leigh_reidelberger's review
3.0
'Ask Me Anything' was on tv not long ago, and I found myself watching the whole thing. After finishing the movie, I bought the book. Color me pleasantly surprised.
Allison Burnett does a really fantastic job writing this angsty, teenage girl. Let's be real- the character of Katie is hopelessly selfish and nearly impossible to really and truly care about. That said, reading this book was kind of like being a fly on the wall watching someone self destruct and it is a hell of a ride. Burnett manages to capture the vibe and language of your basic teenage girl on the verge of entering into adulthood, but she does it in a way that isn't pretentious or completely unbelievable like many other teenage girls are written. She's not well spoken, witty, or articulate. She isn't particularly intelligent. None of these are necessarily negative traits, they're just more realistic and more on par with real life.
I really like the blog entry style of the book, and Burnett does a good job of weaving characters in and out.
Allison Burnett does a really fantastic job writing this angsty, teenage girl. Let's be real- the character of Katie is hopelessly selfish and nearly impossible to really and truly care about. That said, reading this book was kind of like being a fly on the wall watching someone self destruct and it is a hell of a ride. Burnett manages to capture the vibe and language of your basic teenage girl on the verge of entering into adulthood, but she does it in a way that isn't pretentious or completely unbelievable like many other teenage girls are written. She's not well spoken, witty, or articulate. She isn't particularly intelligent. None of these are necessarily negative traits, they're just more realistic and more on par with real life.
I really like the blog entry style of the book, and Burnett does a good job of weaving characters in and out.
glendaleereads's review
3.0
What can I say? I'm a sucker for these type of novels that are written in diary form. I think its because I'm such a nosy person. This book story line was interesting. An 18 year old trying to sleep with an man twice her age is always great lol. I love reading a book where the main character is just a pompous shallow bitch and that was who 18 year old Katie was, and though usually i hate people like that I had to feel for Katie because she was not all there. Though overall the novel wasn't a disappointment the ending sure was because it was just like Go Ask Alice.Burnett should have been more original because that story line where a girl pours her heart out in a blog/diary type way and then dies in the end has already been done...numerous times. And though Burnett tries to end the book on a cliffhanger leaving it to the readers to decide if Katie was really dead, we still get the sense that she has died because shes been missing for a while, we just don't know why she went missing, did she kill herself? was she murdered?. I think if the ending had been different I would have given this book five stars because it was a great story line and the character though a bitch was hilarious, just wish it could have been a non typical ending.
sheila_p's review
4.0
This is a quick and easy read that I felt almost guilty about reading. The main character is a self-absorbed teenagers (we can all relate, even if we don't want to admit it) that can justify even her worst behavior. She writes this blog of her exploits that are bad but by no means the worst we have read. I was completely engaged in her story, it was easy to be, she was so self-destructive without being tragic. And then the end. I can't tell you but in the final 10 pages everything changes and I looked at the book in an entirely different way. This book gave me such food for thought as a parent of teens in the age of electronic communication. How do we know what is real or imagined? Or who is reading and playing a role in the real life drama? This book is much more than I originally gave it credit for. Read it.
pikasqueaks's review
4.0
About 1/4 of the way through this, I was becoming frustrated. It felt like there was so much possibility and promise that was remaining untapped. I would find segments of this brilliant, and then I would become so overwhelmingly annoyed at Katie, or something in the narrative, that I'd nearly put it down.
...but then there was the one line that sucked me into the story completely. "Only on the Internet can you be lonely and popular." I understood it.
When you've finished the book, and you're staring at the last words on the last page, thinking, "No, wait, that can't be it, can it?" remember that, and remember how starving and desperate for attention Katie is. It all makes sense, and it makes everything in this book mean so much more.
She's playing to an audience, and she knows it, and she knows her readers know it, too. When she reveals, early on, that she changed some of the details to protect herself, you have to stop and think about what she is telling us. By the end, there's so much unraveling. She wanted to give her blog readers a happy ending for her, because she knew, for some reason, she wouldn't have one of her own.
It's easy to think that she's a terrible person, and what a crappy narrator and "ew, she has sex with all these men," but look beyond what's immediately apparent. It'll make the reading experience even better.
...but then there was the one line that sucked me into the story completely. "Only on the Internet can you be lonely and popular." I understood it.
When you've finished the book, and you're staring at the last words on the last page, thinking, "No, wait, that can't be it, can it?" remember that, and remember how starving and desperate for attention Katie is. It all makes sense, and it makes everything in this book mean so much more.
She's playing to an audience, and she knows it, and she knows her readers know it, too. When she reveals, early on, that she changed some of the details to protect herself, you have to stop and think about what she is telling us. By the end, there's so much unraveling. She wanted to give her blog readers a happy ending for her, because she knew, for some reason, she wouldn't have one of her own.
It's easy to think that she's a terrible person, and what a crappy narrator and "ew, she has sex with all these men," but look beyond what's immediately apparent. It'll make the reading experience even better.
booksofautumn's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Self harm, Grief, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
eff_dot's review
1.0
oh good golly gosh. this may be the first book i give up on. it's forcing me to make faces of disgust on public transit. so far it's not quite rivaling the terrible movie I watched last night (THE KATE LOGAN AFFAIR, avoid at all costs), but it's getting close.
Alright, I gave up. My first book ever. Perhaps I'm giving up too soon, as many of the reviews I have read are quite good. I refuse to go back to it though. I will give it this much... it does a great job of mimicking a teenage blog. Is that really a compliment though? I guess as it was the objective, it is a compliment, but I think that's part of the reason I gave up on it. I can't even stand reading my own blog from when I was a teenager, let alone someone far more spoiled, lazy and conceited. (not to say that i didn't have my moments) I found it hard to relate or like anything about the main character, so how do you push forward and read the inner thoughts of a character you despise?
The answer... you don't.
Alright, I gave up. My first book ever. Perhaps I'm giving up too soon, as many of the reviews I have read are quite good. I refuse to go back to it though. I will give it this much... it does a great job of mimicking a teenage blog. Is that really a compliment though? I guess as it was the objective, it is a compliment, but I think that's part of the reason I gave up on it. I can't even stand reading my own blog from when I was a teenager, let alone someone far more spoiled, lazy and conceited. (not to say that i didn't have my moments) I found it hard to relate or like anything about the main character, so how do you push forward and read the inner thoughts of a character you despise?
The answer... you don't.
haikins's review
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
caitlinxmartin's review
2.0
I got this from ShelfAwareness. It was an easy read - breezed through it in a day. I understand that the movie rights have already been sold & they are making a movie of this with Miley Cyrus in the lead role which seems appropriate.
This is a series of blog entries which on the surface sounds like it might be something different & cool, but in reality reads just like any other book done in diary form. The story is pretty basic & the characters are fairly stereotypical. I didn't really find anything surprising or disturbing about this book - it all seemed pretty predictable to me with behavior that felt about normal for teenagers at the end of or just outside of high school. Maybe I ran with a fast crowd.
In any event, I think this has been done before & better. I kept thinking of [b:Go Ask Alice|46799|Go Ask Alice|Beatrice Sparks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170343599s/46799.jpg|2115708] (which ran through my middle school like a bad case of food poisoning) or the more recent [b:Beauty Queen|283316|Beauty Queen|Linda Glovach|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173404007s/283316.jpg|274847]. Both of these are filled with teen angst, disaffection, disillusion, & confusion combined with risky behavior & poor decisions in both the life & sexual arenas. This seemed like the PG-rated version of these two books & wasn't as well-written.
Ultimately, I wanted this book to be more transgressive than it was so it gets a mildly entertaining but not much to it review from me.
This is a series of blog entries which on the surface sounds like it might be something different & cool, but in reality reads just like any other book done in diary form. The story is pretty basic & the characters are fairly stereotypical. I didn't really find anything surprising or disturbing about this book - it all seemed pretty predictable to me with behavior that felt about normal for teenagers at the end of or just outside of high school. Maybe I ran with a fast crowd.
In any event, I think this has been done before & better. I kept thinking of [b:Go Ask Alice|46799|Go Ask Alice|Beatrice Sparks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170343599s/46799.jpg|2115708] (which ran through my middle school like a bad case of food poisoning) or the more recent [b:Beauty Queen|283316|Beauty Queen|Linda Glovach|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173404007s/283316.jpg|274847]. Both of these are filled with teen angst, disaffection, disillusion, & confusion combined with risky behavior & poor decisions in both the life & sexual arenas. This seemed like the PG-rated version of these two books & wasn't as well-written.
Ultimately, I wanted this book to be more transgressive than it was so it gets a mildly entertaining but not much to it review from me.
obsessively's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Despite having seen the film before reading the book, it was a joy to get to know the main character on a deeper level and re-experience her relationships with the supporting characters. The writing style of a 2007 teenager was believable and so immersive.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
kittenlebon's review
5.0
The ending makes you question everything that happened prior. What a fantastic read and commentary on internet culture. You can never really tell who is on the other side of that screen.