are all close to me, the love, friendship, family, and life narration it offers closely hit home as well. I could not think of a single thing that this novel and I are not with any connection, because to be fair and to be honest, everyone will feel at home reading thiswhenever and wherever they may be.
I assure future readers that this young adult novel is so sweet, light, and sincere. It offers life: friendships, family, high school life, and of course love. People who knew me by heart know that I have a love-hate relationship with YA novels, and I kind of rant when I ended up not liking the story, but with this one, I can attest that this is just so sweet to rant. I laughed so hard, I cried at some point. I relieve memories and cherish them as well. This novel is worth the drama (if you know what I mean) and I will never be afraid to fall in love again and again with this.
kchaticorn's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
readingundertheradar's review against another edition
3.0
I've posted my full review here on my blog.
I'm glad I picked this one up after I saw a bunch of negative reviews right when it came out. It was difficult to see all the flaws in the characters, but I definitely appreciated the honesty and realistic qualities the book had. Looking back on my own teenage self, I probably said some of these things, and I was not the best person. High school is a time of learning, and I thought this book was spot-on in talking about those difficult subjects.
The main guy of interest was pretty despicable to me, I didn't really see what the other girls did, but that didn't stop me from being invested in the story.
Overall, I was glad I picked this one up, and it was a pretty good, quick-paced read that talked about quite a few difficult subjects pretty well.
I'm glad I picked this one up after I saw a bunch of negative reviews right when it came out. It was difficult to see all the flaws in the characters, but I definitely appreciated the honesty and realistic qualities the book had. Looking back on my own teenage self, I probably said some of these things, and I was not the best person. High school is a time of learning, and I thought this book was spot-on in talking about those difficult subjects.
The main guy of interest was pretty despicable to me, I didn't really see what the other girls did, but that didn't stop me from being invested in the story.
Overall, I was glad I picked this one up, and it was a pretty good, quick-paced read that talked about quite a few difficult subjects pretty well.
charmaineac's review against another edition
5.0
This book was so bittersweet because it was actually REALISTIC (for the most part). Well, some of the characters were caricatures, but they were meant to be that way. Like, Claire simply did not know them well enough to see their depth (understandably, they didn't even have names).
But all the important characters and friendships were spot-on accurate. They were detailed and each person had many sides to them. Let's talk Megan—you love to hate her, and you think she can be so unfair, but you also love her unconditionally. It may seem like Claire and Megan have a toxic friendship, but it's real. They like the same boys. They get jealous and insecure. There's a LOT of drama and baggage between them. But they are there for each other when and where it matters. They believe in each other. This book is so accurate because there are seemingly "unfair" rules to the girl code, and Claire always seems to get the short end of the stick. But she sucks it up and deals with it, because it's simply not worth the hassle to break down and start over with a whole new set of friends at the tail-end of high school.
Then there's Amberly. I'm glad we got to see the fun innocence of their friendship all throughout the early years. I'm glad we saw Amberly take Claire's side, and then not take it. Because yeah, Claire never fully let her "into" her life and family. They didn't put the same amount of effort into their friendship. I'm also glad we got a look into Amberly's home life versus her social life. Not all the popular girls and haughty, rich, and spoiled.
As for Britney, I'm sure she'd be just like Amanda if she wasn't "chosen" in sixth grade. I'm so over her.
Now going to Luke... and the telltale question, is he worth it? This was a fleeting high school romance. Claire never saw him as her future life partner. And he always, always had "the grass is always greener" syndrome. You could tell he had serious baggage and issues. But maybe if Megan and Claire didn't play twisted games with his mind, practically throwing themselves on him, he wouldn't have acted the way he did. He definitely got painted as a villain by the end, but I think that's giving him a disservice. Because he was always into Claire first. And his home life was so, so scary. He drank himself into a stupor, and that led to bad decisions. It probably doesn't help that it was compounded by the girls' behaviour. When they made up their mind and kicked him to the curb, they never gave him the... "closure" (hehe) to become a better person. I still think he wanted the best of everything, but maybe he'd find that one day. I hope the same of Tanner.
Okay, but let's talk about SAM. SAM IS SPLENDID. SAM IS SWEET. SAM IS SUPER. I love Sam. It's so bittersweet because I am 100% rooting them on. I wanted to see them graduate from college, gosh darn it! Why did the book have to end THERE? It was a really disappointing ending. One that made me want to possibly knock this down a rating. Except everything about it was realistic. College is a big, vast change. There are so many other people out there in the world. The timing was all wrong for the two of them, all the time. I guess they could be "the ones that got away." And although all the other stories make it out that the two best friends always live happily ever after if they take their relationship to the next level, that's most often not the case. Claire and Sam might grow apart and change throughout college. Perhaps it really is better to maintain the friendship. Still, the little romantic always wants that kind of relationship to follow through! Argh!
The whole family dynamic was interesting. I loved how we got the backstory in bits and pieces, while knowing the "end result" in the present. It seemed a little farfetched, but at the same time, I guess one thing really can wind up saving you.
Apart from that, I could DEFINITELY see Rachael Allen's influences throughout the book. So much Southern charm and Georgia knowledge (bulldawgs) was evident. And I loved how she added in that little bit of biotech knowledge when Claire talked about Georgia Tech. I have a feeling some of Claire's characteristics drew from her personal experiences, which was cool because Claire was so well-developed (soccer-playing tomboy? Girly girl? Biotech nerd? All of the above?)!
Also, this book made me cry. I really enjoyed it!
But all the important characters and friendships were spot-on accurate. They were detailed and each person had many sides to them. Let's talk Megan—you love to hate her, and you think she can be so unfair, but you also love her unconditionally. It may seem like Claire and Megan have a toxic friendship, but it's real. They like the same boys. They get jealous and insecure. There's a LOT of drama and baggage between them. But they are there for each other when and where it matters. They believe in each other. This book is so accurate because there are seemingly "unfair" rules to the girl code, and Claire always seems to get the short end of the stick. But she sucks it up and deals with it, because it's simply not worth the hassle to break down and start over with a whole new set of friends at the tail-end of high school.
Then there's Amberly. I'm glad we got to see the fun innocence of their friendship all throughout the early years. I'm glad we saw Amberly take Claire's side, and then not take it. Because yeah, Claire never fully let her "into" her life and family. They didn't put the same amount of effort into their friendship. I'm also glad we got a look into Amberly's home life versus her social life. Not all the popular girls and haughty, rich, and spoiled.
As for Britney, I'm sure she'd be just like Amanda if she wasn't "chosen" in sixth grade. I'm so over her.
Now going to Luke... and the telltale question, is he worth it? This was a fleeting high school romance. Claire never saw him as her future life partner. And he always, always had "the grass is always greener" syndrome. You could tell he had serious baggage and issues. But maybe if Megan and Claire didn't play twisted games with his mind, practically throwing themselves on him, he wouldn't have acted the way he did. He definitely got painted as a villain by the end, but I think that's giving him a disservice. Because he was always into Claire first. And his home life was so, so scary. He drank himself into a stupor, and that led to bad decisions. It probably doesn't help that it was compounded by the girls' behaviour. When they made up their mind and kicked him to the curb, they never gave him the... "closure" (hehe) to become a better person. I still think he wanted the best of everything, but maybe he'd find that one day. I hope the same of Tanner.
Okay, but let's talk about SAM. SAM IS SPLENDID. SAM IS SWEET. SAM IS SUPER. I love Sam. It's so bittersweet because I am 100% rooting them on. I wanted to see them graduate from college, gosh darn it! Why did the book have to end THERE? It was a really disappointing ending. One that made me want to possibly knock this down a rating. Except everything about it was realistic. College is a big, vast change. There are so many other people out there in the world. The timing was all wrong for the two of them, all the time. I guess they could be "the ones that got away." And although all the other stories make it out that the two best friends always live happily ever after if they take their relationship to the next level, that's most often not the case. Claire and Sam might grow apart and change throughout college. Perhaps it really is better to maintain the friendship. Still, the little romantic always wants that kind of relationship to follow through! Argh!
The whole family dynamic was interesting. I loved how we got the backstory in bits and pieces, while knowing the "end result" in the present. It seemed a little farfetched, but at the same time, I guess one thing really can wind up saving you.
Apart from that, I could DEFINITELY see Rachael Allen's influences throughout the book. So much Southern charm and Georgia knowledge (bulldawgs) was evident. And I loved how she added in that little bit of biotech knowledge when Claire talked about Georgia Tech. I have a feeling some of Claire's characteristics drew from her personal experiences, which was cool because Claire was so well-developed (soccer-playing tomboy? Girly girl? Biotech nerd? All of the above?)!
Also, this book made me cry. I really enjoyed it!
siobhan27's review against another edition
3.0
A very big pet peeve of mine when reading any YA book where the main character has a best friend who takes advantage of said character, or is not a true friend. So when I started to read 17 First Kisses I knew i would have a problem with Claire's best friend Megan. The moment Claire mentions that Megan steals everything from her, including boys, i know that I will not like her character at all, and i was right.
Claire was an interesting character to read because she seemed to be two different people, one when she was alone, and another one when she was with Megan. While i read the book I started to see Claire cower in the shadow of Megan and honestly it made me quite angry. Especially since the whole book is about who these two friends like the same boy. Luke is the new guy in town, and while Claire saw him first, it is Megan who makes the moves on him. I hated everything about this situation. Not only because a boy was the center of the conflict, but because Claire did not stand up for herself and what she wanted. And honestly her character does not change that much throughout the book, although Luke's character has major character developments I thought that Megan and Claire's did not, which made me questions the book a bit. I mean when a friendship is on the line, and a boy is involved, things change no matter who the friends are, and the way this book ended make me shake my head a bit.
I did love the way the author pushed us into the past to witness Claire's 17 first kisses, and the reason I liked these parts so much was because they gave us a glimpse of who Claire was in the past (pretty much the same as now) and what these boys and their kisses meant to her. I thought it was a great way for us to get to know Claire and her friends, especially Megan. We learn a lot from these glimpses of the past, and I will just say they made me dislike Megan even more than I did in the beginning. Having one character have really no redeeming qualities is very hard to read because I just kept getting mad at Claire for not seeing when I was reading.
Overall, 17 First Kisses was not my kind of book. I wanted to love it, and there were moments where I really enjoyed reading it, but for me the characters were too infuriating to read, and their situation garnered no sympathy from in the least.
Claire was an interesting character to read because she seemed to be two different people, one when she was alone, and another one when she was with Megan. While i read the book I started to see Claire cower in the shadow of Megan and honestly it made me quite angry. Especially since the whole book is about who these two friends like the same boy. Luke is the new guy in town, and while Claire saw him first, it is Megan who makes the moves on him. I hated everything about this situation. Not only because a boy was the center of the conflict, but because Claire did not stand up for herself and what she wanted. And honestly her character does not change that much throughout the book, although Luke's character has major character developments I thought that Megan and Claire's did not, which made me questions the book a bit. I mean when a friendship is on the line, and a boy is involved, things change no matter who the friends are, and the way this book ended make me shake my head a bit.
I did love the way the author pushed us into the past to witness Claire's 17 first kisses, and the reason I liked these parts so much was because they gave us a glimpse of who Claire was in the past (pretty much the same as now) and what these boys and their kisses meant to her. I thought it was a great way for us to get to know Claire and her friends, especially Megan. We learn a lot from these glimpses of the past, and I will just say they made me dislike Megan even more than I did in the beginning. Having one character have really no redeeming qualities is very hard to read because I just kept getting mad at Claire for not seeing when I was reading.
Overall, 17 First Kisses was not my kind of book. I wanted to love it, and there were moments where I really enjoyed reading it, but for me the characters were too infuriating to read, and their situation garnered no sympathy from in the least.
heisereads's review against another edition
3.0
This was an okay story and I liked the flashback structure with each kiss and how it happened interspersed with the present events, but I won't be adding it to my classroom library. There are some subtle messages about popularity, friendship, and boys/relationships, that I can't support promoting to my students. I understand that at that age, all of that is of the utmost importance to many girls, and there are some subplots with family that are well done, but the overall tone of the book concerned me.
amandapate's review against another edition
1.0
Review by: Amanda at Of Spectacles and Books
Why I Chose this Book:
I have come to the realization that I snub my nose at chick-lit too much. I know that I should be a well-rounded reader, and I chose this month to read at least 2-3 contemporary novels. This was a freebee I got on Edelweiss, so I decided to give it a shot. And dear God, I wish I hadn’t. I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Just to preface, this review is going to be full of ranting and raving about how upset I am about this book, so if that is not something you’re into (including minor spoilers), you should skip reading and just know not to waste your money and time on this book.
5 things you need to know about this book
1. Misleading Synopsis
This book was not okay on so many levels I nearly stopped reading it. The only reason why I finished it was so I could write a review over it. Good job to whoever mentioned Stephanie Perkins in the synopsis, because that was the reason why I took a chance on it since I’ve heard such great things about her work. But like most synopses that name drop, it fell desperately short. Even the synopsis itself is extremely misleading. I thought Claire was going to be a sweet girl, but she ended up being a popular girl right next to her best friend Megan, who -much like Claire -acted like a complete B*.
2. Abusive Relationships are Poorly Handled
Abusive relationships aren’t like Allen portrays in her book. Well, I won’t generalize it like that -most abusive relationships aren’t like she presents it in the book. Allen could have gone into so much more detail about the emotional and physical reactions to being in an abusive relationship, and even into the manipulation abusive boyfriends tend to use on girls. But Allen didn’t do anything like this. She made the relationship out to be a funny thing after it was all over.
This made my blood boil. This is a book primarily for teenagers. These teenagers are being taught that it’s still the girl’s fault if she gets raped, so what the hell is this book trying to tell girls about abusive relationships? I mean seriously? Abusive relationships should not be romanticized in any way, even if it’s just in a minor way.
Furthermore, Claire's friendship with Megan is not what friendship should be about. It shows a very skewed version of friendship that is based on selfish desires and not on a mutually giving partnership.
3. What is up with these characters?
These character were just terrible. There was no depth, no growth, no self-discovery really. There were multiple times she could have taken advantage of good material to go in depth with theses character, but she never took it. (1) She gave Luke a verbally abusive dad, but didn’t go into how that shaped him as a character; it is only implied. (2) Claire had a mom who was severely depressed -she touched on this the most, but it didn’t do much for me in way of shedding light on her character. (3) Megan is as close to a bimbo without being a bimbo as you can get with no development either.
4. Megan and Claire and teenage sex
The friendship between Megan and Claire is so jacked up. They act like stupid preteens with promises they never intend to keep and hormones they never even try to keep in check. They think, and the author supports, that messing around and having sex is what everyone does, as if it’s a rite of passage. Allen presents this facet of the book with absolutely no repercussions. She paints both of the characters (though Claire is still a virgin) as sexual teens, but she never shows the impact of sex or sexual actions and what it can do to people emotionally.
5. Other Minor Rants
A) You don’t screw over your best friend for a boy. That’s a no-no. But screwing over your best friend twice? Something is seriously wrong. No high schooler who wants to graduate alive (socially and otherwise) does crap like this.
B) You don’t kiss all of your ex-boyfriend’s buddies in order to get back at him. Like really? Claire even leads on one of the poor guys. Once again, she shows how selfish she is.
C) Peer Pressure GALORE! Claire and Megan are the popular girls in school, and much like the stereotype, they are as helpless as a fairytale damsel when it comes to peer pressure. Claire is constantly listening to peer pressure, even when she knows it’s not right -even to the certain extent that she ponders if rape is okay. Yeah, NO! There is absolutely no strength of character to be had in this novel except for one person (Sam), but there is almost no development for him, and he’s sadly flat.
Final Thoughts
I’m almost as disappointed in HarperTeen for picking this book up as I am at Rachael Allen for thinking that the issues she mentions in her book is okay for anyone let alone teenagers to read. I would not in any way recommend this book. It wasn’t even good writing in my opinion. You people may find my review harsh, but I can’t tell you how angry, offended, and frustrated I am that this book was even picked up to publish let alone written with the idea that this thought process is still found valid in our society today.
Why I Chose this Book:
I have come to the realization that I snub my nose at chick-lit too much. I know that I should be a well-rounded reader, and I chose this month to read at least 2-3 contemporary novels. This was a freebee I got on Edelweiss, so I decided to give it a shot. And dear God, I wish I hadn’t. I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Just to preface, this review is going to be full of ranting and raving about how upset I am about this book, so if that is not something you’re into (including minor spoilers), you should skip reading and just know not to waste your money and time on this book.
5 things you need to know about this book
1. Misleading Synopsis
This book was not okay on so many levels I nearly stopped reading it. The only reason why I finished it was so I could write a review over it. Good job to whoever mentioned Stephanie Perkins in the synopsis, because that was the reason why I took a chance on it since I’ve heard such great things about her work. But like most synopses that name drop, it fell desperately short. Even the synopsis itself is extremely misleading. I thought Claire was going to be a sweet girl, but she ended up being a popular girl right next to her best friend Megan, who -much like Claire -acted like a complete B*.
2. Abusive Relationships are Poorly Handled
Abusive relationships aren’t like Allen portrays in her book. Well, I won’t generalize it like that -most abusive relationships aren’t like she presents it in the book. Allen could have gone into so much more detail about the emotional and physical reactions to being in an abusive relationship, and even into the manipulation abusive boyfriends tend to use on girls. But Allen didn’t do anything like this. She made the relationship out to be a funny thing after it was all over.
This made my blood boil. This is a book primarily for teenagers. These teenagers are being taught that it’s still the girl’s fault if she gets raped, so what the hell is this book trying to tell girls about abusive relationships? I mean seriously? Abusive relationships should not be romanticized in any way, even if it’s just in a minor way.
Furthermore, Claire's friendship with Megan is not what friendship should be about. It shows a very skewed version of friendship that is based on selfish desires and not on a mutually giving partnership.
3. What is up with these characters?
These character were just terrible. There was no depth, no growth, no self-discovery really. There were multiple times she could have taken advantage of good material to go in depth with theses character, but she never took it. (1) She gave Luke a verbally abusive dad, but didn’t go into how that shaped him as a character; it is only implied. (2) Claire had a mom who was severely depressed -she touched on this the most, but it didn’t do much for me in way of shedding light on her character. (3) Megan is as close to a bimbo without being a bimbo as you can get with no development either.
4. Megan and Claire and teenage sex
The friendship between Megan and Claire is so jacked up. They act like stupid preteens with promises they never intend to keep and hormones they never even try to keep in check. They think, and the author supports, that messing around and having sex is what everyone does, as if it’s a rite of passage. Allen presents this facet of the book with absolutely no repercussions. She paints both of the characters (though Claire is still a virgin) as sexual teens, but she never shows the impact of sex or sexual actions and what it can do to people emotionally.
5. Other Minor Rants
A) You don’t screw over your best friend for a boy. That’s a no-no. But screwing over your best friend twice? Something is seriously wrong. No high schooler who wants to graduate alive (socially and otherwise) does crap like this.
B) You don’t kiss all of your ex-boyfriend’s buddies in order to get back at him. Like really? Claire even leads on one of the poor guys. Once again, she shows how selfish she is.
C) Peer Pressure GALORE! Claire and Megan are the popular girls in school, and much like the stereotype, they are as helpless as a fairytale damsel when it comes to peer pressure. Claire is constantly listening to peer pressure, even when she knows it’s not right -even to the certain extent that she ponders if rape is okay. Yeah, NO! There is absolutely no strength of character to be had in this novel except for one person (Sam), but there is almost no development for him, and he’s sadly flat.
Final Thoughts
I’m almost as disappointed in HarperTeen for picking this book up as I am at Rachael Allen for thinking that the issues she mentions in her book is okay for anyone let alone teenagers to read. I would not in any way recommend this book. It wasn’t even good writing in my opinion. You people may find my review harsh, but I can’t tell you how angry, offended, and frustrated I am that this book was even picked up to publish let alone written with the idea that this thought process is still found valid in our society today.
skyhazzard's review against another edition
3.0
I'm conflicted on whether to give this 2.5 or 3 stars...like it was enjoyable but I didn't like it as much as my usual 3 star ratings.